Methods of Measuring Air Pollution in Cities and Correlation of Air Pollutant Concentrations

Abstract

The monitoring of air quality continues to be one of the most important tasks when ensuring the safety of our environment. This paper aims to look at correlations between different types of pollutants, so that robust air quality measurement systems can be deployed in remote, inaccessible areas, at a reduced cost. The first matter at hand was to design an affordable and portable system capable of measuring different air pollutants. A custom PCB was designed that could support the acquisition of readings of, among others, particulate and CO sensors. Then, correlations between the concentrations of different pollutants were analyzed to identify if measuring the concentration of one type of pollutant can allow the extrapolation of the concentration of another. This particular study focuses on the correlations between the concentrations of particulate matter and CO. Finally, after observing a moderate correlation, it was proposed to measure the concentrations of pollutants that require less expensive sensors, and to extrapolate the concentrations of pollutants that require a more expensive sensor to measure their concentration. The link between particulate pollution and CO concentrations was identified and discussed as the result of this study.