Low cost air quality sensors are an excellent tool for capturing trends in pollutant concentrations in an area, but they are not without certain limitations as this article describes: https://bit.ly/4tJA2BJ These limitations can be partially overcome with calibration (possible in certain laboratories like ours) and model corrections. But, since not everyone is able to do that, here’s what you should know about the results you get from these sensors: they are generally right on trends (if they say concentrations are increasing, they probably are) but not necessarily right on reported levels (if the sensor reads 20 micrograms per cubic meter, it might really be 15 or 12 or 25). The sensors are impacted by humidity as well as the characteristics of the particulate matter being measured (particle size distribution, shape, composition, etc.). These are a valuable tool for deciding where we need to collect more careful data.
Low Cost Sensors Are Valuable but Have Limitations
Low cost air quality sensors are an excellent tool for capturing trends in pollutant concentrations in an area, but they are not without certain limitations as this article describes: https://bit.ly/4tJA2BJ These limitations can be partially overcome with calibration (possible in certain laboratories like ours) and model corrections. But, since not everyone is able to do that, here’s what you should know about the results you get from these sensors: they are generally right on trends (if they say concentrations are increasing, they probably are) but not necessarily right on reported levels (if the sensor reads 20 micrograms per cubic meter, it might really be 15 or 12 or 25). The sensors are impacted by humidity as well as the characteristics of the particulate matter being measured (particle size distribution, shape, composition, etc.). These are a valuable tool for deciding where we need to collect more careful data.
