PM Sensors for the Measurement of Air Quality

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2023) | Viewed by 9390

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department for Sensors and Ultrasonic Systems, Institute for Physical and Information Technologies, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Interests: air quality monitoring; wireless sensor networks; low-cost sensors; nanostructured gas sensors
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Guest Editor
Photovoltaic and Smart Devices Division, Department for Energy Technology and Renewable Sources, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) Research Center, 80055 Portici, Italy
Interests: nanomaterial and nanotechnology; chemiresistors; nanomaterial-based sensor device; graphene based device; liquid phase exfoliation graphene production; chemical vapor deposition graphene; graphene functionalization; material characterization; chemical sensing characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Particulate matter (PM) is the deadliest air pollutant affecting human health, and its ability to travel across countries and geographical boundaries makes PM a global problem. The variability in monitoring technologies and programs and poor data availability make global comparison difficult, so there is a need to expand and improve local and global PM indicators. Experts´ recommendations to overcome this situation are to increase and tailor PM sensor networks to country and region, while producing globally harmonized data, support the development of cheaper and more durable PM sensors, expand personal monitoring and the participation of non-specialists in crowd-sourced data collection, and promote the sharing of networked data. This Special Issue aims to present and discuss the most promising strategies for meeting the technological, economic, and societal challenges in the real-time monitoring of PM in air (ambient and indoor) by means of sensors. Atmosphere invites scientists and researchers to contribute to this Special Issue by submitting manuscripts (research papers, communications, and review articles) on any of the following topics: PM sensor technologies, low-cost PM sensors, sensor-based devices and systems for PM monitoring, wearable PM sensors, dynamic PM sensor measurements, field calibration and deployment of PM sensors, performance evaluation of PM sensors, quality assessment of PM sensor data, and wireless PM sensor networks.

Dr. Esther Hontañón
Dr. Brigida Alfano
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • particulate matter (PM) air quality
  • real-time PM monitoring
  • PM sensor technologies
  • low-cost sensors
  • sensor calibration and deployment
  • sensor performance
  • sensor data quality
  • wearable sensors
  • mobile sensors
  • wireless sensor networks

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3926 KiB  
Article
A Community-Based Sensor Network for Monitoring the Air Quality in Urban Romania
by Liliana Velea, Mihaela Tinca Udriștioiu, Silvia Puiu, Radu Motișan and Dragos Amarie
Atmosphere 2023, 14(5), 840; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14050840 - 8 May 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2764
Abstract
Air quality, especially particulate matter pollution levels in urban areas, is an essential academic and social topic due to its association with health issues and climate change. In Romania, increasing awareness of urban communities and the availability of low-cost sensors has led to [...] Read more.
Air quality, especially particulate matter pollution levels in urban areas, is an essential academic and social topic due to its association with health issues and climate change. In Romania, increasing awareness of urban communities and the availability of low-cost sensors has led to the development of an independent monitoring network currently distributed in over 194 cities and towns. The uRADMonitor® network consists of 630 sensors measuring PM10 and PM2.5 concentration levels. The spatial distribution of the sensors complements the national air quality network with sensors in residential areas, intense traffic zones, and industrial areas. The data are available through a user-friendly web-based platform from uRADMonitor®. Based on data collected in 2021, we present an analysis of PM10 pollution levels in Romania’s five most populated urban areas by employing five annual statistical indicators recommended by the European Environmental Agency. For the case of Timișoara, we also compare the data measured by independent sensors with those from the national monitoring network. The results highlight the usefulness of our community-based network as it complements the national one. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue PM Sensors for the Measurement of Air Quality)
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14 pages, 3001 KiB  
Article
Seasonal Changes in Urban PM2.5 Hotspots and Sources from Low-Cost Sensors
by Lorenz Harr, Tim Sinsel, Helge Simon and Jan Esper
Atmosphere 2022, 13(5), 694; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13050694 - 27 Apr 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2395
Abstract
PM2.5 concentrations in urban areas are highly variable, both spatially and seasonally. To assess these patterns and the underlying sources, we conducted PM2.5 exposure measurements at the adult breath level (1.6 m) along three ~5 km routes in urban districts of [...] Read more.
PM2.5 concentrations in urban areas are highly variable, both spatially and seasonally. To assess these patterns and the underlying sources, we conducted PM2.5 exposure measurements at the adult breath level (1.6 m) along three ~5 km routes in urban districts of Mainz (Germany) using portable low-cost Alphasense OPC-N3 sensors. The survey took place on five consecutive days including four runs each day (38 in total) in September 2020 and March 2021. While the between-sensor accuracy was tested to be good (R² = 0.98), the recorded PM2.5 values underestimated the official measurement station data by up to 25 µg/m3. The collected data showed no consistent PM2.5 hotspots between September and March. Whereas during the fall, the pedestrian and park areas appeared as hotspots in >60% of the runs, construction sites and a bridge with high traffic intensity stuck out in spring. We considered PM2.5/PM10 ratios to assign anthropogenic emission sources with high apportionment of PM2.5 in PM10 (>0.6), except for the parks (0.24) where fine particles likely originated from unpaved surfaces. The spatial PM2.5 apportionment in PM10 increased from September (0.56) to March (0.76) because of a pronounced cooler thermal inversion accumulating fine particles near ground. Our results showed that highly resolved low-cost measurements can help to identify PM2.5 hotspots and be used to differentiate types of particle sources via PM2.5/PM10 ratios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue PM Sensors for the Measurement of Air Quality)
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18 pages, 21744 KiB  
Article
Low-Cost Air Quality Stations’ Capability to Integrate Reference Stations in Particulate Matter Dynamics Assessment
by Lorenzo Brilli, Federico Carotenuto, Bianca Patrizia Andreini, Alice Cavaliere, Andrea Esposito, Beniamino Gioli, Francesca Martelli, Marco Stefanelli, Carolina Vagnoli, Stefania Venturi, Alessandro Zaldei and Giovanni Gualtieri
Atmosphere 2021, 12(8), 1065; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12081065 - 19 Aug 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2655
Abstract
Low-cost air quality stations can provide useful data that can offer a complete picture of urban air quality dynamics, especially when integrated with daily measurements from reference air quality stations. However, the success of such deployment depends on the measurement accuracy and the [...] Read more.
Low-cost air quality stations can provide useful data that can offer a complete picture of urban air quality dynamics, especially when integrated with daily measurements from reference air quality stations. However, the success of such deployment depends on the measurement accuracy and the capability of resolving spatial and temporal gradients within a spatial domain. In this work, an ensemble of three low-cost stations named “AirQino” was deployed to monitor particulate matter (PM) concentrations over three different sites in an area affected by poor air quality conditions. Data of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were collected for about two years following a protocol based on field calibration and validation with a reference station. Results indicated that: (i) AirQino station measurements were accurate and stable during co-location periods over time (R2 = 0.5–0.83 and RMSE = 6.4–11.2 μg m−3; valid data: 87.7–95.7%), resolving current spatial and temporal gradients; (ii) spatial variability of anthropogenic emissions was mainly due to extensive use of wood for household heating; (iii) the high temporal resolution made it possible to detect time occurrence and strength of PM10 concentration peaks; (iv) the number of episodes above the 1-h threshold of 90 μg m−3 and their persistence were higher under urban and industrial sites compared to the rural area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue PM Sensors for the Measurement of Air Quality)
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