Traffic exhaust to wildfires: PM2.5 measurements with fixed and portable, low-cost LoRaWAN-connected sensors

PLoS One. 2020 Apr 24;15(4):e0231778. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231778. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Air pollution with PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micro-metres in diameter) is a major health hazard in many cities worldwide, but since measuring instruments have traditionally been expensive, monitoring sites are rare and generally show only background concentrations. With the advent of low-cost, wirelessly connected sensors, air quality measurements are increasingly being made in places where many people spend time and pollution is much worse: on streets near traffic. In the interests of enabling members of the public to measure the air that they breathe, we took an open-source approach to designing a device for measuring PM2.5. Parts are relatively cheap, but of good quality and can be easily found in electronics or hardware stores, or on-line. Software is open source and the free LoRaWAN-based "The Things Network" the platform. A number of low-cost sensors we tested had problems, but those selected performed well when co-located with reference-quality instruments. A network of the devices was deployed in an urban centre, yielding valuable data for an extended time. Concentrations of PM2.5 at street level were often ten times worse than at air quality stations. The devices and network offer the opportunity for measurements in locations that concern the public.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants / analysis*
  • Air Pollution / adverse effects
  • Air Pollution / prevention & control*
  • Cities
  • Community Participation*
  • Environmental Monitoring / instrumentation*
  • Environmental Monitoring / methods
  • Humans
  • Limit of Detection
  • New South Wales
  • Particulate Matter / adverse effects
  • Particulate Matter / analysis*
  • Vehicle Emissions / analysis
  • Wildfires

Substances

  • Air Pollutants
  • Particulate Matter
  • Vehicle Emissions

Grants and funding

HF, JB, BA, NV, and PP received funding from Australian Government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs scheme: https://infrastructure.gov.au/cities/smart-cities/. GRANT_NUMBER: SCS59378. HF also received funding from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Programme, Clean Air and Urban Landscapes hub, under Project 7 'Air Quality in Australia', https://nespurban.edu.au/research-projects/air-quality/. BlueScope Steel Ltd. (https://www.bluescope.com/) provided material support by providing infrastructure and installing devices. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.