Low-cost sensors as decision-maker tools in air quality

Resumo

Low-cost sensors are attracting a lot of attention lately. Their high resolutiontime, small size, low cost and the possibility of deploying dense monitoringnetworks are among their most outstanding features. Whereas part of thescientific community is enthusiastic about them, the other part is reluctant to usethem because of the lack of information about the quality of theirmeasurements. It is undeniable, however, that low-cost sensors are tools thatcan be very valuable in many situations, i.e. when there is no need of anaccurate measurement but the detection of anomalous situations or deviationsfrom background values. In this work, we show as an example how a low-costsensor for PM2.5 and PM10 can help detect rising concentrations of particles inair when leaf blowers are used to clean the streets, thanks to its high timeresolution. These concentrations increase up to 2.2 and 3.2 times whencompared to baseline values for PM2.5 and PM10, respectively. The particulatematter last resuspended in the air for several minutes. This information acquiredfrom optical sensors can provide useful insight of this cleaning process, whichshould be taken into account by local environmental decision-makers.