Low‐cost air quality monitoring networks for long‐term field campaigns: A review

Abstract

The application of low‐cost air quality monitoring networks has substantially grown over the last few years, following the technological advances in the production of cheap and portable air pollution sensors, thus potentially greatly increasing the limited spatial information on air quality conditions provided by traditional stations. However, the use of low‐cost air quality sensors still presents many limitations, mostly related to the reliability of their measurements. Despite the increasing number of papers focusing on these issues, some of the challenges connected to the use of low‐cost air quality sensors are still poorly investigated and understood, considering in particular those related to long‐term applications of low‐cost air quality networks and their integration within the reference air quality monitoring system. The present review aims at filling this gap, by analysing the characteristics of low‐cost air quality monitoring networks that were run across long‐term field campaigns, including their geographical location, the pollutants monitored, the type and number of stations employed, and the length of the field campaign, with a particular attention on assessing the aims for their deployment and on the evaluation of their integration within official air quality monitoring networks. Moreover, a critical analysis of the most insightful suggestions and recommendations delivered in the literature, as well as of the relevant critical issues, is presented, highlighting still open research areas and outlining future challenges.

Comment on egusphere-2024-1004

“…While the findings of this study and others (Carotenuto et. al., 2023) show that PM-based sensor networks are among the largest and most frequently deployed, there is a great need for more gas-based measurements.…”

“…al., 2019;Karagulian et. al., 2019), a review of campaign-style temporary sensor networks (Carotenuto et. al., 2023), and a broad review of the use of low-cost sensors in the 2010's .…”

An overview of outdoor low-cost gas-phase air quality sensor deployments: current efforts, trends, and limitations

“…While the findings of this study and others (Carotenuto et. al., 2023) show that PM-based sensor networks are among the largest and most frequently deployed, there is a great need for more gas-based measurements.…”

Performance Assessment of Two Low-Cost PM2.5 and PM10 Monitoring Networks in the Padana Plain (Italy)

“…LC sensor technology has shown dramatic advances in air quality monitoring since the very first prototype developed by Bart et al [ 6 ]. LC air pollution sensors have exhibited across the years an increasing ability to collect accurate, real-time, high spatial and temporal resolution measurements, which has favoured their development worldwide [ 7 ]. LC air quality networks are able to detect information on air pollution, temporal trends, hotspots and possibly source apportionment, that traditional (sparser) networks are unable to detect [ 8 ].…”

“…Increases in ambient humidity can affect hygroscopic growth of particles, and thus their light-scattering coefficient, so that the mass reported by optical sensors may be biased [ 13 ]. Therefore, the need to perform field calibration/validation of LC sensors by comparing their measurements to those from co-located regulatory stations is recommended when dealing with LC air sensor applications [ 7 ].…”