Articles | Volume 12, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1441-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1441-2019
Research article
 | 
05 Mar 2019
Research article |  | 05 Mar 2019

Understanding the ability of low-cost MOx sensors to quantify ambient VOCs

Ashley M. Collier-Oxandale, Jacob Thorson, Hannah Halliday, Jana Milford, and Michael Hannigan

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Cited articles

Adgate, J. L., Goldstein, B. D., and McKenzie, L. M.: Potential public health hazards, exposures and health effects from unconventional natural gas development. Environ. Sci. Technol., 48, 8307–8320, https://doi.org/10.1021/es404621d, 2014. 
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Borbon, A., Gilman, J. B., Kuster, W. C., Grand, N., Chevaillier, S., Colomb, A., Dolgorouky, C., Gros, V., Lopez, M., Sarda-Esteve, R., Holloway, J., Stutz, J., Petetin, H., McKeen, S., Beekmann, M., Warneke, C., Parrish, D. D., and De Gouw, J. A.: Emission ratios of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds in northern mid-latitude megacities: Observations versus emission inventories in Los Angeles and Paris, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 2041–2057, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50059, 2013. 
Casey, J. G. and Hannigan, M. P.: Testing the performance of field calibration techniques for low-cost gas sensors in new deployment locations: across a county line and across Colorado, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 6351–6378, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-6351-2018, 2018. 
Casey, J. G., Collier-Oxandale, A., and Hannigan, M.: Performance of artificial neural networks and linear models to quantify 4 trace gas species in an oil and gas production region with low-cost sensors, Sensor Actuat. B-Chem., 283, 504–514, https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SNB.2018.12.049, 2019. 
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Short summary
Airborne pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds, can present a danger to public and environmental health. We explored the potential for low-cost air quality sensors to help measure these compounds. From our deployment and the subsequent analysis, it seems these sensors can be calibrated to provide estimates of the levels of some individual and some groups of VOCs. This is promising as more cost-effective ways to measure VOCs could inform actions to reduce exposure.
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