Articles | Volume 14, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7369-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7369-2021
Research article
 | 
25 Nov 2021
Research article |  | 25 Nov 2021

Evaluation methods for low-cost particulate matter sensors

Jeffrey K. Bean

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Technique: In Situ Measurement | Topic: Instruments and Platforms
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Cited articles

Ahangar, F. E., Freedman, F. R., and Venkatram, A.: Using Low-Cost Air Quality Sensor Networks to Improve the Spatial and Temporal Resolution of Concentration Maps, Int. J. Env. Res. Pub. He., 16, 1252, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071252, 2019. 
Apte, J. S., Messier, K. P., Gani, S., Brauer, M., Kirchstetter, T. W., Lunden, M. M., Marshall, J. D., Portier, C. J., Vermeulen, R. C. H., and Hamburg, S. P.: High-Resolution Air Pollution Mapping with Google Street View Cars: Exploiting Big Data, Environ. Sci. Technol., 51, 6999–7008, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b00891, 2017. 2017. 
Barkjohn, K. K., Gantt, B., and Clements, A. L.: Development and application of a United States-wide correction for PM2.5 data collected with the PurpleAir sensor, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4617–4637, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4617-2021, 2021. 
Bauerová, P., Šindelářová, A., Rychlík, Š., Novák, Z., and Keder, J.: Low-Cost Air Quality Sensors: One-Year Field Comparative Measurement of Different Gas Sensors and Particle Counters with Reference Monitors at Tušimice Observatory, Atmosphere, 11, 492, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11050492, 2020. 
Bi, J., Stowell, J., Seto, E. Y. W., English, P. B., Al-Hamdan, M. Z., Kinney, P. L., Freedman, F. R., and Liu, Y.: Contribution of low-cost sensor measurements to the prediction of PM2.5 levels: A case study in Imperial County, California, USA, Environ. Res., 180, 108810, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.108810, 2020. 
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Short summary
Understanding and improving the quality of data generated from low-cost air quality sensors are crucial steps in using these sensors. This work investigates how averaging time, choice of reference instrument, and the observation of higher pollutant concentrations can impact the perceived performance of low-cost sensors in an evaluation. The influence of these factors should be considered when comparing one sensor to another or determining if a sensor can produce data that fit a specific need.