15 - Stationary and Mobile Low-Cost Gas Sensor-Systems for Air Quality Monitoring Applications

This paper gives a short technical report on preliminary real-world measurements by low-cost gas sensor-systems for air quality monitoring. Measurements were performed by low-cost electrochemical gas sensors (CO, NO2, O3, SO2), optical particle counter/detector (PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10), NDIR infrared sensor (CO2), photo-ionisation detector (total VOCs), including miniaturized sensors for meteorological parameters (temperature, relative humidity). The sensors are running and installed in the city to assess the performance during a campaign of several months of operation in the framework of Italian national projects devoted to sustainable innovation in the smart cities. Relevant concentrations according to recommended values given by the European Directive (2008/50/EC) on Ambient Air Quality in Europe are in the low ppb-ppm range, depending on targeted pollutant. Our projects make use of two complementary approaches to achieve this challenge: stationary GSM-connected sensor-nodes distributed in the city and mobile sensor-systems GPS-connected to smartphone for indoor-versus-outdoor applications. The first results indicate that these solutions are suitable for air quality monitoring with intensive inclusion to address indicative measurements (2008/50/EC).