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  1. Home
  2. Research
  3. Cities
  4. Portable Air Monitoring Tracker

Portable Air Monitoring Tracker

Wearable sensors that track local air pollution levels and send alerts to your phone
Back to CitiesView interactive version

Urban air quality is a critical issue affecting the health and well-being of city dwellers. Pollution from vehicles, industrial activities, and other sources contributes to respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases, and other health issues. Traditional air monitoring systems, often stationary and limited in number, cannot provide a comprehensive, real-time picture of air quality across an entire urban area. This is where the Portable Air Monitoring Tracker steps in, addressing the limitations of existing systems and offering a dynamic solution to a pressing problem.

The Portable Air Monitoring Tracker, also known as a mobile air quality monitor, is a compact, possibly wearable device designed to continuously measure and report on air pollution levels. Equipped with advanced sensors, the tracker can detect various pollutants, including particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and volatile organic compounds. The device collects data in real-time and transmits it to a central database via wireless communication technologies like Wi-Fi or cellular networks. Users can access this data through a mobile application or web portal, allowing them to monitor air quality in their immediate surroundings and make informed decisions about their activities and exposure.

The technology behind the Portable Air Monitoring Tracker involves a combination of miniaturised sensors and sophisticated algorithms. These sensors are capable of detecting minute concentrations of pollutants with high accuracy. The data collected is processed and analysed to provide real-time updates and trends. The device is also designed to be user-friendly, with a long battery life and robust build, making it suitable for use in various urban environments. Furthermore, the integration of GPS technology allows for precise geolocation tagging of air quality data, enabling the creation of detailed pollution maps.

By providing granular, real-time data on air quality, it empowers citizens to protect their health by avoiding highly polluted areas or adjusting their outdoor activities accordingly. For urban planners and policymakers, the aggregated data from these devices offers invaluable insights into pollution hotspots, helping to inform targeted interventions and policy decisions aimed at reducing pollution levels. Additionally, by raising public awareness about air quality issues, the Portable Air Monitoring Tracker fosters a more informed and engaged citizenry, advocating for cleaner air and healthier urban environments.

Technology Readiness Level
8/9Ready for Implementation
Diffusion of Innovation
3/5Early Majority
Technology Life Cycle
2/4Growth
Category
Hardware

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Aclima logo
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Kaiterra logo
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Manufacturer of air quality monitors including the Laser Egg, a compact device for home and travel.

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PurpleAir logo
PurpleAir

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Producer of low-cost air quality sensors that create a real-time community map of air pollution.

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Clarity Movement logo
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Provides air quality monitoring solutions to cities and businesses.

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Sensirion logo
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Leading manufacturer of environmental sensors, including PM2.5 and CO2 sensors used in portable trackers.

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Temtop

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Brand of Elitech Technology producing a wide range of handheld particle counters and air quality monitors.

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Dyson logo
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Consumer electronics company that developed the Dyson Zone, headphones with air purification and monitoring.

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Supporting Evidence

Article

PurpleAir makes sensors that empower Community Scientists who collect hyper-local air quality data and share it with the public.

www2.purpleair.com

Support 50%Confidence 80%

Article

Air Pollution Monitoring via Wireless Sensor Networks: The Investigation and Correction of the Aging Behavior of Electrochemical Gaseous Pollutant Sensors

mdpi.com

The continuously growing human activity in large and densely populated cities pollutes air and consequently puts public health in danger. This is why air quality monitoring is necessary in all urban environments. However, the creation of dense air monitoring networks is extremely costly because it requires the usage of a great number of air monitoring stations that are quite expensive. Instead, the usage of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that incorporate low-cost electrochemical gas sensors provides an excellent alternative. Actually, sensors of this kind that are recommended for low-cost air quality monitoring applications may provide relatively precise measurements. However, the reliability of such sensors during their operational life is questionable. The research work presented in this article not only experimentally examined the correlation that exists between the validity of the measurements obtained from low-cost gas sensors and their aging, but also proposes novel corrective formulae for gas sensors of two different types (i.e., NO2, O3), which are aimed at alleviating the impact of aging on the accuracy of measurements. The following steps were conducted in order to both study and lessen the aging of electrochemical sensors: (i) a sensor network was developed to measure air quality at a place near official instruments that perform corresponding measurements; (ii) the collected data were compared to the corresponding recordings of the official instruments; (iii) calibration and compensation were performed using the electrochemical sensor vendor instructions; (iv) the divergence between the datasets was studied for various periods of time and the impact of aging was studied; (v) the compensation process was re-evaluated and new compensation coefficients were produced for all periods; (vi) the new compensation coefficients were used to shape formulae that automatically calculate the new coefficients with respect to the sensors’ aging; and (vii) the performance of the overall procedure was evaluated through the comparison of the final outcomes with real data.

Support 50%Confidence 80%

Article

SODAQ AIR: portable air quality monitor

sodaq.com

“Making the crowd aware of the immense changes in air quality in their daily lives and routines is where change can start to take place.”

Support 50%Confidence 80%

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Technology Readiness Level
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Diffusion of Innovation
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