AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Air Quality Sensors Applications for Emissions Factors and Health Studies
KAROLINE JOHNSON, Michael Bergin, Armistead G. Russell, Jennifer L. Moutinho, Jeremy Sarnat, Donghai Liang, Roby Greenwald, Joseph Abrams, Rachel Golan, Duke University
Abstract Number: 475 Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods
Abstract Emerging air quality sensors have the potential to drastically change the air quality monitoring field. Sensors may allow data to be collected at a fraction of the price with lower upkeep and personnel costs than convention methods. This work focuses on sensor applications for estimating emissions factors and for health studies. A variety of sensors including light scattering PM, non-dispersive infrared CO2, and electrochemical, O3, CO, NO, and NO2 sensors were used. By locating a sensor package at the roadside, emissions factors for the road can be calculated by paring a CO2 sensor with other sensors. This is especially exciting as fleet emissions vary regionally and over time as regulations change. Studies were performed both in Atlanta, GA and Durham, NC to estimate freeway emission factors. We found that the inexpensive sensors provided emissions factors estimates similar to those derived using traditional monitors, and the results were consistent with literature values for mobile source emissions. Sensor packages like the ones deployed during these studies could be deployed at roadside sites all over the U.S. and even internationally to provide valuable information about the emissions at these sites. These sensors have also been used with promising results during the Dorm Room Inhalation to Vehicle Exhaust (DRIVE) study on Georgia Tech’s campus. During this study sensors were rotated between locations on campus including indoor and outdoor sites at a dorm. The sensors were also compared with many of the research grade instruments used during the study with positive results. The siting of multiple sensors showed varying concentrations over time and over the Georgia Tech campus. They also provided indoor outdoor contrasts. Air quality sensors like the ones used in this study can assist in providing significantly greater spatial and temporal coverage of air quality exposure information for use in future health studies.