AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Low Cost Air Quality Monitors for Citizen Science
JOANNA GORDON, Ashley Collier, Ricardo Piedrahita, Nicholas Masson, Michael Russel, Michael Hannigan, University of Colorado at Boulder
Abstract Number: 699 Working Group: Portable and Inexpensive Sensor Technology for Air Quality Monitoring
Abstract Recent strides in MEMS design and fabrication techniques have brought about a new generation of low cost gas phase sensors that can be incorporated easily into portable monitors. The two most common types of sensors employed are metal oxide and electrochemical. An integrated circuit can be populated with multiple sensors, yielding an inexpensive, versatile tool that is capable of measuring a number of gas phase chemical species, and that can be tailored to a variety of applications.
Ambient air instrumentation is often bulky and expensive, but yields good data quality. Because of their cost and complicated operability, most air instruments are out of reach for curious or concerned citizens. Low cost air quality monitors are well suited for use in citizen science efforts, in which community members or students can be engaged at various levels in data collection and processing, to better understand both their local air quality and scientific methods. To ensure success with the low cost monitors, the quality of the resultant data must undergo continuous evaluation. Citizens could simply operate the instruments, or could become more engaged in data analysis, where challenges such as sensor cross sensitivity can be addressed.
We have developed low cost air quality monitors (U-PODS) and are working with environmental science interns from Dine College and Haskell University to better characterize air quality in their local environment. A critical component of these collaborations is data quality assessment, which we are working to improve upon through these initial efforts. The citizen scientists (the interns) are engaged in the research at a participatory science level, in which they work to develop the research question, plan the field campaign, deploy the instruments, and collect the data. By collecting and annotating data, the interns are empowered to make observations and form new questions.