Field Evaluation of Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors for Measuring Wildfire Smoke

Sensors

Kirk R. Baker¹  Amara L. Holder²  Robert A. Elleman³  Michael R. McGown³  Dena M. Vallano⁴  Kathleen E. Stewart⁴  Anna K. Mebust⁴  Lauren A. Maghran⁴ 

[1] US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA;US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA;US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, Seattle, CA 98101, USA;US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA;

关键词: air quality;    smoke;    environmental monitoring;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s20174796

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Until recently, air quality impacts from wildfires were predominantly determined based on data from permanent stationary regulatory air pollution monitors. However, low-cost particulate matter (PM) sensors are now widely used by the public as a source of air quality information during wildfires, although their performance during smoke impacted conditions has not been thoroughly evaluated. We collocated three types of low-cost fine PM (PM_2.5) sensors with reference instruments near multiple fires in the western and eastern United States (maximum hourly PM_2.5 = 295 µg/m³). Sensors were moderately to strongly correlated with reference instruments (hourly averaged r² = 0.52–0.95), but overpredicted PM_2.5 concentrations (normalized root mean square errors, NRMSE = 80–167%). We developed a correction equation for wildfire smoke that reduced the NRMSE to less than 27%. Correction equations were specific to each sensor package, demonstrating the impact of the physical configuration and the algorithm used to translate the size and count information into PM_2.5 concentrations. These results suggest the low-cost sensors can fill in the large spatial gaps in monitoring networks near wildfires with mean absolute errors of less than 10 µg/m³ in the hourly PM_2.5 concentrations when using a sensor-specific smoke correction equation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown