Air Sensors
air-sensors

## Choosing Sensors Often the first step is to look for a sensor for what you're hoping to measure. In the community posts below, we're collecting info on different kinds of air quality sensors, and their: * cost * sensitivity/accuracy * links and documentation Can you afford a sensor? Can it detect what you're looking for? Where can you learn more about it? ### Posts about choosing and evaluating an air sensor [notes:grid:air-sensor-eval] ### Expected ranges and useful detection limits for pollutants of interest This [table](https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/air_sensors_webinar_slides_06-29-16.pdf) from an EPA [Air Quality Monitoring and Community Science webinar](https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/air_sensors_webinar_slides_06-29-16.pdf) lists the six criteria air pollutants and a couple additional pollutants, with background levels you might see in the environment in the “Range to Expect” column and useful detection limits for sensors. **** ## Wikis about air sensors [wikis:air-sensors] ## Air sensor projects Public Lab pages and posts tagged `air-sensor-projects` will appear here [nodes:air-sensor-projects] ## Questions [questions:air-sensors] ## Further reading and resources + Environmental consultant Tim Dye’s “[4 questions to ask before buying an air quality sensor](http://tdenviro.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/4-questions-when-buying-air-sensors.pdf)” neatly summarizes what to consider when choosing an air sensor. + [Snuffle.org](http://www.snuffle.org/): lots of information on low-cost sensors for various air pollutants. + [Air Quality Sensor Performance Evaluation Center (AQ-SPEC)](http://www.aqmd.gov/aq-spec/evaluations): from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, this program tests and evaluates air sensors “in the field, under ambient conditions, and in the laboratory under controlled environmental conditions.” + [Air Sensor Toolbox](https://www.epa.gov/air-sensor-toolbox): from the US Environmental Protection Agency, this toolbox includes guidance on how to use air sensors and their data, plus information on sensor performance and evaluation results. ...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
MeganKierstead "@schroyer Putting together my own DustDuino now and heads up, the personal Xively data hosting is buggy as all hell now. Can't even get past creati..." | Read more » almost 9 years ago
chrisbartley "@ledi001 All the visualization software is custom stuff we developed at the CREATE Lab. The grapher in the demos is our BodyTrack grapher which w..." | Read more » about 9 years ago
ledi001 "Great idea and great monitoring! Please can you post some information about the software you use for the visualization of the data for the grid and..." | Read more » about 9 years ago
jeffalk "kevinvivergy's referred to website is a great example of technology in the hands of techies. They need to learn that more data doesn't always tra..." | Read more » about 9 years ago
kevinvivergy "@warren @mathew thought this group might enjoy the ongoing testing of another set of low cost PM sensors going on in China! Co-located with the off..." | Read more » about 9 years ago
tomtobback "Hi @Willie, thanks a lot for sharing your excellent work. I used your example sketch for my Dustduino with a ESP8266 wifi module, posting to emoncm..." | Read more » about 9 years ago
liz "hey @jeff Laut! great to hear from you :) what sensitivity do you need on your particular matter sensors? " | Read more » about 9 years ago
warren "Or try to get them all on the same graph? " | Read more » about 9 years ago
warren "I pasted Grapherate live graphs for 4 sensors Mathew set up into this page: http://publiclab.org/wiki/open-air -- not sure if these are those used ..." | Read more » about 9 years ago
warren "Very cool! Say hi for me if Jen Osha or Rob Goodwin are still at CRMW! We did these maps way back in 2010: http://publiclab.org/map/black-mountain..." | Read more » about 9 years ago
jeffalk "It's my understanding that the Dylos is the only monitor of those mentioned that is calibrated by its manufacturer. That implies that some comparis..." | Read more » about 9 years ago
nicholas "@mathew Thanks! I had meant to 3D print a container for the Shinyei but didnt have time. I've seen some people have good success by incorporating..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
mathew "Real neat! two comments about the setup: the shinyei should have everything but the intake and outlet covered to prevent light leakage. you may w..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
eustatic "Girl Scouts are the best! " | Read more » over 9 years ago
kevintzoa "@nshapiro @mathew @marlokeno Hey, Kevin here from TZOA. I met Shannon Dosemagen of PublicLab at an EPA event last year. Happy to answer any questio..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
warren "@mathew and I spent a week and got some Open Pipe Kit drivers written, including for the Shinyei. Take a look: https://github.com/jywarren/opk-shin..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
warren "Last week, @mathew and I worked on standard Open Pipe Kit drivers for a range of different optical dust sensors, to get them all feeding into http:..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
warren "@mathew wrote a great overview of lots of different ways that different projects/sensors measure particulates: http://publiclab.org/notes/mathew/05..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
warren "We've gotten the Shinyei connected up to the Phant instance at http://data.sparkfun.com, with an open source driver, over USB: http://publiclab.org..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
nikmhanif "Hey guys. I'm building a similar system, but instead of Shinyei PPD-42, I am using SHARP GP2Y1010AU0F dust sensor. However, I am not sure whether t..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
mathew "awesome! " | Read more » over 9 years ago
warren "Hey @mathew - wrote up a driver for the Dylos - it was very simple, just listening and it returns "0,0" every so often. If there's a manual or some..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
warren "And taking note that for the Thermofisher and the Speck, we're only doing spot readings, not averages. This should change: https://github.com/jywa..." | Read more » over 9 years ago
warren "And the Speck too: https://github.com/jywarren/opk-speck-cli now running. " | Read more » over 9 years ago