Laboratory Comparison of Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors to Measure Transient Events of Pollution—Part B—Particle Number Concentrations
Low-cost Particulate Matter (PM) sensors offer an excellent opportunity to improve our knowledge about this type of pollution. Their size and cost, which support multi-node network deployment, along with their temporal resolution, enable them to report fine spatio-temporal resolution for a given are...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/17/7657 |
| _version_ | 1797581807129985024 |
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| author | Florentin Michel Jacques Bulot Hugo Savill Russell Mohsen Rezaei Matthew Stanley Johnson Steven James Ossont Andrew Kevin Richard Morris Philip James Basford Natasha Hazel Celeste Easton Hazel Louise Mitchell Gavin Lee Foster Matthew Loxham Simon James Cox |
| author_facet | Florentin Michel Jacques Bulot Hugo Savill Russell Mohsen Rezaei Matthew Stanley Johnson Steven James Ossont Andrew Kevin Richard Morris Philip James Basford Natasha Hazel Celeste Easton Hazel Louise Mitchell Gavin Lee Foster Matthew Loxham Simon James Cox |
| author_sort | Florentin Michel Jacques Bulot |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Low-cost Particulate Matter (PM) sensors offer an excellent opportunity to improve our knowledge about this type of pollution. Their size and cost, which support multi-node network deployment, along with their temporal resolution, enable them to report fine spatio-temporal resolution for a given area. These sensors have known issues across performance metrics. Generally, the literature focuses on the PM mass concentration reported by these sensors, but some models of sensors also report Particle Number Concentrations (PNCs) segregated into different PM size ranges. In this study, eight units each of Alphasense OPC-R1, Plantower PMS5003 and Sensirion SPS30 have been exposed, under controlled conditions, to short-lived peaks of PM generated using two different combustion sources of PM, exposing the sensors’ to different particle size distributions to quantify and better understand the low-cost sensors performance across a range of relevant environmental ranges. The PNCs reported by the sensors were analysed to characterise sensor-reported particle size distribution, to determine whether sensor-reported PNCs can follow the transient variations of PM observed by the reference instruments and to determine the relative impact of different variables on the performances of the sensors. This study shows that the Alphasense OPC-R1 reported at least five size ranges independently from each other, that the Sensirion SPS30 reported two size ranges independently from each other and that all the size ranges reported by the Plantower PMS5003 were not independent of each other. It demonstrates that all sensors tested here could track the fine temporal variation of PNCs, that the Alphasense OPC-R1 could closely follow the variations of size distribution between the two sources of PM, and it shows that particle size distribution and composition are more impactful on sensor measurements than relative humidity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:12:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c8cae895122f4f57a18afa4ccf487305 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:12:43Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-c8cae895122f4f57a18afa4ccf4873052023-11-19T08:52:48ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202023-09-012317765710.3390/s23177657Laboratory Comparison of Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors to Measure Transient Events of Pollution—Part B—Particle Number ConcentrationsFlorentin Michel Jacques Bulot0Hugo Savill Russell1Mohsen Rezaei2Matthew Stanley Johnson3Steven James Ossont4Andrew Kevin Richard Morris5Philip James Basford6Natasha Hazel Celeste Easton7Hazel Louise Mitchell8Gavin Lee Foster9Matthew Loxham10Simon James Cox11Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UKDanish Big Data Centre for Environment and Health (BERTHA), Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, DenmarkDepartment of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, DenmarkAirScape UK, London W1U 6TQ, UKBizData, Melbourne, VIC 3000, AustraliaNational Oceanography Centre, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UKFaculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UKSouthampton Marine and Maritime Institute, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 7QF, UKFaculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UKSchool of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UKSouthampton Marine and Maritime Institute, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 7QF, UKFaculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UKLow-cost Particulate Matter (PM) sensors offer an excellent opportunity to improve our knowledge about this type of pollution. Their size and cost, which support multi-node network deployment, along with their temporal resolution, enable them to report fine spatio-temporal resolution for a given area. These sensors have known issues across performance metrics. Generally, the literature focuses on the PM mass concentration reported by these sensors, but some models of sensors also report Particle Number Concentrations (PNCs) segregated into different PM size ranges. In this study, eight units each of Alphasense OPC-R1, Plantower PMS5003 and Sensirion SPS30 have been exposed, under controlled conditions, to short-lived peaks of PM generated using two different combustion sources of PM, exposing the sensors’ to different particle size distributions to quantify and better understand the low-cost sensors performance across a range of relevant environmental ranges. The PNCs reported by the sensors were analysed to characterise sensor-reported particle size distribution, to determine whether sensor-reported PNCs can follow the transient variations of PM observed by the reference instruments and to determine the relative impact of different variables on the performances of the sensors. This study shows that the Alphasense OPC-R1 reported at least five size ranges independently from each other, that the Sensirion SPS30 reported two size ranges independently from each other and that all the size ranges reported by the Plantower PMS5003 were not independent of each other. It demonstrates that all sensors tested here could track the fine temporal variation of PNCs, that the Alphasense OPC-R1 could closely follow the variations of size distribution between the two sources of PM, and it shows that particle size distribution and composition are more impactful on sensor measurements than relative humidity.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/17/7657low-cost sensorsparticle number concentrationlaboratory studyfine particlesparticulate matterair pollution |
| spellingShingle | Florentin Michel Jacques Bulot Hugo Savill Russell Mohsen Rezaei Matthew Stanley Johnson Steven James Ossont Andrew Kevin Richard Morris Philip James Basford Natasha Hazel Celeste Easton Hazel Louise Mitchell Gavin Lee Foster Matthew Loxham Simon James Cox Laboratory Comparison of Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors to Measure Transient Events of Pollution—Part B—Particle Number Concentrations Sensors low-cost sensors particle number concentration laboratory study fine particles particulate matter air pollution |
| title | Laboratory Comparison of Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors to Measure Transient Events of Pollution—Part B—Particle Number Concentrations |
| title_full | Laboratory Comparison of Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors to Measure Transient Events of Pollution—Part B—Particle Number Concentrations |
| title_fullStr | Laboratory Comparison of Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors to Measure Transient Events of Pollution—Part B—Particle Number Concentrations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Laboratory Comparison of Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors to Measure Transient Events of Pollution—Part B—Particle Number Concentrations |
| title_short | Laboratory Comparison of Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensors to Measure Transient Events of Pollution—Part B—Particle Number Concentrations |
| title_sort | laboratory comparison of low cost particulate matter sensors to measure transient events of pollution part b particle number concentrations |
| topic | low-cost sensors particle number concentration laboratory study fine particles particulate matter air pollution |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/17/7657 |
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