Low-cost sensors and networks. Overview of current status by the Norwegian Reference Laboratory for Air Quality.

Abstract

The increase of the commercial availability of low-cost sensor technology to monitor atmospheric composition is contributing to the rapid adoption of such technology by both public authorities and self-organized initiatives (e.g. grass root movements, citizen science, etc.). Low-cost sensors (LCS) can provide real time measurements, in principle at lower cost than traditional monitoring reference stations, allowing higher spatial coverage than the current reference methods. However, data quality from LCS is lower than the one provided by reference methods. Also, the total cost of deploying a dense sensor network needs to consider the costs associated not only to the sensor platforms but also the costs associated for instance with deployment, maintenance and data transmission. This report aims to give an overview of the current status of LCS technology in relation to commercialization, measuring capabilities and data quality, with especial emphasis on the challenges associated to the use of this novel technology, and the opportunities they open when correctly used.

Denne rapporten går igjennom status innen mikrosensorteknologien. Den vurderer tilgjengelighet av produkter på markedet, målte parametere og datakvalitet, samt hvilke muligheter sensorene åpner for når de blir brukt riktig.