Future Low-Cost Urban Air Quality Monitoring Networks: Insights from the EU’s AirHeritage Project
The last decade has seen a significant growth in the adoption of low-cost air quality monitoring systems (LCAQMSs), mostly driven by the need to overcome the spatial density limitations of traditional regulatory grade networks. However, urban air quality monitoring scenarios have proved extremely ch...
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MDPI AG
2024-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/15/11/1351 |
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| author | Saverio De Vito Antonio Del Giudice Gerardo D’Elia Elena Esposito Grazia Fattoruso Sergio Ferlito Fabrizio Formisano Giuseppe Loffredo Ettore Massera Paolo D’Auria Girolamo Di Francia |
| author_facet | Saverio De Vito Antonio Del Giudice Gerardo D’Elia Elena Esposito Grazia Fattoruso Sergio Ferlito Fabrizio Formisano Giuseppe Loffredo Ettore Massera Paolo D’Auria Girolamo Di Francia |
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| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The last decade has seen a significant growth in the adoption of low-cost air quality monitoring systems (LCAQMSs), mostly driven by the need to overcome the spatial density limitations of traditional regulatory grade networks. However, urban air quality monitoring scenarios have proved extremely challenging for their operative deployment. In fact, these scenarios need pervasive, accurate, personalized monitoring solutions along with powerful data management technologies and targeted communications tools; otherwise, these scenarios can lead to a lack of stakeholder trust, awareness, and, consequently, environmental inequalities. The AirHeritage project, funded by the EU’s Urban Innovative Action (UIA) program, addressed these issues by integrating intelligent LCAQMSs with conventional monitoring systems and engaging the local community in multi-year measurement strategies. Its implementation allowed us to explore the benefits and limitations of citizen science approaches, the logistic and functional impacts of IoT infrastructures and calibration methodologies, and the integration of AI and geostatistical sensor fusion algorithms for mobile and opportunistic air quality measurements and reporting. Similar research or operative projects have been implemented in the recent past, often focusing on a limited set of the involved challenges. Unfortunately, detailed reports as well as recorded and/or cured data are often not publicly available, thus limiting the development of the field. This work openly reports on the lessons learned and experiences from the AirHeritage project, including device accuracy variance, field recording assessments, and high-resolution mapping outcomes, aiming to guide future implementations in similar contexts and support repeatability as well as further research by delivering an open datalake. By sharing these insights along with the gathered datalake, we aim to inform stakeholders, including researchers, citizens, public authorities, and agencies, about effective strategies for deploying and utilizing LCAQMSs to enhance air quality monitoring and public awareness on this challenging urban environment issue. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-643c3de5d812459badfafa5d8ee3c61d |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj-art-643c3de5d812459badfafa5d8ee3c61d2025-08-20T01:53:44ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332024-11-011511135110.3390/atmos15111351Future Low-Cost Urban Air Quality Monitoring Networks: Insights from the EU’s AirHeritage ProjectSaverio De Vito0Antonio Del Giudice1Gerardo D’Elia2Elena Esposito3Grazia Fattoruso4Sergio Ferlito5Fabrizio Formisano6Giuseppe Loffredo7Ettore Massera8Paolo D’Auria9Girolamo Di Francia10TERIN-SSI-EDS Laboratory, ENEA CR-Portici, P. le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici, ItalyTERIN-SSI-EDS Laboratory, ENEA CR-Portici, P. le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici, ItalyTERIN-SSI-EDS Laboratory, ENEA CR-Portici, P. le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici, ItalyTERIN-SSI-EDS Laboratory, ENEA CR-Portici, P. le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici, ItalyTERIN-SSI-EDS Laboratory, ENEA CR-Portici, P. le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici, ItalyTERIN-SSI-EDS Laboratory, ENEA CR-Portici, P. le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici, ItalyTERIN-SSI-EDS Laboratory, ENEA CR-Portici, P. le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici, ItalyTERIN-SSI-EDS Laboratory, ENEA CR-Portici, P. le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici, ItalyTERIN-SPV-DIN Laboratory, ENEA CR-Portici, P. le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici, ItalyAgenzia Regionale per la Protezione Dell’ Ambiente—Campania, Via Vicinale Santa Maria del Pianto, 80143 Naples, ItalyTERIN-SSI-EDS Laboratory, ENEA CR-Portici, P. le E. Fermi 1, 80055 Portici, ItalyThe last decade has seen a significant growth in the adoption of low-cost air quality monitoring systems (LCAQMSs), mostly driven by the need to overcome the spatial density limitations of traditional regulatory grade networks. However, urban air quality monitoring scenarios have proved extremely challenging for their operative deployment. In fact, these scenarios need pervasive, accurate, personalized monitoring solutions along with powerful data management technologies and targeted communications tools; otherwise, these scenarios can lead to a lack of stakeholder trust, awareness, and, consequently, environmental inequalities. The AirHeritage project, funded by the EU’s Urban Innovative Action (UIA) program, addressed these issues by integrating intelligent LCAQMSs with conventional monitoring systems and engaging the local community in multi-year measurement strategies. Its implementation allowed us to explore the benefits and limitations of citizen science approaches, the logistic and functional impacts of IoT infrastructures and calibration methodologies, and the integration of AI and geostatistical sensor fusion algorithms for mobile and opportunistic air quality measurements and reporting. Similar research or operative projects have been implemented in the recent past, often focusing on a limited set of the involved challenges. Unfortunately, detailed reports as well as recorded and/or cured data are often not publicly available, thus limiting the development of the field. This work openly reports on the lessons learned and experiences from the AirHeritage project, including device accuracy variance, field recording assessments, and high-resolution mapping outcomes, aiming to guide future implementations in similar contexts and support repeatability as well as further research by delivering an open datalake. By sharing these insights along with the gathered datalake, we aim to inform stakeholders, including researchers, citizens, public authorities, and agencies, about effective strategies for deploying and utilizing LCAQMSs to enhance air quality monitoring and public awareness on this challenging urban environment issue.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/15/11/1351pervasive air quality monitoringcitizen scienceopen dataair quality research projectspervasive air quality monitoring datasetlow-cost air quality multisensor systems |
| spellingShingle | Saverio De Vito Antonio Del Giudice Gerardo D’Elia Elena Esposito Grazia Fattoruso Sergio Ferlito Fabrizio Formisano Giuseppe Loffredo Ettore Massera Paolo D’Auria Girolamo Di Francia Future Low-Cost Urban Air Quality Monitoring Networks: Insights from the EU’s AirHeritage Project Atmosphere pervasive air quality monitoring citizen science open data air quality research projects pervasive air quality monitoring dataset low-cost air quality multisensor systems |
| title | Future Low-Cost Urban Air Quality Monitoring Networks: Insights from the EU’s AirHeritage Project |
| title_full | Future Low-Cost Urban Air Quality Monitoring Networks: Insights from the EU’s AirHeritage Project |
| title_fullStr | Future Low-Cost Urban Air Quality Monitoring Networks: Insights from the EU’s AirHeritage Project |
| title_full_unstemmed | Future Low-Cost Urban Air Quality Monitoring Networks: Insights from the EU’s AirHeritage Project |
| title_short | Future Low-Cost Urban Air Quality Monitoring Networks: Insights from the EU’s AirHeritage Project |
| title_sort | future low cost urban air quality monitoring networks insights from the eu s airheritage project |
| topic | pervasive air quality monitoring citizen science open data air quality research projects pervasive air quality monitoring dataset low-cost air quality multisensor systems |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/15/11/1351 |
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