'Low-cost sensor networks could be the answer to dense air quality monitoring in the future'
A pilot study in Mumbai Metropolitan Region shows over 85% efficacy of low-cost sensors co-located with regulatory grade monitors
Representative Image. (Getty Images) MUMBAI: Expect even better quality air around in near future as the state proposes more accurate air sensors to tackle pollution in the Mumbai region. An MPCB-IITKanpur-Bloomberg study has revealed that new low cost pollution or air quality sensors are showing an efficacy of 85% over earlier monitors. MPCB and other experts recommend it could be a good option to make the Mumbai region's monitoring network more dense and sensitive to pollution by monitoring additional hotspots. The move, they say, may help the administration take immediate corrective actions to keep air clean.
Twenty low-cost sensors developed by indigenous start-ups have shown an accuracy of nearly 85-90% vis-à-vis regulatory grade monitors during a seven-month pilot project conducted by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) in partnership with Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The study was conducted between November 2020 and May 2021 when 40 low-cost monitoring sensors were installed alongside MPCB’s 15 existing continuous (real-time) ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) - Colaba, Worli, Sion, Bandra, Vile Parle, Kurla, International Airport, Powai, Kandivali, Mulund, Borivali, Vasai, Mahape, Nerul, Kalyan.
Dr V M Motghare, Joint director (air quality), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board said, “We (Maharashtra) have the highest number of non-attainment cities and macro planning is needed to monitor the implementation of the National Clean Air Programme. So, the data from these low cost sensors will really help us in identifying the hotspots in the state.”
The sensors from Respirer Living Sciences, Airveda Technologies, Personal Air Quality Systems (PAQS) and Oizom Instruments were deployed alongside MPCB’s regulatory-grade air quality BAM (Beta Attenuation Monitoring). The low-cost, indigenously created air quality sensors can produce 1-minute data for PM2.5 (particulate matter measuring size less than 2.5 microns) and PM10 (particulate matter measuring size less than 10 microns). The sensors were solar enabled and featured real time communication for data transmission.
Prof S N Tripathi, Head of Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and National Coordinator, National Knowledge Network, National Clean Air Program said, “The future of air quality monitoring lies in a hybrid approach combining regulatory grade monitors and sensors to provide hyperlocal data at a high temporal frequency. The results from the Mumbai sensor experiment clearly demonstrate that indigenous sensor technology is ready to be deployed at scale for air quality monitoring in the country.”
The findings of the study were presented at a webinar on Friday with participants from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Central and State Pollution Control Boards, technical experts, media, and civil society to discuss the way forward under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which plans to expand the air quality monitoring network in the country.
Sudhir Srivastava, chairperson of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board said, “We have about 100 monitors for the state’s large area and this is a patchy network when what we actually need is a very dense network but we realise that the cost of regulatory grade sensors is a prohibiting factor. Through the study we now have a lot of data and it enables us to compare it (data from low-cost sensors) with regulatory grade monitors. The study also enables technology companies to make their sensors better and it will give us an objective method for building confidence in the bounds of sensor data.”
It may be mentioned that some coastal locations like Colaba too recorded high pollution levels with a PM 2.5 concentration of 56 ug/m3 in the winter months of December. The monthly mean was the highest at 124 ug/m3 at Kalyan in the month of January. The findings of the study have thrown open the possibility of expanding the country’s monitoring network at a fraction of the cost. While regulatory grade monitors could cost upward of Rs 20 lakhs, the start-up built small sensors cost around Rs 60,000.
It is estimated that 4,000 continuous monitoring stations are required to spatially, temporally, and statistically represent the PM2.5 pollution in the urban and the rural areas of India. The country currently has 286 continuous regulatory grade monitors and 818 manual monitoring stations.
Naresh Pal Gangwar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board said, “The outcome of this study will be a very useful way forward in this technology and needs more deliberations on its data availability, accuracy and meeting data quality objectives.”
Commenting on the potential of scaling up as the findings of this study reveal, Priya Shankar, India Director, Climate and Environment Program, Bloomberg Philanthropies said, “Air pollution negatively impacts public health, economic productivity, and the environment. These new sensors have the potential to scale, and in combination with traditional methods, provide fine-grained data to help us address air pollution.”
Highlights
The study was conducted between November 2020 and May 2021 when 40 low-cost monitoring sensors were installed alongside MPCB’s 15 existing continuous (real-time) ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) - Colaba, Worli, Sion, Bandra, Vile Parle, Kurla, International Airport, Powai, Kandivali, Mulund, Borivali, Vasai, Mahape, Nerul, Kalyan.
The findings of the study have thrown open the possibility of expanding not only Mumbai region but the country’s monitoring network at a fraction of the cost. While regulatory grade monitors could cost upward of Rs 20 lakhs, the start-up built small sensors cost around Rs 60,000.
It is estimated that 4,000 continuous monitoring stations are required to spatially, temporally, and statistically represent the PM2.5 pollution in the urban and the rural areas of India. The country currently has 286 continuous regulatory grade monitors and 818 manual monitoring stations.
Twenty low-cost sensors developed by indigenous start-ups have shown an accuracy of nearly 85-90% vis-à-vis regulatory grade monitors during a seven-month pilot project conducted by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) in partnership with Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
These were among a fleet of 40 low-cost sensors developed by four different start-ups and deployed for the study. The findings reveal that sensors from three start-ups saw a percentage error (measured with respect to true value measured by CAAQMS) of less than 25% for uncalibrated values. After calibration the error was reduced to less than 15% for three types of sensors and 20% for the fourth type.
The study was conducted between November 2020 and May 2021 when 40 low-cost monitoring sensors were installed alongside MPCB’s 15 existing continuous (real-time) ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) - Colaba, Worli, Sion, Bandra, Vile Parle, Kurla, International Airport, Powai, Kandivali, Mulund, Borivali, Vasai, Mahape, Nerul, Kalyan.
Dr V M Motghare, Joint director (air quality), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board said, “We (Maharashtra) have the highest number of non-attainment cities and macro planning is needed to monitor the implementation of the National Clean Air Programme. So, the data from these low cost sensors will really help us in identifying the hotspots in the state.”
The sensors from Respirer Living Sciences, Airveda Technologies, Personal Air Quality Systems (PAQS) and Oizom Instruments were deployed alongside MPCB’s regulatory-grade air quality BAM (Beta Attenuation Monitoring). The low-cost, indigenously created air quality sensors can produce 1-minute data for PM2.5 (particulate matter measuring size less than 2.5 microns) and PM10 (particulate matter measuring size less than 10 microns). The sensors were solar enabled and featured real time communication for data transmission.
Prof S N Tripathi, Head of Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and National Coordinator, National Knowledge Network, National Clean Air Program said, “The future of air quality monitoring lies in a hybrid approach combining regulatory grade monitors and sensors to provide hyperlocal data at a high temporal frequency. The results from the Mumbai sensor experiment clearly demonstrate that indigenous sensor technology is ready to be deployed at scale for air quality monitoring in the country.”
The findings of the study were presented at a webinar on Friday with participants from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Central and State Pollution Control Boards, technical experts, media, and civil society to discuss the way forward under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which plans to expand the air quality monitoring network in the country.
Sudhir Srivastava, chairperson of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board said, “We have about 100 monitors for the state’s large area and this is a patchy network when what we actually need is a very dense network but we realise that the cost of regulatory grade sensors is a prohibiting factor. Through the study we now have a lot of data and it enables us to compare it (data from low-cost sensors) with regulatory grade monitors. The study also enables technology companies to make their sensors better and it will give us an objective method for building confidence in the bounds of sensor data.”
It may be mentioned that some coastal locations like Colaba too recorded high pollution levels with a PM 2.5 concentration of 56 ug/m3 in the winter months of December. The monthly mean was the highest at 124 ug/m3 at Kalyan in the month of January. The findings of the study have thrown open the possibility of expanding the country’s monitoring network at a fraction of the cost. While regulatory grade monitors could cost upward of Rs 20 lakhs, the start-up built small sensors cost around Rs 60,000.
It is estimated that 4,000 continuous monitoring stations are required to spatially, temporally, and statistically represent the PM2.5 pollution in the urban and the rural areas of India. The country currently has 286 continuous regulatory grade monitors and 818 manual monitoring stations.
Naresh Pal Gangwar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board said, “The outcome of this study will be a very useful way forward in this technology and needs more deliberations on its data availability, accuracy and meeting data quality objectives.”
Commenting on the potential of scaling up as the findings of this study reveal, Priya Shankar, India Director, Climate and Environment Program, Bloomberg Philanthropies said, “Air pollution negatively impacts public health, economic productivity, and the environment. These new sensors have the potential to scale, and in combination with traditional methods, provide fine-grained data to help us address air pollution.”
Highlights
The study was conducted between November 2020 and May 2021 when 40 low-cost monitoring sensors were installed alongside MPCB’s 15 existing continuous (real-time) ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) - Colaba, Worli, Sion, Bandra, Vile Parle, Kurla, International Airport, Powai, Kandivali, Mulund, Borivali, Vasai, Mahape, Nerul, Kalyan.
The findings of the study have thrown open the possibility of expanding not only Mumbai region but the country’s monitoring network at a fraction of the cost. While regulatory grade monitors could cost upward of Rs 20 lakhs, the start-up built small sensors cost around Rs 60,000.
It is estimated that 4,000 continuous monitoring stations are required to spatially, temporally, and statistically represent the PM2.5 pollution in the urban and the rural areas of India. The country currently has 286 continuous regulatory grade monitors and 818 manual monitoring stations.
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