Low-cost air quality sensors: an opportunity to raise awareness and improve air pollution monitoring

Details

Supervisors

Thierry Bréchet

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en Ingénieur de gestion

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to understand if and how low-cost air quality sensors measuring Particulate Matter deserve to be used by Belgian public institutions responsible of air quality monitoring. Low-cost sensors create the opportunity to have more measurement sites and to raise awareness among citizens. Monitoring ambient air pollution is necessary to know when, how, and to what extent actions should be taken to reduce it. Raising awareness is necessary for people to realize the level of pollution they are exposed to, as well as its impact on their health. Becoming conscious of this could be an incentive for them to adapt their lifestyle to a less polluting one. Such adaptation could be avoiding to use the car or abstaining from wood burning. The thesis is divided in three chapters: -The first chapter describes the low-cost sensors technology as well as the official monitoring stations. -The second chapter describes the institutions responsible of air quality monitoring in Belgium, with their scope and aim. -The third chapter explains the methodology to test the low-cost sensors' accuracy, followed by possible scenarios depending on the accuracy test's result.