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Russell HS, Frederickson LB, Kwiatkowski S, Emygdio APM, Kumar P, Schmidt JA, Hertel O, Johnson MS. Enhanced Ambient Sensing Environment-A New Method for Calibrating Low-Cost Gas Sensors. Sensors (Basel) 2022; 22:7238. [PMID: 36236337 PMCID: PMC9571921 DOI: 10.3390/s22197238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Accurate calibration of low-cost gas sensors is, at present, a time consuming and difficult process. Laboratory calibration and field calibration methods are currently used, but laboratory calibration is generally discounted due to poor transferability, and field methods requiring several weeks are standard. The Enhanced Ambient Sensing Environment (EASE) method described in this article, is a hybrid of the two, combining the advantages of a laboratory calibration with the increased accuracy of a field calibration. It involves calibrating sensors inside a duct, drawing in ambient air with similar properties to the site where the sensors will operate, but with the added feature of being able to artificially increases or decrease pollutant levels, thus condensing the calibration period required. Calibration of both metal-oxide (MOx) and electrochemical (EC) gas sensors for the measurement of NO2 and O3 (0-120 ppb) were conducted in EASE, laboratory and field environments, and validated in field environments. The EC sensors performed marginally better than MOx sensors for NO2 measurement and sensor performance was similar for O3 measurement, but the EC sensor nodes had less node inter-node variability and were more robust. For both gasses and sensor types the EASE calibration outperformed the laboratory calibration, and performed similarly to or better than the field calibration, whilst requiring a fraction of the time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Savill Russell
- Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
- Danish Big Data Centre for Environment and Health (BERTHA), Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
- AirLabs, Nannasgade 28, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Louise Bøge Frederickson
- Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
- Danish Big Data Centre for Environment and Health (BERTHA), Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
- AirLabs, Nannasgade 28, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | | | - Ana Paula Mendes Emygdio
- Global Center for Clean Air Research (GCARE), School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK
| | - Prashant Kumar
- Global Center for Clean Air Research (GCARE), School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK
| | | | - Ole Hertel
- Danish Big Data Centre for Environment and Health (BERTHA), Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
- Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Matthew Stanley Johnson
- AirLabs, Nannasgade 28, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
- Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
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Emygdio APM, Andrade MDF, Gonçalves FLT, Engling G, Zanetti RHDS, Kumar P. Biomarkers as indicators of fungal biomass in the atmosphere of São Paulo, Brazil. Sci Total Environ 2018; 612:809-821. [PMID: 28881304 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2017] [Revised: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 08/15/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The biogenic aerosol contribution to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) mass concentration is usually neglected due to the difficulty in identifying its components, although it can be significant. In the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP)-Brazil, several studies have been performed to identify sources for PM, revealing vehicular emissions and soil re-suspension as the main identified sources. The organic fraction has been related primarily to biomass burning (BB) and fuel combustion, although there is significant presence of green areas in the city which render biogenic emissions as an additional source of organic carbon (OC). The objectives of this work are to (i) characterise the composition of the PM10 (ii) estimate the relative mass contribution of fungal spores to PM concentrations with sizes smaller than 10μm (PM10) in MASP and (iii) assess the main sources of PM10. To achieve these objectives, we measured markers of biogenic sources and BB, during the fall-winter transition, which along with other constituents, such as ions, organic/elemental carbon, elemental composition and fungal spore concentrations, help assess the PM10 sources. We used receptor models to identify distinct source-related PM10 fractions and conversion factors to convert biomarker concentrations to fungal mass. Our results show the mean contributions of fungal aerosol to PM10 and OC mass were 2% and 8%, respectively, indicating the importance of fungal spores to the aerosol burden in the urban atmosphere. Using specific rotation factor analysis, we identified the following factors contributing to PM: soil re-suspension, biogenic aerosol, secondary inorganic aerosol, vehicular emissions and BB/isoprene-related secondary organic aerosol (I-SOA). BB/I-SOA was the main source representing 28% of the PM10 mass, while biogenic aerosol explained a significant (11%) fraction of the PM10 mass as well. Our findings suggest that primary biogenic aerosol is an important fraction of PM10 mass, yet not considered in most studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Paula Mendes Emygdio
- Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua Arlindo Bettio, 1000, 03828-000 São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas, Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 1226, 05508-090 São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Maria de Fátima Andrade
- Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas, Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 1226, 05508-090 São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Fabio Luiz Teixeira Gonçalves
- Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas, Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 1226, 05508-090 São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Guenter Engling
- Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
| | - Rafael Henrique de Souza Zanetti
- Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas, Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, 1226, 05508-090 São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Prashant Kumar
- Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, United Kingdom; Environmental Flow (EnFlo) Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, United Kingdom
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Barge LM, Pulschen AA, Emygdio APM, Congreve C, Kishimoto DE, Bendia AG, de Morais M Teles A, DeMarines J, Stoupin D. Life, the universe, and everything: an education outreach proposal to build a traveling astrobiology exhibit. Astrobiology 2013; 13:303-308. [PMID: 23469863 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2012.0834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Astrobiology is a transdisciplinary field with extraordinary potential for the scientific community. As such, it is important to educate the community at large about the growing importance of this field to increase awareness and scientific content learning and expose potential future scientists. To this end, we propose the creation of a traveling museum exhibit that focuses exclusively on astrobiology and utilizes modern museum exhibit technology and design. This exhibit (the "Astrobiology Road Show"), organized and evaluated by an international group of astrobiology students and postdocs, is planned to tour throughout the Americas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M Barge
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91107, USA.
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