Cite this article: Perri, M.J., Haggmark, M.R., Silva, D.R. and Mohs, R.M. (2016). Inexpensive Automated Atmospheric Measurements of Aerosol Optical Thickness, Ozone, and Temperature.
Aerosol Air Qual. Res.
16: 464-469. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2015.02.0089
HIGHLIGHTS
The inexpensive GLOBE sun photometer has been automated through a servo system.
An embedded linux computer has been interfaced with four air quality sensors.
The platform inexpensively automates measurements for undergraduate research.
ABSTRACT
An inexpensive platform has been developed for automated measurements of air quality. Low-cost sensors for aerosol optical thickness, ozone, temperature, relative humidity, and pressure were combined with a low-cost computer (Raspberry Pi) for automated monitoring. The Raspberry Pi is well-suited to automated measurements because of: (1) its low cost, (2) its low power consumption, (3) its ability to communicate over Ethernet or wireless networks and (4) its ability to interface with many sensors through analog-to-digital converters or directly through Universal Serial Bus (USB), serial port, Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C), and Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI). This setup is appropriate for use in, e.g., undergraduate atmospheric research groups, where the cost of typical automated sensors is prohibitively expensive. We report measurements taken over a two-month period which includes evidence of high nighttime ozone due to being downwind of a forest fire. This platform can be expanded to enable other atmospheric measurements from a number of sensors.
Keywords: Aerosol optical thickness; Automated measurement; Undergraduate research; Raspberry Pi
Aerosol and Air Quality Research (AAQR) is an independently-run non-profit journal that promotes submissions of high-quality research and strives to be one of the leading aerosol and air quality open-access journals in the world. We use cookies on this website to personalize content to improve your user experience and analyze our traffic. By using this site you agree to its use of cookies.