Mobile sensor network noise reduction and recalibration using a Bayesian network

Abstract

People are becoming increasingly interested in mobile air quality sensor network applications. By eliminating the inaccuracies caused by spatial and temporal heterogeneity of pollutant distributions, this method shows great potential for atmospheric research. However, systems based on low-cost air quality sensors often suffer from sensor noise and drift. For the sensing systems to operate stably and reliably in real-world applications, those problems must be addressed. In this work, we exploit the correlation of different types of sensors caused by cross sensitivity to help identify and correct the outlier readings. By employing a Bayesian network based system, we are able to recover the erroneous readings and recalibrate the drifted sensors simultaneously. Our method improves upon the state-of-art Bayesian belief network techniques by incorporating the virtual evidence and adjusting the sensor calibration functions recursively. Specifically, we have (1) designed a system based on the Bayesian belief network to detect and recover the abnormal readings, (2) developed methods to update the sensor calibration functions infield without requirement of ground truth, and (3) extended the Bayesian network with virtual evidence for infield sensor recalibration. To validate our technique, we have tested our technique with metal oxide sensors measuring NO2, CO, and O3 in a real-world deployment. Compared with the existing Bayesian belief network techniques, results based on our experiment setup demonstrate that our system can reduce error by 34.1 % and recover 4 times more data on average.