Long-term evaluation and calibration of low-cost particulate matter (PM) sensor

Abstract

Low-cost light scattering particulate matter (PM) sensors have been widely researched and deployed in order to overcome the limitations of low spatio-temporal resolution of government-operated beta attenuation monitor (BAM). However, the accuracy of low-cost sensors has been questioned, thus impeding their wide adoption in practice. To evaluate the accuracy of low-cost PM sensors in the field, a multi-sensor platform has been developed and co-located with BAM in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, Korea from 15 January 2019 to 4 September 2019. In this paper, a sample variation of low-cost sensors has been analyzed while using three commercial low-cost PM sensors. Influences on PM sensor by environmental conditions, such as humidity, temperature, and ambient light, have also been described. Based on this information, we developed a novel combined calibration algorithm, which selectively applies multiple calibration models and statistically reduces residuals, while using a prebuilt parameter lookup table where each cell records statistical parameters of each calibration model at current input parameters. As our proposed framework significantly improves the accuracy of the low-cost PM sensors (e.g., RMSE: 23.94 → 4.70 µg/m3) and increases the correlation (e.g., R2: 0.41 → 0.89), this calibration model can be transferred to all sensor nodes through the sensor network.