## Choosing Sensors Often the first step is to look for a sensor for what you're hoping to measure. In the community posts below, we're collecting info on different kinds of air quality sensors, and their: * cost * sensitivity/accuracy * links and documentation Can you afford a sensor? Can it detect what you're looking for? Where can you learn more about it? ### Posts about choosing and evaluating an air sensor [notes:grid:air-sensor-eval] ### Expected ranges and useful detection limits for pollutants of interest This [table](https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/air_sensors_webinar_slides_06-29-16.pdf) from an EPA [Air Quality Monitoring and Community Science webinar](https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/air_sensors_webinar_slides_06-29-16.pdf) lists the six criteria air pollutants and a couple additional pollutants, with background levels you might see in the environment in the “Range to Expect” column and useful detection limits for sensors. **** ## Wikis about air sensors [wikis:air-sensors] ## Air sensor projects Public Lab pages and posts tagged `air-sensor-projects` will appear here [nodes:air-sensor-projects] ## Questions [questions:air-sensors] ## Further reading and resources + Environmental consultant Tim Dye’s “[4 questions to ask before buying an air quality sensor](http://tdenviro.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/4-questions-when-buying-air-sensors.pdf)” neatly summarizes what to consider when choosing an air sensor. + [Snuffle.org](http://www.snuffle.org/): lots of information on low-cost sensors for various air pollutants. + [Air Quality Sensor Performance Evaluation Center (AQ-SPEC)](http://www.aqmd.gov/aq-spec/evaluations): from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, this program tests and evaluates air sensors “in the field, under ambient conditions, and in the laboratory under controlled environmental conditions.” + [Air Sensor Toolbox](https://www.epa.gov/air-sensor-toolbox): from the US Environmental Protection Agency, this toolbox includes guidance on how to use air sensors and their data, plus information on sensor performance and evaluation results. ...
| Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| guolivar | "The description of the operating principle can be misleading. Optical particle measurements rely on intensity of scattering rather than "amount of..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| warren | "The MiniVol is a few thousand dollars, i think used: https://publiclab.org/minivol but the samples cost a good bit to process (see page) And the T..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| warren | "Hi, this is interesting! Is it your project? " | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| JamesWarren | "Thanks @nanocastro - I would be very happy to see your documentation in Spanish or English, we'd very much like to trial the system where there is ..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| nanocastro | "Hi @JamesWarren We have changed the wifi communication for bluetooth and its is possible to save the data into the an SD card. You can find some pi..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| JamesWarren | "Hi - would it be possible to adapt your MACA system to work in conditions whereby: there is no WiFi - we'd like to data log the data into a memory ..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| zengirl2 | "@cfastie love the MacGyver example--laughed so hard at this. @warren ty for bringing this up during the recent weekly call. I knew this language ra..." | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| warren | "Interesting!!! " | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| xose | "Just found this on my sunday net random navigation. Laser PM2.5 Air Quality Sensor For Arduino. £50GBP At the core there's this sensor SKU:SEN0177 " | Read more » | over 6 years ago | |||
| warren | "That'd be amazing. Thanks so much! " | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| nanocastro | "HI @warren sure I can post the notes on the #shinyei in a different post, maybe as an answer of your question https://publiclab.org/q/15751... We h..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "This is such a great post about the #shinyei sensor and its limitations and how best to work with it. We'd love to feature your work with the shiny..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Collecting notes on different sensors here! https://publiclab.org/q/15751 " | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Moving some text from the #particle-sensing page by @DavidMack -- thanks, David! Trying to consolidate some scattered info on this across the site ..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Oh, that plotter looks great! Thanks for sharing! So, there are a lot of people out there teaching each other to make great visualizations in the ..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| cfastie | "I have not used graphing for live debugging because I didn't know how easy it was to do. I use the live serial monitor in the Arduino IDE all the t..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Hi, @cfastie - do you think this could be adapted pretty easily for live debugging from a #nano-data-logger or #mini-pearl-logger ? " | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "I also proposed this p5js sketch as an example for the p5js web editor: https://github.com/processing/p5.js-web-editor/issues/529 " | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| aldehyde | "Hi. What kind of Framework (for Participatory PM2.5) can use for creating monitoring cities? " | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| aldehyde | "Hey folk, What kind of Framework (for Participatory PM2.5) can use for creating monitoring cities? " | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| liz | "This is so helpful and readable -- a gift! thank you! " | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| guolivar | "I tried to put a long answer here but it kept throwing errors so I wrote a note with my thoughts on this issue: https://publiclab.org/notes/guoliv..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Wig Zamore also chimed in on the mailing list: Hi Jeff - My guess is that if Weather Underground and EPA and CARB have been involved the product i..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago | |||
| BrandonFeenstra | "If you would like to learn more about Air Quality Sensors and their performance against regulatory instrumentation, I would recommend a visit to th..." | Read more » | almost 7 years ago |