Sensors and systems for air quality assessment monitoring and management: A review

J Environ Manage. 2021 Jul 1:289:112510. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.112510. Epub 2021 Apr 4.

Abstract

Air quality (AQ) is a global concern for human health management. Therefore, air quality monitoring (AQM) and its management is a must-needed activity for the current world environment. A systematic review of various sensors and systems for AQ management may strengthen our understanding of the monitoring and management of AQ. Thus, the current review presents details on sensors/systems available for AQ assessment, monitoring, and management. First, we had gone through the published literature based on special keywords including AQM, Particulate Matter (PM), Carbon Mono-oxide (CO), Sulfur di-Oxide (SO2), and Nitrogen di-Oxide (NO2) among others, and identified the current scenario of research in AQ management. We discussed various sensors/systems available for the AQ management based on self-conceptualised five major categories including, ground-based AQS (wet chemistry) systems, ground-based digital sensors systems, aerial sensors systems, satellite-based sensors systems, and integrated systems. The prospects in the field of AQ assessment and management (AQA&M) were then discussed in detail. We concluded that the AQA&M can be better achieved by coupling new technologies like ground-based smart sensors, satellite remote sensing sensors, Geospatial technologies, and computational technologies like machine learning, Artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things (IoT). The current work may lead to a junction of information for connecting these sensors/systems, which is expected to be beneficial in future AQ research and management.

Keywords: Air pollution; Air quality management; Air quality sensors; Geo-enabled systems; ML&IoT; Satellite remote sensing.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Systematic Review

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollutants* / analysis
  • Air Pollution* / analysis
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Humans
  • Particulate Matter / analysis

Substances

  • Air Pollutants
  • Particulate Matter