Air quality monitoring is undergoing a technological revolution that enables community groups and individual citizens to measure air quality with “air sensors.” These new devices are less expensive and easier to deploy than traditional, federally managed air monitors. To help communities collect accurate data with air sensors, the Bay Air Center developed a portable Sensor Verification System (SVS) to quantify the performance of sensors relative to reference (or near reference) instruments.
The SVS is a self-contained, portable, weather-resistant, and easy-to-operate instrument system. It can be set up in less than ten minutes and moved from one site to another in a vehicle or truck. SVS measures the following pollutants and weather parameters:
- Ozone (O3)
- Nitrogen pollutant (NO2)
- Particulate Matter (PM2.5)
- Black Carbon (BC)
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Wind speed
- Wind direction