Air Quality
Importance of Air Quality
Air quality is vitally important to the health and well-being of all residents. More particularly, it is a health concern for people who have sensitivity to air pollution due to respiratory or other conditions. Air pollution can cause illness, as well as damage to buildings and crops, making it a hazard to the environment and the economy.
Key air pollutants measured and accounted for in Air Quality Index calculation are carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and sulfur dioxide. Air pollutants are solid, liquid, or gas particles that are introduced into the Earth’s atmosphere naturally or from human activity such as combustion of fossil fuels oil, gasoline, and natural gas that are burned in power plants, automobiles, and other combustion sources.
Air Quality conditions can vary greatly between different locations within a Local Government Area, and as such there is an opportunity for individuals and organisations, including Local Councils, to augment the existing Air Quality network of data by providing their own measures.
How does it work in the background?
IoT Sensors are measuring presence of key pollutants in the air including carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and sulfur dioxide (SO2).
We are performing some calibration on the raw data received in Ubidots and using historical data.
Air Quality Index is calculated in Ubidots for each pollutant using a Python library, and overall Air Quality Index is determined based on the highest pollutant.