In this dissertation, we demonstrate the application of low-cost air quality sensors to better understanding our local environment. Specifically, my work has focused on the application of arrays of low-cost sensors and methods of analysis that improve our ability to attribute local sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Low-cost sensors have been widely applied to the study of air quality at smaller spatial and temporal scales than was previously feasible. The research that is detailed in Chapter 2 built upon existing low-cost sensor research in order to develop an approach to both quantifying the concentrations of several compounds and also classifying the mixture based on the source that is likely to have emitted the detected gases. This research involved a chamber study where a large sensor array was exposed to complex gas mixtures that simulated realistic pollution sources. These data were used to validate the proposed methodology that involved a two-step process to accomplish the quantification and classification goals. The results of this approach show the feasibility of using low-cost sensors to directly estimate the effect of local sources of VOCs based on their chemical fingerprints.</p
