Climate change is driving the call for better monitoring of air pollution threats globally. To address this concern, the World Meteorological Organization has released a new report examining the use of low-cost sensor systems (LCS) to assess levels of air pollution, identify sources and to support air quality strategies to reduce pollution.

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution leads to 7 million deaths every year. The organization noted that mounting evidence links ambient and household air pollution to various health outcomes like non-communicable diseases including respiratory, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, cancer, low birth weight, diabetes, cognitive impairment and mental health impacts.

LCS can fill gaps in existing global and local air quality monitoring networks and contribute information for policy-relevant air quality strategies, according to the report.

Recent wide-scale deployments of LCS have been made in low- and middle-income countries, according to the report, where they often provide air quality information in regions lacking the more traditional and expensive reference grade monitors. 

In high-income countries, they supplement existing reference grade monitors with more localized, near real-time air quality information such as monitoring fire and smoke or vehicle emissions on busy roads.


Source: World Meteorological Organization

“Air quality forecasting involving low-cost sensors is an increasingly important field due to its potential to support widespread monitoring and early warning systems, particularly in areas lacking more traditional monitors,” said Sara Basart, WMO scientific officer and one of the report's authors. “Air quality forecasting is important to support effective decision-making to manage air quality impacts, especially regarding human health. They are an important additional tool that can be harnessed at the community level to make a real difference in people’s lives,” she said.

The report was produced by WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch network in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project and international experts on technical and application areas. 

“Life begins and is sustained with breath, but too many around the world are suffering health problems and death due to breathing dirty air," said Richard Munang, head of global environment monitoring systems and early warning for environment unit at UNEP. "Data-driven policy action toward combating air pollution is critical for efforts to improve global air quality—the more tools we have to support this, the greater our chances of recreating healthy environments for all life on earth,” he said.