Air Quality Monitoring

The air quality around the world is worsening over the years due to increased emissions, posing a threat to human health and the environment. Air quality monitors that have sensors detect pollutants in the air using lasers or satellite imaging. This technology helps detect pollutants in the air and determine the level of pollution in the air for the purpose of assessing the risks (1).

Air pollutants can be both anthropogenic and natural. Anthropogenic air pollutants include emissions from the use of fossil fuels in cars and cooking. Natural air pollutants include dust storms and wild fires. The main air pollutants that affect human health include PM2.5, PM10, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. The Air Quality Index (AQI) measures the density of air pollutants. The AQI ranges from 0 to 500. An AQI reading less than 50 is healthy, while an AQI reading greater than 100 is unhealthy. In 2021, only 38 out of 117 regions were healthy in terms of air quality. The WHO Ambient Air Quality Database collects data from ground-level measurements of particulate matter of a diameter equal to or smaller than 2.5, 10, and 1 micrograms per cubic meter, and nitrogen dioxide. The data is collected from thousands of urban and rural backgrounds, residential areas, commercial and industrial areas worldwide to assess human exposure to air pollution and monitor Sustainable Development Goal 11.6.2: Urban Air Quality (2, 3). Traditional air quality monitoring techniques face challenges in terms of spatial coverage and the time taken for sample collection and analysis. However, the Internet of Things (IoT), drone technology, and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology have made it possible to develop real-time air quality monitoring systems that can provide precise and timely data regarding air quality levels (4).

References:

1. Environment, U. (2025). Beat Pollution. Beat Pollution. //www.unep.org/beatpollution/
2. Air quality database. (2024). Who.int. //www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/air-pollution/who-air-quality-database
3. Ali, M., Ahmad, T., Arshad, G., Alam, P., Ahmad, K., Mazhar, Mohd. A., Aziz, A., & Sheikh, R. A. (2025). Assessment of indoor and outdoor air quality using low-cost sensors and analysing ventilation effect. Discover Environment, 3(1). //doi.org/10.1007/s44274-025-00400-w
4. Ranganathan, R. H., Balusamy, S., Partheeban, P., Mani, C., Sridhar, M., & Rajasekaran, V. (2023). Air Quality Monitoring and Analysis for Sustainable Development of Solid Waste Dump Yards Using Smart Drones and Geospatial Technology. Sustainability, 15(18), 13347. //doi.org/10.3390/su151813347