In this pilot phase, there will be 15 sites, each with a set of sensors. Most sites are located in South Baltimore, but we are also planning to located sensors across the city to understand how air pollution varies by space and socioeconomic variables. 

The Sensors

The sensor box contains multiple sensors that measure the following air pollutants: particulate pollution, ozone, and carbon dioxide. Want to learn more about these air pollutants? Check out the “About Air Pollution and Monitoring” page.

The choice of sensors is based on community concerns, and the final design and configuration will incorporate community input after the initial testing and deployment. For example, at many of the identified sites, power sources are not readily available and solar capabilities have been incorporated into the sensor logger design. 

Focus of the sensor design is 1) accessibility, 2) easy of use, and 3) comparability with other sensor systems. For the first round of testing, data will need to be manually downloaded; however, in future iterations we hope to enable wireless data transfer to speed up the data back piece.