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Showing posts from May, 2018

Comparing PurpleAir Sensors With Expensive Government Monitors

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During the Summer of 2017 the interior of British Columbia experienced an unprecedented forest fire season with wood smoke bathing much of the province in particulate pollution. In Kamloops and elsewhere, community groups and individuals have been setting up low-cost air quality sensors made by companies like PurpleAir and more recently SensorUp . How do these sensors compare to government air quality monitors which often cost hundreds of times more? Below is an overview comparing three of several PurpleAir sensors in Kamloops to the government monitor located on the Kamloops Federal Building with respect to PM2.5 levels during the months of July and August 2017. For comparison purposes, two PurpleAir sensors are within 1km of the Kamloops Federal Building. Here's what the government monitor yielded during this timeframe based on a one hour averaging period. Below is the same averaging period for the PurpleAir sensors located on Lorne Street and Strathcona Terrace