Researchers use a low-cost sensor network to dynamically monitor air quality during a volcanic eruption. Extreme air quality episodes, including wildfires and volcanic eruptions, pose widespread threats to public health but are largely unpredictable and, hence, difficult to study. Ben Crawford and colleagues built and deployed a network of low-cost sensor nodes to measure sulfur dioxide and particulate matter concentrations in volcanic smog produced by the 2018 eruption of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii. A total of 16 nodes continuously monitored air quality during 2 weeks of eruption, covering a total of over 70,000 people living within 5 kilometers of a node. The highest sulfur dioxide concentrations were observed immediately downwind of the eruption, peaking at an hourly measurement of over 1,200 parts per billion, whereas the highest hourly concentrations of particulate matter were observed further downwind. Compared with conventional air quality stations, the small size, low cost, and rapid deployment of these sensors enable fine-scale measurements of pollutant concentrations as well as monitoring of plume chemical evolution over time. Additionally, the distributed nature of the network makes the monitoring system resilient, given that two nodes were lost to lava flow, according to the authors.
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Article #2020-25540 "Mapping pollution exposure and chemistry during an extreme air quality event (the 2018 Kilauea eruption) using a low-cost sensor network," by Ben Crawford, Jesse H. Kroll, et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Ben Crawford, University of Colorado, Denver, CO; tel: 303-315-7586, 720-579-2179; email: < benjamin.crawford@ucdenver.edu >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences