Sensors for Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality Monitoring: From Research to Citizen Science Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Monitoring exposure to air pollution is a critical component in policy discussion. In this regard, over the last 40 to 50 years, most industrialized countries have established robust and costly systems for air quality monitoring in cities. Nevertheless, this technology is not widely distributed or easily accessible for installation and manipulation, leading to a lack of air quality information for many cities and countries.

Since the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the concerns of the general public with regard to the indoor and outdoor quality of the air have become more evident. This is in accordance with recent studies suggesting that the spread of SARS-CoV-2 viruses via aerosol particles (especially those smaller than 1 micron) could be among the main reasons for multiple infections occurring in densely populated indoor environments (i.e., schools, hospitals, offices, restaurants, and public transport), and in highly polluted cities.

In order to address this growing demand from citizens and the scientific community, the potential of "low-cost" environmental sensors for indoor and outdoor air pollution monitoring has been intensively explored from different approaches. Among the most important approaches is the use of sensors for citizen science projects as a tool to involve citizens and policy makers in the measurement process and raise awareness of the problems caused by breathing polluted air. On the other hand, in a highly sophisticated approach, the use of small, affordable and portable sensors for the detection of air pollutants in indoor and outdoor environments is being carefully studied by many scientists in academia.

This "Sensors for Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality Monitoring: From scientific research to citizen science applications" Special Issue aims to collect articles to share information on how sensor developments can be used in new and innovative applications.

Dr. Rodrigo Gibilisco
Prof. Dr. Antonio Caggiano
Guest Editors

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