Advancing Urban Microclimate Monitoring: The Development of an Environmental Data Measurement Station Using a Low-Tech Approach

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

See the Attachment

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Fine

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

In my opinion this paper describes a very interesting approach on how to establish a meteorological weather network especially studying the urban heat island. It is clear that it is very important to do all these actions keeping an affordable cost so that the main task is to find the equivalent sensors with the less potential errors in the market. Even if this work would fit better to MDPI Sensors I think that is very well structured and the reader has the interest to find out what is happening when building such a network. I am also very pleased with the use of LoRa technology for the sensors communication. I think that the total description and validation of the methodology is very well described and I would feel sure that the paper is worth publication.

Please only correct the first column of Table 5

Thank you

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2,

We sincerely appreciate your positive feedback on our manuscript.

We would like to provide clarification regarding the choice of journal for our article. We submitted our manuscript to Sustainability because it addresses a special issue specifically focused on the theme of Urban Climate Monitoring, Mitigation, and Adaptation. This aligns closely with the scope of our research, which is why we opted for Sustainability instead of Sensors for this particular article. For further information about the special issue, we invite you to visit the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/18713C8GTC.

Regarding your request, we have revised Table 5 to enhance clarity, as suggested. We believe that the remodeled table improves the readability and understanding of the data presented.

Once again, we appreciate your thoughtful assessment of our work, and we are grateful for your recommendation for publication.

Sincerely,

Alexandre Lefevre

Bruno Malet-Damour

Harry Boyer

Garry Rivière

Reviewer 3 Report

There is no doubt about the objective of this investigation, which sought the best combination in terms of cost x benefit between different types of sensors to obtain quality data on temperature, humidity, wind speed and solar radiation, at the best possible price without loss of quality, has its importance.

However, some situations leave me with doubts:

1- Is it possible to follow this assembly pattern anywhere on the planet?

2- Are all these sensors easily found in countries outside Europe and North America (United States and Canada, mainly), for example?

3- What is the estimated average time for maintenance of these stations?

4- How to convince public managers who often prefer to acquire complete stations, in batches, from large companies already consolidated in this market?

Based on your answers to these questions, try to insert them into your manuscript.

Some minor questions:

- why do Figures 2 and 3 not have results from all sensors for the five scenarios?

- better explain some technical acronyms that appear suddenly in the manuscript, such as KIMO C310; INA219; Gerber; pick and place, etc.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Good afternoon, dear authors! Thank you very much for your manuscript, it is very interesting and expands our understanding of the use of low-cost sensors for environmental observations.

I believe that the work is sufficiently developed in its current form, but I would like to clarify a few details.

1) you focused on the calibration of your instruments at positive temperatures. Do you have the opportunity to supplement the analysis with the behavior of higher sensors at subzero air temperatures, of course, at least in laboratory conditions. This would greatly enhance the practical application of your work.

2) similar low-cost sensors have recently been increasingly used to analyze the quality of atmospheric air. Therefore, wind direction becomes a critical parameter. Have you thought about adding a wind direction measuring unit to the existing complex?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors did a significant work on the manuscript. All the remarks of the reviewer were taken into account in the final version of the article. There are no additional comments. The manuscript can be recommended for publication in the journal Sustainability in the presented form.

Fine

Reviewer 3 Report

Thank you for your helpful point-by-point answers. This has improved the quality of the information.

Reviewer 4 Report

Dear Authors!

Thank you for the quick and complete answers to my questions.

I hope that in the future you will be able to expand the functionality of your station and make it more suitable for environmental problems.