AIRduino: On-Demand Atmospheric Secondary Organic Aerosol Measurements with a Mobile Arduino Multisensor
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide To empower high school and undergraduate students to become citizen scientists, we describe the design, construction, and operation of a multisensor device based on Arduino microcontroller technology to record atmospheric measurements relevant to secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). The handheld “AIRduino” multisensor device was built and deployed by undergraduate and high school students to simultaneously measure the concentrations of ozone (O 3 ), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), temperature, humidity, and aerosol particulate matter with 2.5 and 10 μm diameters (PM 2.5 and PM 10 ). Paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth, the data are streamed in real-time to an app interface for on-demand SOA profiling, and the results are recorded with on-board storage using a storage device (SD) card. Furthermore, the AIRduino SOA measurements are calibrated with the regional atmospheric data from the CAPABLE site at the NASA Langley Research Center. Subsequently, the regional chemistry composition was monitored for several days with the AIRduino device to correlate gas-phase molecule concentrations to the formation of aerosols. The mobile AIRduino multisensor device is low-cost and readily accessible for students, thus making it an ideal vehicle to obtain crowd-sourced SOA measurements and to foster excitement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Source: Journal of Chemical Education
Authors: Kelly A. Rodriguez-Vasquez, Aaron M. Cole, Desislava Yordanova, Rachel Smith, Nathanael M. Kidwell
Institution: William & Mary
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3000384939