Air Quality Sensing

The Challenge

In recent years, increasing numbers of motor vehicles and higher population densities have raised air quality concerns across the state.

Due to sudden environmental changes, ozone concentrations in NSW recently increased beyond acceptable levels, creating health concerns for the local community. Ready access to accurate air quality data can help government and communities take action to prevent and mitigate air quality degradation.

The Solution

With funding from the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage (OEH), NSSN researchers at the University of Sydney (Ben Eggleton, Tomonori Hu and Alvaro Casas-Bedoya) developed low-cost optical particle sensors that use light to detect particles in the air.

Building on existing technologies, the team developed compact/portable sensors with a high degree of accuracy. Such sensors could be deployed in large arrays to provide more comprehensive information on air quality in real-time.   

Engineering, testing and validating this technology was carried out in labs at the University of Sydney and in the field in Sydney. 

The project is also drawing upon NSSN expertise in integrated photonics that enable nano-scale sensors. This innovative research will lead to further miniaturisation of sensors that will fit inside devices like smart phones, enabling citizens to measure local air quality and feed that information into a mass network of deployed air quality sensors.