The number of low-cost air quality monitors deployed in the selected cities and towns was determined by the size of the area to be monitored and the presence of major emission sources in the city. It was observed that most of the cities being covered by this network do not have the presence of a regulatory air quality monitor to measure air pollution levels.
Several precautions were taken while deploying the low-cost air quality monitors at the selected locations:
- Within each selected city and town, we have attempted to install our monitors at locations which represent commercial, residential and industrial areas of the city or town.
- The height of the monitor from the ground was selected such that the impact of any horizontal obstructions to the air flow is minimal.
- The monitors are placed sufficiently far from any nearby structures to enable uninterrupted air flow.
- The location for each of the monitor has been selected such that it is downwind of any emission sources.
- All monitors are powered by a solar PV module. Suitable battery-back up ensures that there is uninterrupted supply of electricity to power the monitor.
- GPRS-enabled communication system ensures regular transmission of the data recorded to the server end.
