Instruction Guide and Macro Analysis Tool: Evaluating Air Sensors by Collocation with Federal Reference Monitors
EPA has developed two tools for evaluating the performance of air sensors and interpreting the data they collect to help participatory scientists, communities, and professionals learn about local air quality.
Excel-based Macro Analysis Tool for Air Sensor Data
EPA’s Excel-based macro analysis tool was created to help community scientists and other non-experts compare data from air sensors with data from regulatory monitors and interpret their results. The tool allows users to input data from air sensors and regulatory monitors for comparison, even if the data sets don’t have matching time-date stamps or have different data reporting time intervals. This tool addresses one of the major hurdles in community-led air monitoring projects – working with and understanding the data.
Instruction Guide: How to Evaluate an Air Sensor by Collocation with Federal Reference Monitors
EPA has developed an instruction guide on conducting a successful collocation evaluation of air sensors with regulatory grade monitors. The instruction guide contains links to web-based supporting materials and introduces users to EPA’s Excel-based macro analysis tool for comparing and interpreting air sensor data.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of using the Guide and Analysis Tool?
Air sensors make it possible for participants to collect air quality data in their own communities, but they still require instruction for optimal results. While air sensors can measure many of the same air pollutants that regulatory monitors measure, they aren’t required to meet the same rigorous standards of accuracy and reliability. Understanding how to collocate air sensors with regulatory monitors and compare their results ensures that data from the air sensors is on par with federal standards.
Who should use these tools?
While EPA developed each of these tools to be suitable for participatory scientists and communities, they are also useful to the broader air sensor user community, both experts and non-experts. Furthermore, the Macro Analysis Tool can be used to compare datasets beyond the specific collocation application it was designed for, such as comparing data from one air sensor to another.
How were these tools developed?
The tools were developed as part of a community-led air sensor evaluation project that began during 2016. During the year-long project, EPA partnered with one community group (Clean Air Carolina) and one tribal nation (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) to conduct a sensor performance evaluation using their choice of air sensors. Both project partner groups used the tools and gave feedback on how to better tailor them for users.
