Smart Sensors: Tackling Urban Air Pollution with Arduino Technology

Abstract

Over the past few decades, there has been a rapid growth in transportation facilities. While these developments are designed to serve humanity and simplify life, they also pose significant environmental challenges. Chief among these is severe environmental pollution, which has led to atmospheric deterioration, climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, loss of biodiversity, and changes in hydrological systems. This paper explores the use of Arduino technology to measure pollutant concentrations at specific locations, with the data being sent to authorities regularly.

When pollutants exceed prescribed limits, a warning message is sent via GSM, enabling traffic regulation or rerouting to manage air quality effectively.

Arduino, a single-board microcontroller, facilitates the creation of interactive applications with its hardware features, which include open-source design around an 8-bit Atmel AVR microcontroller or a 32-bit Atmel ARM. Current models include a USB interface, six analog input pins, and 14 digital I/O pins, allowing users to attach various extension boards.

Introduction

Air pollution is an urgent environmental issue, resulting in the concentration of air pollutants in urban areas and megacities due to increasing global urbanization. Major sources of these toxic emissions include transportation, road traffic, home heating, and industrial emissions, releasing harmful substances like nitrogen oxides (NOx), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), greenhouse gases, particulate matter, aerosols, dust, heavy metals, and pollens. Prolonged exposure to these pollutants can cause irreversible damage to human health, with the World Health Organization (WHO) identifying air pollution as a significant health risk factor, linked to skin and eye infections, heart diseases, bronchitis, asthma, and lung cancer. Moreover, it contributes to premature deaths and environmental issues like acid rain, photochemical smog, ozone layer depletion, and global warming.

Effective air pollution control and monitoring are crucial for implementing abatement strategies and raising public environmental awareness. While traditional air quality monitoring stations are precise, they are often expensive and bulky, limiting their deployment and spatial resolution. Thus, integrating low-cost yet accurate sensors into wireless networks distributed across smart cities offers a promising solution for real-time monitoring, supporting decision-making, and informing the public.

Air Pollution Standards

Air pollution poses a considerable health threat, especially to children, causing diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults and acute lower respiratory tract infections in young children, resulting in over two million annual deaths. Of the 384 hazardous gases identified, six—carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ground-level ozone, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and lead—are particularly dangerous and known as "common air pollutants." Table 1.1 outlines their concentration limits.

Literature Survey

Historically, government regulations on vehicle emissions have struggled to achieve desired outcomes. In India, the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment & Forests sets standards, with Bharat stage emission standards regulating air pollutants from combustion engines. These standards began in 1991 for petrol and 1992 for diesel vehicles, subsequently mandating catalytic converters and unleaded petrol. Despite these measures, compliance challenges have persisted, highlighting the need for effective monitoring and regulatory frameworks.

Proposed Method

The environmental air pollution monitoring system employs an Arduino Uno board, powered sensors, a GSM module, an LCD display, and a buzzer. Sensors like MQ-135 and MQ-7 detect specific gases, with the Arduino board processing and displaying data. The system alerts authorities when pollutant levels exceed limits, facilitating responsive traffic management.

Algorithm and Flowchart

The system's operation follows a step-by-step algorithm, starting with sensor data declaration and calibration, calculating gas concentrations, and activating alerts if limits are exceeded. This process ensures continuous monitoring and timely interventions.

Results

The system effectively measured pollutant concentrations in Vijayawada, sending alerts when limits were breached. For instance, at the Municipal Corporation Guest House, CO levels were monitored, with alerts issued when thresholds were exceeded, demonstrating the system's efficacy. The data collected aligns well with that from the Pollution Control Board, validating its accuracy.

Conclusion

The sensor-based air pollution monitoring system, utilizing a wireless sensor network, proves cost-effective and efficient for measuring pollutant gases like CO2 and NO2. By transmitting data to a central server, the system provides valuable insights into air quality, aiding governmental authorities in regulatory compliance and public health protection. Employing WHO guidelines, it evaluates health risks, presenting data in an accessible format to enhance public understanding of air pollution's impact.

In conclusion, the integration of affordable sensor technology into air quality monitoring systems offers a scalable solution for urban environments, contributing to improved public health outcomes and environmental sustainability.

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