title: Spatio-temporal measurement of indoor particulate matter concentrations using a wireless network of low-cost sensors in households using solid fuels.
abstract: Many households use solid fuels for cooking and heating purposes. There is currently a knowledge gap in our understanding of the variations in indoor air quality throughout the household as most of the studies focus on the areas in the close proximity of the cookstove. A low-cost wireless particulate matter (PM) sensor network was developed and deployed in households in Raipur, India to establish the spatio-temporal variation of PM concentrations. The data from multiple sensors were acquired in real-time with a wireless system. Data collected from the sensors agreed well (R2=0.713) with the reference data collected from a commercially available instrument. Low spatial variability was observed within the kitchen due to its small size and poor ventilation - a common feature of most rural Indian kitchens. Due to insufficient ventilation from open doors and windows, high PM concentrations similar to those found in the kitchen were also found in the adjoining rooms. The same household showed significantly different post-extinguished cookstove PM concentration decay rates (0.26mg/m3-min and 0.87mg/m3-min) on different days, owing to varying natural air exchange rates (7.68m3/min and 37.40m3/min).
authors.affiliation: Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering (CASE), Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
authors.forename: Sameer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering (CASE), Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
authors.forename: Jiayu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering (CASE), Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
authors.forename: Apoorva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.affiliation: School of Studies in Chemistry, Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Amanaka G.E.Road, Raipur, Chhattisgarh 492010, India.
authors.forename: Shamsh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pervez
authors.affiliation: Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering (CASE), Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
authors.forename: Rajan K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Chakrabarty
authors.affiliation: Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering (CASE), Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. Electronic address: pbiswas@wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Pratim
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Biswas
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D003296:Cooking / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D007194:India; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D059015:Wireless Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Cookstoves; Household air pollution; Indoor air quality; Low-cost instrumentation; Spatio-temporal PM(2.5)