Air Quality Monitoring Solution | Clarity Movement Co.

FAQ - Air Quality Monitoring

Air Pollution/Pollutants

What are the most common air pollutants?

The most common air pollutants are Particulate Matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5), Ozone (O₃), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂), Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂).

Particulate matter (PM) is a common & impactful air pollutant resulting primarily from combustion, including industrial activities, vehicles, & wildfires. Particulate matter differs greatly in its concentration and composition across the world but has a significant impact on public health in most countries. It is classified according to the size of its particles, the smaller categorization of which — PM_2.5 — accounts for much of the pollutant’s detrimental effect on human and environmental health. Although the effects of PM are well studied, it remains in excess of benchmark levels for a large majority of the world’s population, prompting the need to take action in order to achieve cleaner air. Learn more about Particulate Matter here.
Ozone (O₃), occurs both in the upper atmosphere and at the ground level. While it is a helpful substance in the upper atmosphere — forming a layer around the Earth to protect the planet’s surface from the sun’s ultraviolet rays — ozone acts as a pollutant at the ground level, causing negative effects on human and environmental health. Also known as ambient or tropospheric ozone, ground-level ozone is the primary component of the type of air pollution commonly referred to as smog. It is a colorless gas that is composed of three atoms of oxygen. Learn more about Ozone here.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is a subtype of a class of air pollutants known as nitrogen oxides. It primarily results from fuel combustion from sources such as motor vehicles and industrial activities. Nitrogen dioxide has significant impacts on human and environmental health, most notably when it comes to respiratory and cardiovascular health. Learn more about Nitrogen Dioxide here.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas formed by the incomplete combustion of fuel. It is very dangerous as it can displace the oxygen in human body and lead to deadly poisoning. It is produced from fuel-burning appliances,
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) is an air pollutant composed primarily of sulfur and oxygen. It results from combustion of coal, oil or diesel. It causes harmful effects on the lungs.

What causes air pollution?

There are two types of air pollution causes: natural sources and human-caused (AKA anthropogenic) sources.

- Natural events can cause air pollution such as wind that carries dust and gases in locations with little green cover to absorb it, living beings release gases such as oxygen from plants during photosynthesis or methane from cattle but also volcanic eruptions, smoke, and ashes from wildfires.

- Human-caused air pollution comes from various human activities including burning fossil fuels, agriculture, transportation, electricity, and industries. These activities result in emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter.

What are the health impacts of air pollution?

Air pollution affects nearly every area of the human body — from head to toe. It is a major environmental risk factor for a slew of diseases, from Alzheimer’s disease to lung cancer to osteoporosis, and can significantly lower lifespan and quality of life. Air pollution accounts for extensive damage to public health, while its exposure impacts everyone, its damage is not distributed equally. Children, elderly individuals, those with pre-existing conditions, and those living in low socioeconomic neighborhoods or environmental justice communities bear a disproportionate burden of its impacts — emphasizing the need to protect vulnerable populations by taking better care of our air quality.

In general, the wide-reaching damage caused by air pollution is thought to be a result of the systemic inflammation it causes. It can impacts various body parts including the eyes, brain, lungs, heart, stomach, liver, bones and reproductive organs… Learn more about the health impact of air pollution here.

About Air Sensors

What’s the difference between air sensors and traditional air monitoring technology such as federal reference and federal equivalent methods (FRM & FEM)?

Stationary Air Sensors
In terms of both spatial and temporal resolution, stationary low-cost air quality sensors fall in the middle-ground between traditional and mobile monitoring. It is a broad category including a large variety of low-cost sensors with an equally wide range of performance. Some low-cost sensors are marketed for both indoor and outdoor use and are best suited to home use by individual consumers. Other low-cost sensors — such as those we provide here at Clarity — place importance on not only the actual sensing technology but also the services that ensure its success. Calibrating the devices throughout their deployment, as well as integrating them with a cloud platform to provide scalability when building a network, ensures more accurate, effective, and user-friendly air quality monitoring. Learn more here.

‍Federal Reference or Federal Equivalent Methods (FRM/FEM) are government reference-grade air quality monitors, they represent the scientific standard for air quality monitoring. They have strict standards for measurement performance and are typically used to support air quality decision-making, policymaking, and evaluation of attainment of regulatory standards at both state and federal levels.

Traditional FRM and FEM monitoring equipment come with a big price tag, with a typical purchase price of $15,000 to $40,000 per monitor. Properly operating the instrumentation often requires a temperature-controlled environment and routine calibration and maintenance require skilled technicians resulting in even higher operating costs; the annual cost to operate an FRM can often exceed the substantial purchase cost. Learn more about FRM/FEM monitoring here.

About Clarity Solutions

Why Sensing-as-a-Service?

Clarity offers a full-service ambient air quality monitoring solution, with unmatched hardware, software, and customer support. Used in more than 70 countries around the world, Clarity's Sensing-as-a-Service solution empowers you with continuous monitoring and accurate, calibrated data — so you can focus on the important work.

What is optical sensing?

Optical sensing is a methodology to measure pollutants by detecting light intensity. It is an electronic detector that converts light into an electronic signal. For example, when a particle present in the air crosses the laser beam, it is illuminated and it scatters light. The photodiode receives the scattered light and the signal reads high and therefore indicated its presence.

Why a subscription model?

We provide an all-in-one yearly subscription model that includes the hardware, software, and dedicated customer support:
Hardware: Self-powered Clarity Node-S hardware measures pollutant levels with optional wind, ozone and black carbon modules.
Software: Access real-time pollutant levels data through the Clarity Dashboard, REST API, and Clarity OpenMap
Support: Get a dedicated account manager for your air quality monitoring project and data support

Node-S overview

The Clarity Node-S measures particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) It is self-powered, FCC/CE certified, UV-resistant, and weatherproof.

A truly self-sufficient IoT air quality monitoring system with solar harvesting, internal battery, and global cellular communications, the Clarity Node-S accommodates site-specific requirements according to the customer’s needs, not the other way around. In fact, we’re so confident in the Node-S’s ability to amaze, our solution comes with free hardware replacements.

‍Access the Node-S technical specifications sheet here.

Wind Module overview

The Clarity Wind Module measures the 2-dimensional horizontal components of wind speed and direction, providing you better insight into where air pollution is coming from — and where it is headed.

This lightweight and durable sensor is made of molded thermoplastic for high performance in even extreme climates with harsh UV and weather conditions.

Powered by the native solar panel of its companion Node-S device, the Clarity Wind Module is a truly plug-and-play solution for better source attribution and improved air quality modeling.

Learn more about the Wind Module here and access the full Technical Specifications here.

Ozone Module overview

The Ozone Module provides accurate measurements of ozone in air over a wide dynamic range extending from a few parts-per-billion by volume (ppb) to an upper limit of 100 parts-per-million (ppm) based on the well-established technique of absorption of ultraviolet light at 254 nm.

It integrates seamlessly into Clarity networks with an ozone monitoring technology that has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a modification of Federal Equivalent Method (FEM): EQOA-0914-218. The Ozone Module is well suited for use by states and other monitoring agencies under 40 CFR Part 58, Ambient Air Quality Surveillance, for monitoring for compliance with the Clean Air Act.

Learn more about the Ozone Module here and access the full technical specifications here.

Black Carbon Module overview

Coming soon! The Black Carbon Module helps you better understand the composition of particulates. Learn more here.

Sensing-as-a-Service℠ air quality monitoring

Overview of Clarity air quality monitoring solutions

Why Sensing-as-a-Service℠ for air pollution monitoring?

Easily deployed air monitoring devices

Cloud data management & visualization

Expert air quality project support

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The future of air quality monitoring is modular

Black Carbon Module

Multi-Gas Module

Wind & Met Module

FAQ - Air Quality Monitoring

Air Pollution/Pollutants

About Air Sensors

About Clarity Solutions