Measuring the air quality index is a complex process and requires substantial investment in monitoring tools and funds. However, with low-cost sensors, air pollution monitoring can be carried out on a smaller scale with direct impacts on society.

In addition to using lower costs compared to conventional methods, low-cost sensors provide opportunities for communities, NGOs and governments to work together to improve air quality control. As has been done on the pantauudara.org platform, which uses a community-based monitoring system using low-priced sensors and local intermediaries as the main tools for monitoring and distributing information.

PantauAir is part of the Community-Level Air Quality Monitoring pilot project by Kopernik, Pulse Lab Jakarta, UDARA Project ITB, Lembaga Gemawan, and the Indonesia Indah Foundation which has been operating for 18 months in the Galur area, Central Jakarta, surrounded by sources of pollution from vehicles, as well as villages. Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan, an area prone to forest fires.

Cheaper sensor data validation
The low-cost sensor used by the pantauudara.org platform is the PurpleAir PA-II SA which can measure PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10 simultaneously, and can process data and access data remotely and in real-time. To maintain the quality of the data obtained from these inexpensive sensors, the AIR Project ITB team conducted a review of the performance validation of the sensor devices placed at 26 points in the target area.

The study conducted from 2019 to 2020 concluded that local conditions affect the performance of low-cost sensors, so field validation is important to take advantage of various types of low-cost sensors on the market. During the verification period, the UDARA Project installed three PA IIs at the Kelapa Gading location, Jakarta for 52 days and used a comparison of the performance of a type sensor or intra-model validation with the Beta Attenuation Monitor (BAM) tool belonging to the DKI Jakarta Environmental Agency (DLH) for PM2.5 and PM10 data.

The results of the intra-model validation are good and consistent overall, but for PM2.5 there is almost no linear relationship between PA II and BAM data, only showing an accuracy rate of 15%. As for PM10, a moderate - strong correlation was found between PA II and data from BAM with an accuracy rate of 60%.

Giving society an important role
At the beginning of this study, the community around Galur and Kubu Raya Village did not consider air pollution a priority issue because they did not feel that they had a direct impact, information on air pollution and mitigation measures were also not circulated at the village or community level.

Through the website pantauudara.org, PantauAir has a simple feature to share air pollution quality information digitally easily. The community and cadres are used as intermediaries for disseminating information because they are the most effective medium for disseminating health information. Offline activities are also carried out to disseminate information to groups vulnerable to air pollution, namely children, pregnant women and the elderly, especially regarding the importance of wearing masks when leaving the house.

The habit of wearing masks and information about air pollution increased at the urban and rural levels post-socialization. However, interest in the issue of air pollution is quite low due to external factors, namely the first large-scale social distancing regulation in Jakarta which is being implemented, and no forest fires have occurred in West Kalimantan.

Technology and information innovation
Low-cost sensors are indeed the latest innovation to measure air quality at affordable prices for communities and individuals. However, the quality of the data is of course not as reliable as the air monitor used as a reference (reference grade). Research from the ITB AIR team has stated that the accuracy of the low-cost sensor is still far from being a reference-grade monitoring tool. In order to obtain accurate data from low-cost air quality monitoring equipment, regular validation and calibration of the equipment must be carried out.

However, increasing public knowledge and awareness about air pollution is equally important. An information portal with better access to air quality data will create a discussion space for the public to ask questions and join together in taking good steps to address air quality issues.