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Abstract:
>22 low-cost sensors (LCS) which have been characterized in the laboratory and field are currently installed in Leipzig, Germany. The network covers an area of 2x2 km2 with residential and commercial buildings, main roads, and city parks. This winter, the performance of these LCS to capture the increased contribution of wood burning to local air pollution in terms of PM2.5 and PM10 was evaluated. In addition to regular air quality monitoring stations (AQMS), mobile measurements (MM) of black carbon (BC) and PM with an instrumented backpack are done for increased spatial coverage and validation of the LCS sensors. MM is done twice a day: during non-heating and heating hours, avoiding peak traffic rush hours. </p>Results show that the diurnal pattern of PM from the LCS captured the increased PM concentrations during heating hours (from 17:00 until after midnight) – consistent with measurements from AQMS across the city. From the MM, the increase in PM is homogenous in space, more so than BC – which is more influenced by traffic hotspots. Despite this agreement, some sensors failed under very high relative humidity and low temperatures. Nevertheless, the LCS network was able to capture the changes in local air pollution and is a cost-effective way of increasing spatial coverage to complement regular AQMS. The winter campaign, including measurements of levoglucosan, a tracer for wood burning, and ultrafine particles will continue until the end of March, which will provide a more detailed characterization of the contribution of wood burning to local air pollution. This work is co-financed with tax funds on the basis of the budget passed by the Saxon State Parliament with funding number 100582357.
