## Choosing Sensors Often the first step is to look for a sensor for what you're hoping to measure. In the community posts below, we're collecting info on different kinds of air quality sensors, and their: * cost * sensitivity/accuracy * links and documentation Can you afford a sensor? Can it detect what you're looking for? Where can you learn more about it? ### Posts about choosing and evaluating an air sensor [notes:grid:air-sensor-eval] ### Expected ranges and useful detection limits for pollutants of interest This [table](https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/air_sensors_webinar_slides_06-29-16.pdf) from an EPA [Air Quality Monitoring and Community Science webinar](https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/air_sensors_webinar_slides_06-29-16.pdf) lists the six criteria air pollutants and a couple additional pollutants, with background levels you might see in the environment in the “Range to Expect” column and useful detection limits for sensors. **** ## Wikis about air sensors [wikis:air-sensors] ## Air sensor projects Public Lab pages and posts tagged `air-sensor-projects` will appear here [nodes:air-sensor-projects] ## Questions [questions:air-sensors] ## Further reading and resources + Environmental consultant Tim Dye’s “[4 questions to ask before buying an air quality sensor](http://tdenviro.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/4-questions-when-buying-air-sensors.pdf)” neatly summarizes what to consider when choosing an air sensor. + [Snuffle.org](http://www.snuffle.org/): lots of information on low-cost sensors for various air pollutants. + [Air Quality Sensor Performance Evaluation Center (AQ-SPEC)](http://www.aqmd.gov/aq-spec/evaluations): from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, this program tests and evaluates air sensors “in the field, under ambient conditions, and in the laboratory under controlled environmental conditions.” + [Air Sensor Toolbox](https://www.epa.gov/air-sensor-toolbox): from the US Environmental Protection Agency, this toolbox includes guidance on how to use air sensors and their data, plus information on sensor performance and evaluation results. ...
| Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| david_uwi | "I've come back to this after doing a bit more research on the subject. First as the device has sensitive op-amps which are exposed I have put an el..." | Read more » | over 4 years ago | |||
| lord_of_all_sebastian | "Haha yeah it was very surprising. Before I opened it I figured it was just a little dust. " | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| liz | "haha! Were you surprised??? " | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| lord_of_all_sebastian | "I had the same exact problem with my PMS 7003 sensor! I was getting suspiciously high particulate matter readings on a very clear day. I found this..." | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "TRRS plugs (4-pin plugs) are not super consistent, but this worked for me. I'll try to upload another pic with the exact pins of the jack also shown! " | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "Here's a pic of a WebJack plug (using a 4-pin jack) attached to pins 3 and 6 of the #Simple-Air-Sensor, which has WebJack installed by default: ..." | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| exoticbuz | "Wow amazing article dear, I found what I was looking for, thanks for sharing this information " | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "Hi @crispinpierce - that's great to hear about your interest in the SD card logging. I'll see what we can get together. The images showed up perfe..." | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| crispinpierce | "Hi @Warren, Thanks so much for the quick follow up. Here are photos of the unit fully plugged together, showing white after several minutes of warm..." | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| exoticirfan | "Medicines to get periods " | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "Hi, @crispinpierce - can you check that the white connecter is fully inserted? I noticed the white light happens also when that cable comes loose. ..." | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| crispinpierce | "Thanks @Warren (and @Stevie) for this info. Recently I fully charged the battery bar but after plugging in the "traffic light" sensor, the display ..." | Read more » | almost 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "Wow, I wouldn't have guessed that it'd show green with low power (i.e. no reading from the sensor, i'd imagine), so hearing that it turned white in..." | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| OrionAllgaier | "Hi Stevie, I was was there for that. To the best of my memory the simple air sensor turned on and displayed white light compared to the normal gre..." | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| warren | "I haven't seen this happen in part because it runs a /long/ time on a battery, but I have seen it when running on a solar panel without enough sunl..." | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| stevie | "@OrionAllgaier were you there for this? can you shed some more light on what happened? " | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| stevie | " I recently heard from a community member that "we had another embarrassing moment when the “power bar” battery apparently didn’t have enough energ..." | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| agenbolaindo | " Judi Bola Sbobet adalah permainan judi bola online yang selalu menarik untuk diikuti dan di pelajari. Dengan analisa yang baik setiap orang pasti ..." | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| kkoerner | " Sure thing, I'll see if I can get something written up within the next week. " | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| liz | "For future readers of this thread, @samr did repost here: https://publiclab.org/questions/samr/04-07-2019/how-to-interpret-pms5003-sensor-values " | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| liz | " Hi @kkoerner, you wrote above that "Taking apart a PurpleAir and swapping out sensors is relatively easy, if there's a desire for a similar guide ..." | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| warren | " Hi @samr, would you be able to repost your last questions on https://publiclab.org/purpleair#Questions, and we can then try to get the word out a ..." | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| samr | " hi. we are trying to use the pms5003 sensor for a school project to take air quality measurements. We don't have much experience with air qualit..." | Read more » | about 5 years ago | |||
| SadiePrego | "Definitely! " | Read more » | about 5 years ago |