Implementation and analysis of low-cost network for air pollution in Lima and Arequipa

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 81% of the society living in extensive urban areas (UA) that monitor air pollution (AP), they’re “exposed to air quality levels” (AQL) [2] that exceed WHO limits, which has serious effects in public health. According to a latest WHO study, Lima is the second most polluted city in all of South America; and Arequipa due to its geographical location between volcanoes and mining settlements in the city, present a constant disposition of particulate elements that must be investigated in detail, therefore, air quality is an urgent problem that must be faced in cities like this one. Several specific studies have been carried out to analyze the impact of vehicles, for which this network of low-cost sensors in both cities will complement these projects and with twelve sensors will allow the state of Lima (9 sensors) and Arequipa (3 sensors) to be analyzed, distributed in the cities, it has been identified that the main cause of pollution in Lima is the transport sector and in Arequipa the mining influence (due to its transport and processing of particulate elements). This paper analyzes historical data, through the installation of twelve new sensors for the air quality analysis project based on PM particulate elements of 1 μm, 2.5 μm and 10 μm; through a low-cost system, an interconnected network and a real-time analytic system that can analyze historical results. So, they can be significantly improved by having a network of air quality monitoring systems (AQMS) near major sources of air pollution to develop more accurate models; this complements and improves the current measurement of the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI) uses nine active AQMS over Lima, an important center of socioeconomic development with a population of 10 million, for this spatial-temporal analysis during 2022.