Multisensor data fusion calibration in IoT air pollution platforms

Abstract

This article investigates the calibration of low-cost sensors for air pollution. The sensors were deployed on three Internet of Things (IoT) platforms in Spain, Austria, and Italy during the summers of 2017, 2018, and 2019. One of the biggest challenges in the operation of an IoT platform, which has a great impact on the quality of the reported pollution values, is the calibration of the sensors in an uncontrolled environment. This calibration is performed using arrays of sensors that measure cross sensitivities and therefore compensate for both interfering contaminants and environmental conditions. This article investigates how the fusion of data taken by sensor arrays can improve the calibration process. In particular, calibration with sensor arrays, multisensor data fusion calibration with weighted averages, and multisensor data fusion calibration with machine learning models are compared. Calibration is evaluated by combining data from various sensors with linear and nonlinear regression models.