Spotting an Air Pollution Sensor in the Wild

12th May 2023

Prior to starting my PhD, air pollution was something I only had vague knowledge of. As I’ve learned more about it, I’ve become curious about what the sensors look like, and where I can find them. If you’re reading this you might be curious too, and afterwards you might be able to point out an air pollution sensor if you’re running low on small talk.

Sometimes it took some searching, but I’ve generally been able to find a web site with a map of pollution sensors in a city when I’ve looked. For instance, this map shows the location of monitoring stations in Scotland. You can click on the individual stations to get more information, exact location and even photographs of the sensors. As another example, the Berlin network can be seen here, and has some very photogenic stations.

Conveniently for me, there are air pollution sensors very close to the Informatics Forum in Edinburgh. In fact, there are two, of very different sizes, on Nicolson Street. The first measures particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, and uploads the readings automatically (you can see them here). The second is a small tube that measures nitrogen dioxide, but which does not upload its readings automatically and instead must be collected and analysed.

It’s unlikely that I would have noticed the small tube on Nicolson Street if I hadn’t been looking for it — it took a moment to find even though I knew it should be attached to the drainpipe. And looking at the map of such tubes in Edinburgh I discovered that I’ve passed by several of them daily for years without noticing. But now I enjoy recognising sensors, and wonder how many of the people who walk past them know what the sensors do. I am doing my part by pointing them out to mildly amused friends. And I hope you will recognise them now too, and enjoy knowing more about the city around you.

If you’re interested in more photographs of air pollution sensors, including photogenic Berlin ones, I have started a collection here.