Development and Application of Low-Cost Environmental Sensors for the Evaluation of Ambient Air Quality and Related Emission Sources

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring the reader closer to the emerging field of low-cost environmental (air quality) sensors. Currently, these devices are attracting growing interest in research and development, since they can be easily deployed and used in the field, for instance, to monitor air quality in remote locations, far from official environmental stations. The data collected by LCSs can provide a more detailed description of the spatial distribution and temporal variations in anthropogenic air pollutants, such as gases and particulate matter. They can serve as research tools, for instance, in assessing human health impacts and emission source apportionment. Beyond these, measurement results from LCSs can be applied as input parameters in air pollution dispersion models, which can improve the accuracy of approximations of local air quality and related concentration/deposition maps. Certainly, the analytical performance of the LCS-based measurement systems requires careful evaluation, for example, by comparison with calibrated reference monitors. Consequently, the topic of instrumental limitations for LCSs is also of particular importance for research and practical applications.