Sensor Technologies

1. Optical spectroscopy based sensing configuration for a low cost estimator of air pollutant gases

The air quality might be contributed from many factors and sources. For example, haze is an ongoing problem in Southeast Asia region including Malaysia, which mostly caused by the slash and burn practice and the forest fires. In many countries, air quality assessment is conducted by the authority through measuring the air pollutants concentration in which the equipment is placed at certain strategic locations in the region. However, the size of most of the ambient air quality measurement equipment is considerably big to be used as commercial measurement tools, and they are very costly. A reliable and more affordable device is thus necessary to increase the awareness of air quality among the public. In this project, a simplify device that could estimate the ambient air quality will be studied. The main aim is to study the configuration of the device which would able to measure the concentration of air pollutants. The main approach is by using optical sensing principle that could characterize the air pollutant gaseous and airborne dust particles. A multi-parameter estimator that could able to determine the existence and concentration levels of several types of pollutants agents is envisaged to be constructed. The idea of the system configuration could benefit the public by having an inexpensive device to estimate the present air quality level so they can decrease exposure to the poor outdoor air.