NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway.
NILU - Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway.
Environ Res. 2018 Aug;165:410-419. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.10.019. Epub 2017 Oct 31.
In Norway, children in kindergartens spend significant time outdoors under all weather conditions, and there is thus a natural concern about the quality of outdoor air. It is well known that air pollution is associated with a wide variety of adverse health impacts for children, with greater impact on children with asthma. Especially during winter and spring, kindergartens in Oslo that are situated close to streets with busy traffic, or in areas where wood burning is used for house heating, can experience many days with bad air quality. During these periods, updated information on air quality levels can help the kindergarten teachers to plan appropriate outdoor activities and thus protect children's health. We have installed 17 low-cost air quality nodes in kindergartens in Oslo. These nodes are smaller, cheaper and less complex to use than traditional equipment. Performance evaluation shows that while they are less accurate and suffer from higher uncertainty than reference equipment, they still can provide reliable coarse information about local pollution. The main challenge when using this technology is that calibration parameters might change with time depending on the atmospheric conditions. Thus, even if the sensors are calibrated a priori, once deployed, and especially if they are deployed for a long time, it is not possible to determine if a node is over- or under-estimating the concentration levels. To enhance the data from the sensors, we employed a data fusion technique that allows generating a detailed air quality map merging the data from the sensors and the data from an urban model, thus being able to offer air quality information to any location within Oslo. We arranged a focus group with the participation of local administration, kindergarten staff and parents to understand their opinion and needs related to the air quality information that was provided to the participant kindergartens. They expressed concern about the data quality but agree that having updated information on the air quality in the surroundings of kindergartens can help them to reduce children's exposure to air pollution.
在挪威，幼儿园的孩子们会在各种天气条件下在户外度过大量时间，因此人们自然会担心户外空气质量。众所周知，空气污染与儿童健康的多种不良影响有关，对患有哮喘的儿童影响更大。特别是在冬季和春季，位于交通繁忙街道附近或使用木材燃烧为房屋供暖的奥斯陆幼儿园，可能会有很多天空气质量较差。在这些时期，有关空气质量水平的最新信息可以帮助幼儿园教师规划适当的户外活动，从而保护儿童健康。我们在奥斯陆的幼儿园安装了 17 个低成本空气质量节点。这些节点比传统设备更小、更便宜且使用更简单。性能评估表明，虽然它们的准确性较低，且不确定性较高，但它们仍然可以提供有关当地污染的可靠粗略信息。使用这项技术的主要挑战是，校准参数可能会随时间变化，具体取决于大气条件。因此，即使传感器在部署前进行了校准，一旦部署，特别是如果部署时间较长，则无法确定传感器是否高估或低估了浓度水平。为了增强传感器数据，我们采用了一种数据融合技术，该技术可以生成详细的空气质量图，融合来自传感器和城市模型的数据，从而能够为奥斯陆的任何地点提供空气质量信息。我们安排了一个焦点小组，当地政府、幼儿园工作人员和家长参与其中，以了解他们对提供给参与幼儿园的空气质量信息的意见和需求。他们对数据质量表示关注，但同意在幼儿园周围获得有关空气质量的最新信息可以帮助他们减少儿童接触空气污染的机会。
