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Who are we?

The Air Quality Sensor Performance Evaluation Center (AQ-SPEC) is a program established by the South Coast Air Quality Management District to inform the public about the real-world capabilities of commercially available air quality sensors. AQ-SPEC provides thorough characterizations of commercially available air quality sensors in ambient (field) and laboratory environments and informs the public on best practices for deployment sensors effectively.

What do we do?

Evaluations
(Particles & Gases)

Evaluation reports for sensors measuring particles and gas pollutants (for example: CO, NO₂, O₃, SO₂). Click here for more.

Submit a Sensor

Find out more about sensor evaluation protocols and procedure to submit a sensor for evaluation. Click here for more.

Evaluations
(VOC)

Evaluation reports for sensors measuring volatile organic compounds (VOC). Click here for more.

Special Projects

Find out more about other significant projects undertaken by AQ-SPEC. Click here for more.

Sensor Library

sensor_library

AQ-SPEC is working with communities to expand our sensor loan library. More information coming soon!

Publications

Here, you can find articles published by the AQ-SPEC team in scientific journals. Click here for more.

Featured Resources

Community in Action: A Comprehensive
Guidebook on Air Quality Sensors

Check out out air sensor guidebook on air quality project planning, operating air quality sensors, and understanding the data. (A Spanish version is being planned!)

Click here for more.

Community Air Quality
Co-location Shelter

A sensor co-location shelter is available at South Coast AQMD's Mira Loma Van Buren air monitoring station for interested parties.

Click here to learn more.

More Information

WHY WAS AQ-SPEC CREATED?

AQ-SPEC was established in 2014 with the goal of informing the public on the real-world capabilities of commercially available "low-cost" air quality sensors by providing a thorough characterization of these sensors in field and laboratory environments.

WHAT SENSORS
DO WE TEST?

The AQ-SPEC program focuses on testing lower-cost, commercially available air quality sensors capable of measuring pollutants such as PM_2.5, PM₁₀, O₃, CO, NO, NO₂, VOC, black carbon, ultrafine particles, etc.

HOW DO I
LEARN MORE?

Visit our Sensor Evaluations page to learn more about how we evaluate air quality sensor performance. Check out our FAQ page and for further inquiries, contact us here.

News and Updates

Air Quality Egg 2024 Model - Field Evaluation Report (April 1, 2025)

New field evaluation report for the Air Quality Egg 2024 sensor measuring pollutants PM₁, PM_2.5, and PM₁₀, CO, O₃, and NO₂ is now available.

2025 Community Air Sensor Workshop (March 19, 2025)
AQ-SPEC presents their latest work on performance results of sensors measuring non-criteria pollutants (5:00 timestamp) and on an upcoming revamped test report format (1:22:00 timestamp).

Atmocube - Field Evaluation Report (March 5, 2025)

New field evaluation report for the Atmocube sensor measuring pollutants PM₁, PM_2.5, and PM₁₀, CO, and O₃ is now available.

Newsletter Sign Up

Periodic newsletter updates via Email on a variety of air quality-related topics

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