GLOBE News
NASA/GLOBE PM2.5 Low-Cost Sensor Workshop Summary
GLOBE Mission EARTH planned and hosted the NASA/GLOBE PM2.5 Low-Cost Sensor (LCS) Workshop virtually May 7-9, 2025. The foundation for this workshop was laid over the prior several years. During the intervening time, the use of LCS to measure PM2.5 has grown dramatically and demand for air quality measurements in the GLOBE program has steadily increased.
The workshop was virtually attended by over 100 participants and included 18 presentations and 6 discussion sections in breakout rooms. These sessions brought together scientists, educators, and attendees into a community of practice to discuss the following: best practices for PM2.5 sensor quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC), metadata, satellite intercomparison and calibration, and community and educational use. The outcomes from the workshop will guide the GLOBE PM2.5 protocol development, and assist sensor practitioners looking to maximize scientific, educational, and/or community use of their LCS.
Presentations outlined advances in calibration, long-term deployments, satellite and remote sensing applications, and educational tools for communicating data from LCS. Subsequent discussions allowed educators, community members, and scientists to engage in meaningful dialogue about their successes and struggles in using LCS and their data. The needs of different end users were thoroughly explored in order to present best practices for several key applications, and to present a set of recommendations for programs like GLOBE to better bridge the gap between scientists and community partners in creating resources and protocols.
For more information, email Kevin Czajkowski Kevin.Czajkowski@utoledo.edu.
News origin: GLOBE Implementation Office