Aeroqual already has a market leading small air quality station (AQM series) and recently introduced a mini air quality station (AQS series). These instruments are for professionals who demand the highest measurement quality from a sensor-based instrument.

The AQY 1 is a semi-professional product designed for small and large networks. It’s full-featured and accurate yet simple to set up and use, and priced to be affordable to a wide range of customers. Our hope is that the AQY 1 will be used not just by our traditional customers (air quality agencies, researchers, and air quality consultants) but also by new types of customers like schools, recreational facilities, and community groups.

We envisage a range of applications for the AQY:

We’re seeing a huge appetite amongst the public for accurate and reliable air quality information that is measured where people actually live, work and play. That’s exactly why we made the AQY.

It’s a small (we say ‘micro’ to distinguish from our AQS and AQM products) air quality monitoring station, the size of a two-slice toaster that measures the following parameters:

The AQY focuses on the key urban pollutants: particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide. These are the three main pollutants in most cities, and the pollutants known to have the greatest impact on the people who live in them.

In future we expect to offer additional parameters. The current set of AQY 1 parameters are those which we have tested and have confidence in for outdoor ambient monitoring applications.

The initial release comes with the same software package as our more sophisticated AQM and AQS products. The software is browser-based and allows users to view multiple devices on a map, average data, plot charts with multiple devices and parameters, and manage the devices remotely – trouble-shooting, changing settings, updating firmware.

The AQY 1 communicates wirelessly – WIFI, 4G cellular, and mesh options are all available. The AQY 1 has on board storage to ensure no data ever gets lost. In addition data can be downloaded directly from the instrument if required, which is handy in case you lost your internet connection for example.

Power is mains-supplied via a 12VDC outdoor-friendly plug pack. Solar and battery power is possible though not currently available as a factory-standard option.

The unit mounts to walls, poles or railings using a supplied mounting bracket or simply with cable ties. Weighing approx. 1kg, the AQY 1 is intended to operate in a fixed location yet it can be moved from place to place with relative ease.

To meet a semi-professional price point we’ve had to reduce cost and complexity compared to our premium AQS and AQM products. The number of bespoke operating components has been greatly pared back to make the AQY fit for purpose; there’s no heating or cooling of the enclosure, for example, and no mechanical scrubbing elements. We removed pumped sampling in favour of active fan-sampling (as seen in our range of portable monitors).

Fans of our ozone sensors will be pleased to know that we’re still using our patented world class GSS ozone sensor. Outside of the AQM and AQS products, the GSS ozone sensor still performs extremely well as various independent evaluations have shown (for example, the following by the US EPA).

The NO₂ measurement is also unique. We’re using our selective ozone sensor to correct for ozone interference on the electrochemical NO₂ sensor (a technique patented by Aeroqual). What this means is that the AQY delivers a real NO₂ measurement rather than an approximation of NO₂ as delivered by all other devices that use an electrochemical NO₂ sensor. This is because all electrochemical NO₂ sensors are cross sensitive to ozone, and all electrochemical ozone sensors are cross sensitive to NO₂. Because we use a GSS ozone sensor which is highly selective to ozone, it allows us to use this technique to provide a highly accurate NO₂ measurement. The algorithm is embedded in the device itself and occurs in real-time.

The particulate matter measurement is delivered by an optical particle counter which uses a well-known light scattering method to size and count particles and then convert them to a mass fraction. In humid conditions light scattering is susceptible to humidity artefacts which over-report particulate levels due to ‘fogging’ where the particles are encapsulated by moisture and appear larger to the sensor than they actually are. We correct for this effect by way of a humidity correction algorithm.

The AQY does all measurement on the instrument; there is no correction of the data on the cloud. We believe this ensures the integrity of the data and helps to maintain confidence in the measurement. It is also in keeping with the IoT trend for increased ‘processing at the edge’.

Measurement performance is all important to us. The system has been tested in a range of environments: New Zealand (very low pollutant levels), Beijing (very high pollution levels), Southern China (high humidity and temperature), as well as Los Angeles (a bit of everything).

Results from a field evaluation by AQ-SPEC (Air Quality Sensor Performance Evaluation Center) in L.A. are summarized in our latest blog, or view the full field evaluation report.

The following data is taken from out tests in Los Angeles. Further data is available upon request.

The AQY 1 is now available! If you’re interested to know more about the product check out the AQY landing page, or please contact one of our experts at sales@aeroqual.com.

AQY 1 UPDATE: AQY 1 sales are on hold from 18^th March 2021, a critical component in the AQY has gone end of life and for that reason we have put sale and supply of the AQY on hold until further notice. You can read more here.