MONair: Deploying a Low-Cost IoT-based Air Quality Monitoring Network in Guatemala

Air pollution is a growing concern worldwide, requiring affordable and scalable monitoring solutions. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that nearly 99% of the global population is exposed to air pollution levels exceeding recommended limits, with the highest concentrations observed in low- and middle-income countries. Key pollutants of public health concern include particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, etc. Both outdoor and indoor air pollution contribute significantly to respiratory and other diseases, representing major sources of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In Guatemala, there are various stations manage by Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanologia, Meteorologia e Hidrología (INSIVUMEH) and installed in different areas of the country, but not all urban and rural areas are covered. This paper aims to provide information about the design, installation, and deployment of a low-cost IoT-based air quality monitoring network countrywide. The main result is an open source platform to build awareness in society, public policy decision makers and more researchers. Technology used for capturing environmental data was a monitoring station designed and assembled locally by Tesla Lab of Universidad Galileo. This station has an ESP 32 microcontroller integrated with low-cost sensors in a PCB to measure temperature, humidity, CO2e, VOCe and particulate matter (PM). In this paper, important information can be found related to the challenges of using low-cost sensors (LCS), learnings of escalating the network countrywide and future research to be done to improve technology used and information analyzed data can provide.