Air quality exposure study


The project is funded by the University of Oxford’s John Fell Fund, and approved by the Central University Research Ethics Committee (Reference: SOGE1A2020-189) and School of Geography and the Environment's fieldwork risk assessment (Reference: AC-2021-NC-052)

CALLS FOR PEOPLE BASED IN OXFORD TO PARTICIPATE (completed)

  • This survey produces individualised air quality monitoring data with time-stamped location history for a week.

  • Research participants are asked to carry a GPS tracker and a portable air quality monitor for one week.

  • Research participants are also asked to fill in their activity-travel diary on the website at the end of each day or the following day (5-10 min each day).

  • Your personal data will be processed with standard aggregation and anonymisation techniques for privacy and confidentiality.

  • Participants will be offered a voucher worth £25.00 as a token of appreciation for their participation and will be given access to a summary of the project findings when the project is completed.

Project Description

This research project seeks to develop methods to accurately estimate individual-level exposure to air pollution. By using smart sensors and developing dedicated algorithms for data matching and imputation, the project will obtain high-precision geo-coded and time-stamped data on air quality and daily mobility.

Participants will be asked to 1) carry a GPS tracker (Curve by Vodafone©) and a portable air quality monitor (Flow2 by plume labs©) with them for one week, and 2) fill in the activity-travel diary on the website at the end of each day or the following day (5-10 min each day).

Participants will be able to track their daily movements through their smartphone via the Vodafone Smart app, and access the dashboard to monitor exposure to different types of pollutants (NO2, Particulate matters, and volatile organic compounds) over the course of the survey via the Flow app. They will be allowed to export their entire data history, containing a set of geo-coded and time-stamped air pollution measures, and have it delivered to their personal email accounts. The researcher will provide instructions to the participants (before data collection commences) and be available (during and after their participation for any queries and discussions).