Adopting smart metering RF networks for particulate matter distributed measurements

Pollution represents one of the major problems of modern cities. Typical indices of extent of this unhealthy phenomenon are the concentration of oxides and particulate matters in the air. Namely Particulate Matter (PM) is responsible for breathing problems and even lung diseases. As a consequence, numerous suitable solutions have been thought in the fields of sensing devices and wireless networks. In the paper, a solution is proposed which aims to use for pollution monitoring the same Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) that is the backbone of smart city projects where measurements of private consumption or public services are called to be smart. In particular in those urban areas where smart meters, concentrators and central access systems come to life, suitable PM sensors based devices can be added to either water or gas smart meters, in order to exploit their widespread deployment. The main issues and experimental results regarding the inclusion of some smart PM sensors in a 169 MHz network based on wM-Bus for data collection from smart meters and sensors are discussed in terms of battery energy saving and data storage.