Real-time Pollutant Identification through Optical PM Micro-Sensor

Air pollution remains one of the most pressing environmental challenges of the modern era, significantly impacting human health, ecosystems, and climate. While traditional air quality monitoring systems provide critical data, their high costs and limited spatial coverage hinder effective real-time pollutant identification. Recent advancements in micro-sensor technology have improved data collection but still lack efficient methods for source identification. This paper explores the innovative application of machine learning (ML) models to classify pollutants in real-time using only data from optical micro-sensors. We propose a novel classification framework capable of distinguishing between four pollutant scenarios: Background Pollution, Ash, Sand, and Candle. Three Machine Learning (ML) approaches - XGBoost, Long Short-Term Memory networks, and Hidden Markov Chains - are evaluated for their effectiveness in sequence modeling and pollutant identification. Our results demonstrate the potential of leveraging micro-sensors and ML techniques to enhance air quality monitoring, offering actionable insights for urban planning and environmental protection.