Air Quality Sensors

What air quality sensors measure

Air quality sensors detect and quantify pollutants and environmental conditions in a given location. The Zata IoT ZAQ range covers three core sensor categories: Micro Air Quality Monitors, VOCs Monitors, and Particle Sensors, alongside a related range of outdoor monitoring stations (ZAQ220 through ZAQ670 series). Depending on the model, these devices report particulate matter (PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10, TSP), gases (CO, SO2, NO2, O3, VOCs), and supporting environmental data such as temperature, humidity, air pressure, noise, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, solar radiation and UV index.

How the sensing technology works

Particulate matter is measured using laser scattering, a method where airborne particles pass through a laser beam and scatter light in proportion to their size and concentration. Gas sensors in the ZAQ range use solid-state electrochemistry for CO, SO2, NO2 and O3, or a photoionization detector (PID) for VOCs. Environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity are measured with digital MEMS sensors, air pressure with a silicon piezoresistor, wind with ultrasonic sensors, rainfall with piezoelectric sensors, and solar radiation or UV index with silicon light sensors. Each method is chosen for the parameter it targets rather than as a single universal sensing approach.

Key specifications to compare

Four specifications matter most when comparing air quality sensors: measurement range, resolution, accuracy, and output interface.

Measurement range defines the upper and lower limits a sensor can report. For example, ZAQ series particulate sensors cover 0-1000 μg/m³ for PM1.0, PM2.5 and PM10, while gas sensors on outdoor stations typically cover 0-5 ppm or 0-10 ppm for CO, SO2, NO2 and O3, and the VOCs sensor (ZAQ12V) covers 0-50 ppm.

Resolution is the smallest change a sensor can detect, such as 0.3 μg/m³ for particulate matter or 1 ppb for VOCs. Accuracy states how close a reading is to the true value, expressed as a percentage or a fixed value, for example ±15% or ±10 μg/m³ for PM sensors, or ±0.2°C for temperature.

Output interface determines how the sensor connects to a monitoring system. ZAQ sensors support RS485, RS232, WiFi, Bluetooth and LTE as standard, with optional Zigbee, NB-IoT, LoRa or GPRS modules available on certain models (indicated by suffixes such as -G for GPS or -W for WiFi).

Typical applications and industries

Air quality sensors from this range are deployed in smart street lighting systems, agricultural monitoring, transmission line monitoring, meteorological stations, wind power facilities, and building environmental control. The outdoor monitoring stations (ZAQ350 to ZAQ670 series) are also used in parks, sports venues, bus stops, airports and smart buildings for urban environmental monitoring. VOC-specific sensors are commonly used by Environmental Protection Department (EPD) style monitoring programmes, industrial parks, factories, mines and urban pollution detection projects.

How to choose between models in this category

Start by identifying which parameters need to be measured. If the requirement is particulate matter only, a Particle Sensor such as the ZAQ200 or ZAQ220 is sufficient. If VOCs are the primary concern, the ZAQ12V VOCs monitoring sensor uses a PID sensor specifically for this purpose. If a combination of gases, particulates and weather data is required for outdoor deployment, the ZAQ350 to ZAQ670 outdoor monitoring station series adds parameters progressively: the ZAQ220 and ZAQ620 cover temperature, humidity, PM2.5/PM10 and core gases; the ZAQ350 and ZAQ360 add wind, pressure and noise; the ZAQ370, ZAQ380 and ZAQ670 add solar radiation, UV index and illumination.

Next, check the power and communication requirements of the installation site. All ZAQ sensors run on DC 12V/24V or solar power, and the choice of RS485, WiFi, Bluetooth or LTE output should match the existing monitoring or IoT infrastructure. For remote or mobile deployments, GPS-enabled variants (suffix -G) allow location tagging of readings.

Finally, consider environmental protection ratings for outdoor use. The outdoor station range carries an IP55 overall rating, with IP67 on temperature/humidity modules and IP68 on pressure and noise modules, and housings are built from outdoor industrial-grade ASA plastic.

Buying through MetSensor UK

MetSensor UK is the official UK reseller of Zata IoT air quality sensors. We are a distributor, not the manufacturer, and we supply the ZAQ range to UK customers on a quote-based basis. Because configurations vary by measurement parameters, communication module and mounting requirements, we ask customers to specify their application before we provide pricing and lead times. UK-based support is available to help match a sensor model to a project's requirements, using only the manufacturer's published specifications.