Mobile monitoring of air pollution − a position paper on use cases, good practices, challenges, and opportunities

Jules Kerckhoffs; Jelle Hofman; Jibran Khan; Matthew D. Adams; Magali N. Blanco; Priyanka deSouza; John L. Durant; Sasan Faridi; Scott Fruin; Steve Hankey; Mohammad Sadegh Hassanvand; Marianne Hatzopoulou; Gerard Hoek; Kees de Hoogh; Neelakshi Hudda; Meenakshi Kushwaha; Julian D. Marshall; Laura Minet; Allison P. Patton; Tuukka Petäjä; Jan Peters; Albert A. Presto; Kerolyn Shairsingh; Lianne Sheppard; Matthew C. Simon; Sreekanth Vakacherla; Keith Van Ryswyk; Martine Van Poppel; Roel C.H. Vermeulen; Robert Wegener; Zhendong Yuan; Heresh Amini

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2025.109582

Mobile monitoring of air pollution − a position paper on use cases, good practices, challenges, and opportunities

Jules Kerckhoffs^*
, Jelle Hofman
, Jibran Khan
, Matthew D. Adams
, Magali N. Blanco
, Priyanka deSouza
, John L. Durant
, Sasan Faridi
, Scott Fruin
, Steve Hankey
, Mohammad Sadegh Hassanvand
, Marianne Hatzopoulou
, Gerard Hoek
, Kees de Hoogh
, Neelakshi Hudda
, Meenakshi Kushwaha
, Julian D. Marshall
, Laura Minet
, Allison P. Patton
, Tuukka Petäjä

Jan Peters, Albert A. Presto, Kerolyn Shairsingh, Lianne Sheppard, Matthew C. Simon, Sreekanth Vakacherla, Keith Van Ryswyk, Martine Van Poppel, Roel C.H. Vermeulen, Robert Wegener, Zhendong Yuan, Heresh Amini

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Basel

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/Letter to the editor › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Mobile monitoring has proven to be a very efficient tool to measure and feed into models of air pollution as it complements fixed air quality monitoring networks by adding spatiotemporal resolution. This paper explores best practices, opportunities and challenges related to mobile monitoring of air pollutants, focusing on three key application areas, namely source-, exposure-, and health-related use cases. Use cases are linked to users, ensuring mobile monitoring is effectively tailored to diverse research and policy needs. Tailoring mobile monitoring involves experimental design choices (platform, instrumentation, route planning and spatiotemporal coverage) and data processing choices (data-only vs modelling) optimized towards the envisaged use case. This position paper aims to guide researchers and air pollution stakeholders in generating high-quality mobile monitoring datasets. We identify best practices, discuss monitoring strategies, and highlight future research directions. Additionally, mobile monitoring supports public engagement and actionability, allowing communities to advocate for cleaner air and drive behavior change.

Original language	English
Article number	109582
Number of pages	16
Journal	Environment International
Volume	202
Early online date	13 Jun 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109582
Publication status	Published - Aug 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s)

Funding

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employers or the funders or sponsors of their employers. We thank RI-URBANS (EU H2020 RI-URBANS (grant No. 101036245)), Karin Tuxen-Bettman and Natalie Smailou for inspiration in the initial phase of this project. Authors would like to dedicate this work to Heresh Amini who passed away during the writing process.

Funders	Funder number
H2020 RI-URBANS	101036245

Keywords

Air pollution
Consensus
Mobile monitoring
Position paper

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Mobile monitoring of air pollution − a position paper on use cases, good practices, challenges, and opportunitiesFinal published version, 1.71 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Kerckhoffs, J., Hofman, J., Khan, J., Adams, M. D., Blanco, M. N., deSouza, P., Durant, J. L., Faridi, S., Fruin, S., Hankey, S., Hassanvand, M. S., Hatzopoulou, M., Hoek, G., de Hoogh, K., Hudda, N., Kushwaha, M., Marshall, J. D., Minet, L., Patton, A. P., ... Amini, H. (2025). Mobile monitoring of air pollution − a position paper on use cases, good practices, challenges, and opportunities. Environment International, 202, Article 109582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109582

@article{ca26bd347c284420ae002c592ee7aaf7,

title = "Mobile monitoring of air pollution − a position paper on use cases, good practices, challenges, and opportunities",

abstract = "Mobile monitoring has proven to be a very efficient tool to measure and feed into models of air pollution as it complements fixed air quality monitoring networks by adding spatiotemporal resolution. This paper explores best practices, opportunities and challenges related to mobile monitoring of air pollutants, focusing on three key application areas, namely source-, exposure-, and health-related use cases. Use cases are linked to users, ensuring mobile monitoring is effectively tailored to diverse research and policy needs. Tailoring mobile monitoring involves experimental design choices (platform, instrumentation, route planning and spatiotemporal coverage) and data processing choices (data-only vs modelling) optimized towards the envisaged use case. This position paper aims to guide researchers and air pollution stakeholders in generating high-quality mobile monitoring datasets. We identify best practices, discuss monitoring strategies, and highlight future research directions. Additionally, mobile monitoring supports public engagement and actionability, allowing communities to advocate for cleaner air and drive behavior change.",

keywords = "Air pollution, Consensus, Mobile monitoring, Position paper",

author = "Jules Kerckhoffs and Jelle Hofman and Jibran Khan and Adams, \{Matthew D.\} and Blanco, \{Magali N.\} and Priyanka deSouza and Durant, \{John L.\} and Sasan Faridi and Scott Fruin and Steve Hankey and Hassanvand, \{Mohammad Sadegh\} and Marianne Hatzopoulou and Gerard Hoek and \{de Hoogh\}, Kees and Neelakshi Hudda and Meenakshi Kushwaha and Marshall, \{Julian D.\} and Laura Minet and Patton, \{Allison P.\} and Tuukka Pet{\"a}j{\"a} and Jan Peters and Presto, \{Albert A.\} and Kerolyn Shairsingh and Lianne Sheppard and Simon, \{Matthew C.\} and Sreekanth Vakacherla and Ryswyk, \{Keith Van\} and Poppel, \{Martine Van\} and Vermeulen, \{Roel C.H.\} and Robert Wegener and Zhendong Yuan and Heresh Amini",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s)",

year = "2025",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1016/j.envint.2025.109582",

language = "English",

volume = "202",

journal = "Environment International",

issn = "0160-4120",

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Kerckhoffs, J, Hofman, J, Khan, J, Adams, MD, Blanco, MN, deSouza, P, Durant, JL, Faridi, S, Fruin, S, Hankey, S, Hassanvand, MS, Hatzopoulou, M, Hoek, G , de Hoogh, K, Hudda, N, Kushwaha, M, Marshall, JD, Minet, L, Patton, AP, Petäjä, T, Peters, J, Presto, AA, Shairsingh, K, Sheppard, L, Simon, MC, Vakacherla, S, Ryswyk, KV, Poppel, MV, Vermeulen, RCH, Wegener, R, Yuan, Z & Amini, H 2025, 'Mobile monitoring of air pollution − a position paper on use cases, good practices, challenges, and opportunities', Environment International, vol. 202, 109582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109582

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mobile monitoring of air pollution − a position paper on use cases, good practices, challenges, and opportunities

AU - Kerckhoffs, Jules

AU - Hofman, Jelle

AU - Khan, Jibran

AU - Adams, Matthew D.

AU - Blanco, Magali N.

AU - deSouza, Priyanka

AU - Durant, John L.

AU - Faridi, Sasan

AU - Fruin, Scott

AU - Hankey, Steve

AU - Hassanvand, Mohammad Sadegh

AU - Hatzopoulou, Marianne

AU - Hoek, Gerard

AU - de Hoogh, Kees

AU - Hudda, Neelakshi

AU - Kushwaha, Meenakshi

AU - Marshall, Julian D.

AU - Minet, Laura

AU - Patton, Allison P.

AU - Petäjä, Tuukka

AU - Peters, Jan

AU - Presto, Albert A.

AU - Shairsingh, Kerolyn

AU - Sheppard, Lianne

AU - Simon, Matthew C.

AU - Vakacherla, Sreekanth

AU - Ryswyk, Keith Van

AU - Poppel, Martine Van

AU - Vermeulen, Roel C.H.

AU - Wegener, Robert

AU - Yuan, Zhendong

AU - Amini, Heresh

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AB - Mobile monitoring has proven to be a very efficient tool to measure and feed into models of air pollution as it complements fixed air quality monitoring networks by adding spatiotemporal resolution. This paper explores best practices, opportunities and challenges related to mobile monitoring of air pollutants, focusing on three key application areas, namely source-, exposure-, and health-related use cases. Use cases are linked to users, ensuring mobile monitoring is effectively tailored to diverse research and policy needs. Tailoring mobile monitoring involves experimental design choices (platform, instrumentation, route planning and spatiotemporal coverage) and data processing choices (data-only vs modelling) optimized towards the envisaged use case. This position paper aims to guide researchers and air pollution stakeholders in generating high-quality mobile monitoring datasets. We identify best practices, discuss monitoring strategies, and highlight future research directions. Additionally, mobile monitoring supports public engagement and actionability, allowing communities to advocate for cleaner air and drive behavior change.

KW - Air pollution

KW - Consensus

KW - Mobile monitoring

KW - Position paper

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105008180548

U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109582

DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109582

M3 - Comment/Letter to the editor

C2 - 40527191

SN - 0160-4120

VL - 202

JO - Environment International

JF - Environment International

M1 - 109582

ER -

Mobile monitoring of air pollution − a position paper on use cases, good practices, challenges, and opportunities

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Keywords

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