© World Meteorological Organization, 2021
This report provides a comprehensive update on the use and operation of low-cost sensing
devices for assessing atmosphere chemical composition. The original report, published by WMO
in 2018, was fully revised to update new scholarly understanding of low-cost sensors (LCS) that
was published in the peer-reviewed literature.
While some of the original conclusions and research are included in this version, the team
analysed and synthesized best practices of LCS use and applications through the published
peer-reviewed literature in August 2020. In some cases, scientific literature that had been
accepted, but not yet published in a final form, was included in this review. Some national and
international government documents were also included in this synthesis.
The report includes eight distinct sections, including an Introduction to the Report, Main
Principles and Components, Evaluation Activities, Sensor Performance, Communicating LCS to
Society, and Expert Consensus and Advice. Communicating LCS to Society is a new section to
the original 2018 report and includes a consensus viewpoint on strategies for communicating
LCS data and technologies more broadly to the lay public. This report also includes a set of
specific expert consensus recommendations for LCS users across different user groups.
