It is without question that Earth’s ecosystems must be monitored at adequate temporal and spatial resolution to make informed decisions about human disturbances, such as climate change, eutrophication, ocean oxygen depletion and acidification, and urban air pollution. Unfortunately, many critical parameters are currently not measured adequately because of limitations such as the associated high cost of sensor deployment, the lack of adequate funding to bring sensing approaches to market, and the limited number of truly reliable, yet low-cost environmental sensors. These are challenges of enormous importance that need to be overcome. Motivated by these challenges, the journals ACS Sensors and Environmental Science & Technology are joining forces to highlight recent work on the development and application of low-cost sensors for the environmental sciences. From conceptual discoveries to engineering sensor networks, natural to engineered systems, atmospheric to aquatic analyses, and legacy to emerging contaminants, this virtual collection of 35 papers highlights the breadth of research being performed on environmental sensing. The collection ultimately sheds light on the obstacles facing the field and opportunities for advancing environmental sensor technology. This Virtual Issue is accompanied by a May 5th, 2022 ACS global webinar on this topic where Priyanka deSouza (University of Colorado─Denver, USA), Aleck Wang (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA), and Klaus Koren (Aarhus University, Denmark) shared their relevant work and future outlooks for environmental sensors. Priyanka deSouza described an elegant pilot project where low-cost sensors for particulate matter were mounted onto city waste collection vehicles to reach every corner of the community. This mobile low-cost sensor network drastically cut costs by taking advantage of existing platforms and highlighted hot-spots of poor air quality in low-income neighborhoods that would have otherwise escaped detection by traditional deployment of air-quality sensors. In aquatic sciences, the same principle can be applied, because marine field campaigns are very costly and the spatial and temporal resolution of current data is poor, as Aleck Wang explained. Here, partnerships with fishing fleets on the U.S. Northeast Coast are being finalized to use their boats and gear (e.g., shellfish traps) to help monitor key ocean parameters. The collected data will simultaneously benefit scientists who strive for an improved understanding of ocean biogeochemistry and commercial fisherpeople who are invested in the sustainability of their industry. A key challenge of implementing such networks is the limited number of reliable low-cost sensors that exist on today’s market. In the quest to constantly innovate, researchers often feel that they are not rewarded (or funded) to further develop market-ready sensors from just a conceptual stage. For further advancing and implementing the sensor sciences to make a positive impact on society, this must change. At ACS Sensors and Environmental Science & Technology, therefore, we strive to publish papers where researchers creatively consider the sensing problem and challenge a sensor in realistic environmental samples. For example, at the ACS global webinar, Klaus Koren talked about these challenges and stressed that the best solutions are often the simplest ones. He described creative developments in his lab, including a direct, electrochemical dissolved inorganic carbon sensor that acidifies water samples at the sensor tip, thereby substantially reducing costs and increasing sample throughput, without sacrificing data quality. We hope that the inspiring papers in the Virtual Issue and presentations in the global webinar make clear that the development and implementation of low-cost sensor networks present a unique and timely opportunity for diverse stakeholders to better understand how our planet works and how it will respond to numerous human-induced pressures. Accordingly, ACS Sensors and Environmental Science & Technology enthusiastically support future submissions focused on advancing low-cost sensors for the environmental sciences. This article has not yet been cited by other publications.

中文翻译：

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用低成本传感器捕捉地球的脉搏

毫无疑问，必须以足够的时间和空间分辨率监测地球的生态系统，以便就气候变化、富营养化、海洋氧气消耗和酸化以及城市空气污染等人类干扰做出明智的决定。不幸的是，由于诸如传感器部署相关的高成本、缺乏将传感方法推向市场的足够资金以及真正可靠但低成本的环境传感器数量有限等限制，许多关键参数目前没有得到充分测量。这些都是非常重要的挑战，需要克服。在这些挑战的推动下，ACS Sensors和Environmental Science & Technology期刊正在联手突出最近在开发和应用用于环境科学的低成本传感器方面的工作。从概念发现到工程传感器网络，从自然到工程系统，从大气到水生分析，从遗产到新出现的污染物，这 35 篇论文的虚拟合集突出了环境传感研究的广度。该系列最终揭示了该领域面临的障碍以及推进环境传感器技术的机会。2022 年 5 月 5 日，ACS 全球网络研讨会将伴随本期虚拟刊物举办，主题是 Priyanka deSouza（科罗拉多大学─美国丹佛）、Aleck Wang（美国伍兹霍尔海洋研究所）和 Klaus Koren（奥胡斯大学，丹麦）分享了他们对环境传感器的相关工作和未来展望。Priyanka deSouza 描述了一个优雅的试点项目，将用于颗粒物的低成本传感器安装在城市垃圾收集车上，以到达社区的每个角落。这种移动的低成本传感器网络利用现有平台大幅降低了成本，并突出了低收入社区中空气质量差的热点，否则这些热点将无法通过传统的空气质量传感器部署进行检测。正如 Aleck Wang 解释的那样，在水生科学中，同样的原理也可以应用，因为海洋野外活动的成本非常高，而且当前数据的空间和时间分辨率很差。在这里，正在与美国东北海岸的渔船队建立合作伙伴关系，以使用他们的船只和渔具（例如，贝类陷阱），以帮助监测关键的海洋参数。收集的数据将同时有益于努力提高对海洋生物地球化学的理解的科学家和投资于其行业可持续性的商业渔民。实施此类网络的一个关键挑战是当今市场上存在的可靠低成本传感器数量有限。在寻求不断创新的过程中，研究人员经常觉得他们没有得到回报（或资助），无法从概念阶段进一步开发市场就绪的传感器。为了进一步推进和实施传感器科学以对社会产生积极影响，这必须改变。在 收集的数据将同时有益于努力提高对海洋生物地球化学的理解的科学家和投资于其行业可持续性的商业渔民。实施此类网络的一个关键挑战是当今市场上存在的可靠低成本传感器数量有限。在寻求不断创新的过程中，研究人员经常觉得他们没有得到回报（或资助），无法从概念阶段进一步开发市场就绪的传感器。为了进一步推进和实施传感器科学以对社会产生积极影响，这必须改变。在 收集的数据将同时有益于努力提高对海洋生物地球化学的理解的科学家和投资于其行业可持续性的商业渔民。实施此类网络的一个关键挑战是当今市场上存在的可靠低成本传感器数量有限。在寻求不断创新的过程中，研究人员经常觉得他们没有得到回报（或资助），无法从概念阶段进一步开发市场就绪的传感器。为了进一步推进和实施传感器科学以对社会产生积极影响，这必须改变。在 在寻求不断创新的过程中，研究人员经常觉得他们没有得到回报（或资助），无法从概念阶段进一步开发市场就绪的传感器。为了进一步推进和实施传感器科学以对社会产生积极影响，这必须改变。在 在寻求不断创新的过程中，研究人员经常觉得他们没有得到回报（或资助），无法从概念阶段进一步开发市场就绪的传感器。为了进一步推进和实施传感器科学以对社会产生积极影响，这必须改变。在ACS 传感器和环境科学与技术因此，我们努力发表论文，研究人员创造性地考虑传感问题并在现实环境样本中挑战传感器。例如，在 ACS 全球网络研讨会上，Klaus Koren 谈到了这些挑战，并强调最好的解决方案往往是最简单的解决方案。他描述了他实验室的创造性发展，包括一种直接的电化学溶解无机碳传感器，该传感器可在传感器尖端酸化水样，从而在不牺牲数据质量的情况下大幅降低成本并提高样品通量。我们希望虚拟问题中的鼓舞人心的论文和全球网络研讨会上的演讲清楚地表明，低成本传感器网络的开发和实施为不同的利益相关者提供了一个独特而及时的机会，以更好地了解我们的星球如何运作以及它将如何应对面对无数人为压力。因此，ACS Sensors和Environmental Science & Technology热情地支持未来提交的专注于为环境科学推进低成本传感器的提交。这篇文章尚未被其他出版物引用。