Nicholas Martin

NPL

Biography:

Nick Martin is a Principal Research Scientist and the Science Area Leader of the Air Quality and Aerosol Metrology Group, National Physical Laboratory (NPL), UK. He joined NPL in 1990, having completed his BSc in Chemistry, AKC, and PhD at King’s College London followed by postdoctoral research at the Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Cambridge. At NPL he was involved in developing a laser heterodyne spectrometer to detect stratospheric species. More recently, he developed pumped and diffusive sampling methods for measurements of NO2, VOCs, and NH3 and test facilities for the evaluation of low cost air quality sensors. Nick provides QA/QC support for Defra’s LAQM and UK’s Urban NO2 Network contracts and is a member their Air Quality Expert Group. He is involved in European Standardization and is the Convenor of CEN TC264 WG11 which published EN 17346:2020 for sampling NH3 and is revising the current Standard for NO2. Nick is a member of WG42 which is developing a Technical Specification (TS) for low cost sensors and was involved in the recent “Breathe London” Pilot Project. He is a member of WG12 which is concerned with SO2/NO2/CO/O3/VOC reference methods and is responsible for NPL’s MCERTS type-testing facilities.

Short description about presentation:

Small sensor systems are increasingly being used for air quality monitoring applications because of their potential to deliver “real-time” pollution data and the relative ease with which they can be deployed in networks to complement regulatory monitoring with reference instruments. Whilst this is all very appealing for end users and other stakeholders, the reality in performance has not always matched up to manufacturers’ claims and the route to standardization has lagged the wider implementation of the new technology. There are complex requirements to set up a fit-for-purpose assessment framework which can identify any important limitations in the sensor technology while at the same time ensuring that the evaluation process is timely and cost effective. This talk will summarise the current progress being made at the European level in the standardization of small sensors by CEN TC264 WG42. It will also introduce some of the experiences gained in the implementation of this technology in the recent first Breathe London pilot study where over 100 systems were deployed in the Greater London area.