AireCiudadano did not start in a laboratory, but out of a complaint. This is the story of the project over eight years, told with what was recorded: 324 publications, a network that started with two sensors, and a campaign to accompany citizen science.
2017
The project starts by documenting a problem
May 2017: AireCiudadano begins by publishing "Failures in Bogotá’s official air quality network". The starting point is not a sensor but a documented complaint: the official network does not measure what the city needs to measure.
2018
The citizen network is born
In February, two low-cost sensors connected by wifi send the first real-time network of PM2.5, PM10 and temperature. In May and September there are interventions at the Congress of the Republic and at public hearings. In October the first CanAirIO sensor building workshop takes place, and the polluting effect of TransMilenio is measured for the first time. It is the most intense year: 58 articles.
2019 · 2020
The network consolidates
The network grows into a stable structure of continuous measurement. Between March 2019 and April 2020 the logbook is at its densest, with street measurement campaigns documenting the effect of heavy vehicles, and the 2020 pandemic forces measuring indoor air quality as well.
2021
Scientific validation and CO₂ measurement
In March the TSI Q-Track reference meter is intercompared with low-cost sensors (Sensirion, Winsen, Cubic and Aranet 4): the first step towards showing that a cheap sensor can be reliable. The same month the LibreCO2 meter is born, with its building guide aimed at schools and shops, and the programming process for Android is published. In May, with #SensoresSolidarios, ventilation measurement starts in engineering classrooms and laboratories at UNAL. In October the "build your own PM2.5 sensor" workshop takes place in person (CASAP VIII). 61 articles: the most prolific year.
2022
Air in pandemic times
The quietest year in terms of publications and the most intense in fieldwork: CO₂ measurements in homes, transport and enclosed spaces to understand how the air behaved when the city stopped.
2023
International recognition
In February an AireCiudadano sensor reaches Antarctica, at Professor Julio Escudero’s base in Chile, to measure the air where no official network exists. In March the AireCiudadano network is accepted and incorporated into AQICN, the most complete air quality map in the world. Also in February the 2022-2026 National Development Plan is analysed, which does not address air quality.
2024
Contrast with the official network
In December, twelve AireCiudadano sensors stay for several months at the official Ferias station to be intercompared and adjusted. It is the argument that was missing: citizen data, contrasted against a reference station, is reliable. Also in December a new fixed sensor is installed in Antarctica.
2025
A living, open network
The network now counts more than 250 stations reporting at the same time. Every minute, PM2.5, PM10, temperature and humidity data from the whole network reach the open data portal and can be consulted with no registration and no cost.
The project stays open
Everything we have measured is on this website and in the open data portal. If you want to add a sensor, organise a workshop or simply look at the data from your neighbourhood, there is a place to start.