Air Quality Monitoring Fundamentals
A structured programme covering field methodology, sensor calibration, and data interpretation for environmental monitoring professionals.
Air quality data is only useful when you know how to collect it correctly. This course focuses on the technical side of monitoring — sensor calibration, placement protocols, and understanding the difference between indicative and reference-grade measurements.
Who this course suits
Environmental technicians, local authority staff, and consultants who work with air quality data regularly but want a firmer grounding in the underlying methodology. Some field experience helps, though it is not required.
What the course covers
You will work through PM2.5 and PM10 measurement techniques, NO2 diffusion tube analysis, and data validation procedures used in compliance reporting. There is a strong emphasis on understanding instrument limitations — knowing when your readings are trustworthy and when they are not.
Regulatory context
Irish and EU air quality directives are woven throughout the material, so you finish with a clear picture of how monitoring feeds into legal obligations. We look at real datasets from Irish monitoring networks and work through common errors in field deployments.
- Sensor selection and placement criteria
- Calibration schedules and drift correction
- Data quality assurance and flagging protocols
- Reporting under the EU Ambient Air Quality Directive
The course runs over six weeks with two live sessions per week. Each session is 90 minutes and recorded for replay within 48 hours.
Questions about this programme? Contact us at [email protected] or call +353 45 487 200. Oakpartners has been delivering specialist environmental education since 2017.
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Week 1 — Pollutants and their sources
Overview of key pollutants, emission sources, and health thresholds. Introduction to Irish monitoring network infrastructure. -
Week 2 — Sensor technologies compared
Electrochemical cells, optical particle counters, and reference analysers. Strengths and failure modes of each type. -
Week 3 — Siting and deployment
Regulatory siting criteria, common field mistakes, and urban versus rural considerations. -
Week 4 — Calibration and maintenance
Hands-on calibration exercises using supplied datasets. Drift correction methods and maintenance logs. -
Week 5 — Data validation and QA
Identifying outliers, flagging invalid data, and building a defensible audit trail. -
Week 6 — Reporting and compliance
Structuring reports for regulatory submission. Group review of a real compliance dataset.