UIC, community partners monitor air pollution in Chicago

Open Air Chicago has 277 solar-powered sensors positioned around the city. (Photo: Martin Hernandez/UIC)

With Navy Pier, Millennium Park and the iconic Chicago Theater, Windy City tourists are seldom starved for spectacle. But on street corners citywide, spectacular science hides in plain sight.

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Late last summer, nearly 300 air-quality monitoring sensors were installed on light poles throughout the city. The initiative, called Open Air Chicago, will track local air pollution over the next five years - making the largest system of its kind in the U.S. and the second-largest in the world.

"By pairing air-quality data with Chicagoans' lived experiences, we can reduce exposure to pollutants and their associated health risks, improving community and public health," said School of Public Health professor and project leader Serap Erdal.

Erdal lives and breathes air-quality research. Since she joined UIC in 2000, she's used local environmental data to guide public health policy. In 2023, she received $2 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce to establish a network of air-quality sensors in Chicago. Erdal has received a grant from ComEd to expand the network.

By September 2025, Chicago Department of Transportation crews finished installing 277 solar-powered sensors on light poles across Chicago's approximately 60 ZIP codes, each less than a mile from the next. Sixty percent of the sensors were purchased with UIC research grants, and the Chicago Department of Public Health bought the rest.

Open Air Chicago has 277 solar-powered sensors positioned around the city. (Photo: Martin Hernandez/UIC) UIC's Serap Erdal leads Open Air Chicago. (Photo: Martin Hernandez/UIC)

Industrial neighborhoods with higher pollution levels (as indicated by the Chicago Environmental Justice Index) received more sensors. In each neighborhood, residents and environmental organizations gave input as to where the sensors would go.

"Community members know where cars and trucks tend to idle, and where high-risk groups like children and older adults tend to congregate," Erdal said. "We placed many of the sensors near daycares, schools and hospitals."

Community meetings also featured educational activities and trainings about air quality.

"The goal wasn't just to collect data, but to educate and empower citizens to take action," Erdal said. "I can't tell you how much fun we had at those community meetings. Everyone was very positive, participatory and willing to contribute."

The sensors detect two airborne pollutants: fine particulate matter, or motes of dust, soot or smoke, and nitrogen dioxide, which is harmful and can exacerbate respiratory diseases like asthma.

Data captured by the sensors is publicly accessible via an online dashboard. Erdal said a website is also on the way.

Each solar-powered sensor is less than a mile from the next. (Photo: Martin Hernandez/UIC)

"The community must be able to trust the data," Erdal said. "If community members are involved in every single phase of the project, from study design to data collection and dashboard creation, they can take ownership of that data and use it to benefit themselves and the community."

She envisions two main outcomes that will benefit public health: first, to guide urban planning initiatives like permitting and planning green spaces, and second, to target specific hotspots for air-quality control.

"These are major implications for our city," Erdal said. "This data forms the basis for scientific decision-making on so many issues that impact overall life, community and health, and we want to educate and empower everyone around these issues."

The sensors will collect data for at least five more years, more if they are renewed. In the meantime, Erdal hopes to continue educating and partnering with the public.

"I'm looking forward to meeting them further and empowering them with the information we're generating right now," she said.

Contact

Jenna Kurtzweil

[email protected]

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Health Sciences Colleges, Research, UIC today

Topics

air pollution, air quality, Chicago, environmental research, pollution