Air quality monitoring solution
Urban areas, industrial districts, and high-traffic zones constantly battle air pollution — a critical issue that affects both public health and regulatory compliance. From fine particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) to harmful gases like SO₂ and CO, monitoring these environmental threats requires a robust and responsive system. ThingsBoard rises to this challenge with unmatched flexibility and reliability.
The ThingsBoard IoT platform is purpose-built to address this challenge with its scalable architecture, multi-protocol support (MQTT, HTTP, CoAP, LwM2M), and powerful rule engine. It seamlessly connects distributed air quality sensors, ensures secure and reliable data ingestion, and enables real-time analytics and alarming across large deployments.
With its customizable dashboards, flexible data visualization tools, and low-code rule configuration, ThingsBoard empowers organizations to deploy air quality monitoring systems faster, manage them efficiently, and respond to environmental changes proactively. Whether for smart cities, industrial compliance, or community health initiatives, ThingsBoard delivers the performance and adaptability needed to take control of air quality.
Solution structure of air quality monitoring
An air quality monitoring solution powered by ThingsBoard consists of IoT sensors that collect real-time data on pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, CO, SO₂, NO₂, and O₃. These devices transmit telemetry to the platform via industry-standard communication protocols, including MQTT, HTTP/HTTPS, CoAP, and LwM2M — enabling flexible integration across sectors.
Once received by ThingsBoard, the data is processed, stored in a time-series database, and visualized via interactive dashboards. Custom rule chains allow the generation of automated alarms when AQI thresholds are breached or sensor battery levels drop below critical levels.
Air quality monitoring dashboard structure
The air quality monitoring solution in ThingsBoard is built on a modular dashboard structure that serves both public and administrative needs. Each dashboard is composed of configurable widgets, real-time data streams, map overlays, and interactive filters — all powered by ThingsBoard’s flexible dashboard engine.
Applications of air quality monitoring
An IoT-based solution like the air quality monitoring system, powered by ThingsBoard, can be adapted across industries where air quality impacts health, safety, or compliance. Its flexibility and real-time analytics make it valuable far beyond environmental use cases. Here are some key application areas:
Smart cities
ThingsBoard enables city authorities to deploy scalable sensor networks and automate air quality alarms, helping protect public health and enforce clean air regulations in real time.
Transportation & logistics
Enable landlords and tenants to monitor and reduce energy bills through transparent usage tracking.
Real estate development
Developers leverage ThingsBoard’s remote monitoring, public dashboards, and analytics to showcase air quality metrics as a selling point for eco-friendly properties.
Industrial zones
Manufacturers use ThingsBoard to monitor emissions through customizable dashboards and rule-based automation, ensuring regulatory compliance and minimizing environmental risks.
Education & research
Academic institutions benefit from ThingsBoard’s real-time data visualization and open API, integrating environmental data into curriculum, research projects, and citizen science initiatives.
Smart cities
ThingsBoard enables city authorities to deploy scalable sensor networks and automate air quality alarms, helping protect public health and enforce clean air regulations in real time.
Industrial zones
Manufacturers use ThingsBoard to monitor emissions through customizable dashboards and rule-based automation, ensuring regulatory compliance and minimizing environmental risks.
Transportation & logistics
Enable landlords and tenants to monitor and reduce energy bills through transparent usage tracking.
Education & research
Academic institutions benefit from ThingsBoard’s real-time data visualization and open API, integrating environmental data into curriculum, research projects, and citizen science initiatives.
Real estate development
Developers leverage ThingsBoard’s remote monitoring, public dashboards, and analytics to showcase air quality metrics as a selling point for eco-friendly properties.
Summary of air quality monitoring
ThingsBoard’s air quality monitoring solution offers a scalable, real-time IoT-based platform for environmental intelligence. It connects pollution sensors with cloud dashboards, alarms, and data storage to empower cities, industries, and institutions to act on air quality insights. Its flexibility, open protocol support, and customizable visualization make it ideal for public health, regulatory compliance, and green initiatives.
ThingsBoard advantages
Security
ThingsBoard protects your data with industry-standard encryption algorithms like RSA and ECDSA. Secure communication is ensured via TLS (TCP) and DTLS (UDP). Role-based access control and audit logs further enhance platform security.
Data visualization
Visualize data with interactive, multi-state dashboards—no coding needed. Use built-in charts, gauges, maps, tables, and control widgets. Customize every detail via advanced settings or custom widget bundles. Real-time, low-latency updates supported via embedded web-sockets.
Connectivity
Connect devices directly to the platform via the following built-in protocols: HTTP, CoAP, MQTT, LwM2M, and SNMP. Connect devices in your local network to the cloud using ThingsBoard Gateway via Modbus, BLE, BACnet, OPC-UA, and other protocols.
Data processing
ThingsBoard allows you to define app logic using a drag-and-drop rule chain designer. Its scalable Rule Engine uses message queues like Kafka or AWS SQS for durable, reliable data processing. You can handle data within the engine or forward it to external systems.
Scalability and high availability
ThingsBoard supports high-availability cloud and on-prem deployments via Kubernetes or bare-metal. Its components scale horizontally and handle 18K+ vehicles and 5K+ devices in prod.
Multi-tenancy
ThingsBoard provides UI and API to manage tenants, customers, users, devices, and assets. Single tenant may have multiple tenant administrators and millions of devices and customers. It also offers out-of-the-box support of OTA updates for your smart meters.
