Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Levels in Kareri Lake

A few days before our trek to Kareri Lake, we figured it would be interesting to document the air quality along the entire route. Since most of our work revolves around pollution monitoring, carrying a sensor with us felt natural.

We put together a compact device that combined a PM2.5 sensor, onboard data logging, and a GPS module for geotagging every measurement. Our intern, Saran, clipped the unit to his backpack with a carabiner and carried it through the whole climb. The setup ran off a power bank, which turned out to be more than enough for the full journey.

Once we got back, we processed the data. The numbers matched what you’d expect for a clean, high-altitude environment. Average PM2.5 levels stayed close to 30 µg/m³. They dipped even lower during breaks when we weren’t stirring up dust. The brief spikes you see in the dataset mostly track with sections where our boots kicked up loose soil on the trail.