Aernode’s Lifecycle-Optimized Environmental Sensing

An OpenAQ Partner Profile by Matt Lane

OpenAQ, the world’s largest open-access, open-source air quality data platform, is excited to announce that Italian-based solution provider Aernode (whose parent company is Quanta S.R.L.) is now an OpenAQ air sensor partner. This partnership designates that Aernode supports its customers sharing data with the global community via OpenAQ, and there is a joint technical integration in place. I recently sat down with Federico Righini, Aernode’s product line director, to learn more about their company’s air quality monitors and customers. (see Figure 1 below)

Figure 1: An Aernode air quality monitor for indicative measurements¹ (left) and Federico Righini, Aernode’s product line director (right).

The Launch of Aernode

Federico kicks off our discussion by describing how the Aernode product line was commercially launched in 2025 as a complete technological platform for indicative ambient air quality monitoring. The product line builds on Quanta’s long-standing engineering experience in environmental monitoring and low-cost sensor technologies. Since 2011, Quanta has dedicated significant technical resources to air quality monitoring, including sensor evaluations, applied projects, and field experience in real-world deployment contexts. This background helped shape Aernode into a modular system designed to address practical needs observed across public, industrial, and environmental monitoring applications.

The Need for Environmental Monitoring

Air pollution is a significant health issue in Italy. In fact, the European Environment Agency estimates air pollution causes more than 50,000 premature deaths in Italy each year.² Federico describes in one example how the Milan area of northern Italy is one of the most polluted cities in Europe due to industrial emissions coupled with a thermal inversion effect (i.e., cold, pollutant-laden air is trapped under a layer of warm air during the fall and winter).

Local Italian municipalities attempting to rein in the negative health impacts of hazardous air pollution are a key Aernode customer segment. Some local agencies are starting to take the critical first step of monitoring air quality. Aernode provides indicative air quality monitoring systems and corresponding digital services to do just that. Federico explains, “Once municipalities have a monitoring network established, they can inform citizens on high-risk days to take precautions such as staying inside or closing windows. Monitoring also helps guide governmental policies. We have seen new regulations in certain regions during the winter months, such as banning older cars [which emit higher levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2)] in low-emission zones and limiting the use of older, high-emission fireplaces and wood stoves.”

Aernode also has strong demand from a second set of customers: industrial companies. Federico describes the need, “We see a wide range of monitoring usages from the business sector. For example, water treatment facilities and distilleries are monitoring hydrogen sulfide (H2S) as the strong odor can generate community complaints. By monitoring, these companies can proactively adjust when they operate based on wind conditions or spray odor-neutralizing solutions.” He goes on to highlight other industrial usages, including construction companies monitoring for harmful PM2.5 levels (driven by dust generation) and intensive farming operations that track methane (a potent greenhouse gas) and/or ammonia (used for fertilizer, but it can have negative side effects) gases.

Lowering Monitoring “TCO”

Environmental monitoring provides clear benefits for both governmental agencies and the private sector, but scaling deployments is often limited by cost constraints. Aernode’s key value proposition is to lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) of monitoring while still providing high quality and accuracy. Federico outlines how a network’s TCO is dominated by the operational costs of maintaining sensors in the field versus the upfront hardware cost. Namely, in-field sensors:

• Only operate accurately for one to three years due to the wear and tear from weather and humidity.
• Must be calibrated up to twice a year to ensure accuracy.
• Can experience unexpected downtime (e.g., due to a power or connectivity loss), which drives costly unplanned servicing events.

All of this ongoing maintenance can add up to a significant TCO for the monitoring organization, especially across a wide network.

One of the primary ways Aernode helps reduce TCO is through its modular hardware design, which provides multiple benefits, including:

• Configurability. Each unit comes with a core sensor board that integrates standard environmental sensors with the option to add additional sensing elements. (see Figure 2 below)
• Replaceability. They support a quick-swap in-field replacement of the sensor kit without the need for detailed training or expertise. (see Figure 3 below)
• Serviceability. They support an in-lab servicing of individual sensors.
• Remote Control. They offer a fully remote, bidirectional connectivity control, which can help avoid certain in-field servicing events and increase uptime.

Figure 2: Aernode sensors come with a wide array of standard and optional sensing elements, allowing customers to configure the sensor based on their need.

Figure 3: Aernode’s quick-swap, field replaceable sensor deck module.

Finally, Aernode focuses on robust support for the calibration process, which is critical for maintaining the accuracy of a low-cost sensor. Specifically, they ensure their sensors come pre-calibrated and then support four unique, ongoing calibration methods (i.e., co-locating with an Aernode “gold” station [recently calibrated with a local reference station], co-locating with a reference-grade monitor, remote calibration, or calibration with bottled gas).

Open Data Support

Aernode also has an impressive set of data reporting and management tools enabling their customers to get the most out of the network. They offer rich visualization dashboards, which aggregate not only the Aernode sensors, but also fold in important third party data from satellites and other government monitors. (see Figure 4 below).

Figure 4: Aernode’s Smartmuni dashboard for the City of Castiglione Stiviere in northern Italy. The dashboard reports field deployments of Aernode air quality monitors and also third-party data, including: Copernicus satellite data, Italy’s broader municipal network (Rete Comunale), ARPA reference stations (the Italian “EPA”), and an “Emissions Inventory” (Italian governmental data on pollutant sources).

And now, Aernode is not only using third party open data, but when a customer opts-in, they are proactively sharing the data with the global community via OpenAQ. One such customer doing so is FIAB Cremasco, an organization that promotes the adoption of bike-friendly and sustainable environments which includes limiting air pollution. (see Figure 5 below)

Figure 5: FIAB Cremasco (The Italian Federation for the Environment and Cycling in the Cremasco area of northern Italy) is now sharing its Aernode air quality data with the global community on the OpenAQ platform.

Scaling Monitoring via the European Air Quality Directive

As we wrap up our conversation, I ask Federico what is next for Aernode and addressing air pollution in general. He says, “Our original goal is still the same, we would like to see clean air across Italy and elsewhere as we expand globally. It turns out a relatively low percentage of municipalities currently have environmental monitoring in place. We believe the recent passage of the European Air Quality Directive will accelerate adoption by municipalities.” Aernode’s impressive product line, focused on lowering TCO in conjunction with the new EU directive, looks as if it will be a much-needed positive force multiplier in the fight for clean air.

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Footnotes and Sources

1. “Indicative measurement” is a term which means measurements which meet data quality objectives that are less strict than those required for fixed measurements. “Indicative monitoring” is used to describe qualified sensor-based technologies that can provide supplemental measurements alongside reference monitoring networks.
2. European Environmental Agency, Premature deaths due to exposure to fine particulate matter in Europe, November 30, 2025.