Hello! Thank you for your interest in bcMeter!

Due to the scarcity of sites worldwide that monitor the concentration of black carbon—a pollutant known for its heavy impact on human health and the planet’s climate—the bcMeter project was launched. This website provides all the resources needed to build or order the device.

Black carbon, commonly known as soot, is emitted during combustion processes. In Europe, major sources include diesel engines and wood-burning stoves, while in developing countries, cooking stoves and the burning of organic waste play significant roles. Large-scale forest and peat fires can also cause high regional concentrations. Not only does black carbon contribute considerably to global warming—especially in sensitive regions like the Arctic, Antarctic, and glacier areas—but its ultrafine particles also pose serious health risks. The IPCC assigns a 20-year CO₂ equivalent factor of 2421 to BC. Despite its importance, measurements of BC concentration remain scarce, particularly in rural areas during winter when wood is burned for heating. High measurement costs and limited regulatory support have long hindered widespread monitoring, emphasizing the urgent need for a cost-effective solution.

A performance comparison of the bcMeter against common aethalometers is provided below.

After receiving or assembling a bcMeter, sharing feedback is highly encouraged. The vision is to build a community of citizen scientists and NGOs to establish a regularly updated network of black carbon measurements. Collaboration with partners like CompAIR, along with optional data integration into their dashboard, is steadily turning this vision into reality. Once when enough participants are gathered, we plan to create a global map with black carbon live data.

What is bcMeter?

bcMeter is a black carbon measurement device built on the same principle as aethalometers and released as open source under the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. For a little insight, check out the working principle.

To meet diverse needs, the following versions of bcMeter are available:

• Emission Control bcMeter (Commercial Use): A fully calibrated and tested device designed for emission control applications on wood stoves.
• bcMeter (Tested and Calibrated): A reliable measurement device suitable for general applications.
• bcMeter IOT with 3G Mobile Support: An enhanced version featuring 3G connectivity for continuous data reception without WiFi.

Additional upgrade options include:

• PM2.5 support
• GPS support
• A rugged case for extra durability
• Any other ideas? Tell me more 🙂

Also a bcMeter Self Assembly Kit is available—a kit designed for citizen scientists and private users for non-commercial use. You can always get the most recent files for manufacturing here https://github.com/dahljo/bcmeter

You can request more information on the devices and/or place an order here.

You can always get the most recent files here:
https://github.com/dahljo/bcmeter

Write this image to your microSD-Card after extraction. Use Balena Etcher for convenience if you want. Select the image and the microSD Card and wait for the image to be written.

Upon startup of the bcMeter, it will create the WiFi “bcmeter” with password “bcMeterbcMeter” within 2-3 Minutes. You can then setup the bcMeter for further operation by accessing it, being logged into the WiFi bcMeter, at http://bcmeter.local

This Hotspot mode is a fallback when no WiFi is available to configure the device for operation. If no known WiFi is in reach or no configuration is made, for security reasons, the bcMeter will turn off after 10 Minutes.

You can override this in Parameters when you want to run the bcMeter without being connected to your personal WiFi. Just set the clock right and set the first parameter to “True” to disable the timer for shutdown.

Evaluation / Comparison to common Aethalometers:

bcMeter vs mAeth 51

bcMeter vs MAAP – Please consider that this was in our early testing stage. In the meantime we could significantly reduce the noise.

Order bcMeter