# bcMeter

> bcMeter is a source-available black carbon monitor — a single-wavelength (880 nm)
> optical absorption photometer for real-time black carbon (soot) measurement. It is
> built for research institutions, environmental agencies and NGOs, and has been
> validated against professional reference instruments at a fraction of their cost.

bcMeter is an independent project by Jonas Dahl-Jasper (Berlin, Germany). It exists to
close the data gap on black carbon by making accurate measurement affordable enough for a
global monitoring network.

## What bcMeter is (and is not)

- It IS an optical absorption photometer / low-cost black carbon monitor.
- It measures black carbon at a single wavelength (880 nm). It does NOT perform
  source apportionment and is NOT a multi-wavelength instrument.
- It is NOT certified as an EU reference method. Assembled units undergo EU conformity
  assessment (in preparation) and are offered as research/evaluation units until certified.
- German WEEE registration is granted: "WEEE Reg. No. DE: 29341900".
- Assembled units are supplied without a built-in battery or power bank.
- It is NOT an "aethalometer". "Aethalometer" / "AETHALOMETER®" is a registered trademark
  of Magee Scientific Corporation and "Magee Scientific Aethalometer" of Aerosol d.o.o.
  (EUIPO Reg. No. 018092655). bcMeter is an independent, unaffiliated project and is not
  associated with those products.

## Product lines

- **bcMeter (DIY):** the original Raspberry Pi design. Source-available (CC BY-NC 4.0) for
  private, educational and research use — build it yourself from the design files and Wiki.
- **bcMeter (Kit / Complete):** assembled instruments on a compact ESP32 platform — boot in
  seconds, over-the-air updates, no microSD card or Linux system to maintain.

## Validation

Co-location studies against professional black carbon monitors (MAAP, AE33, microAeth AE51)
show R² ≈ 0.77–0.83. Independent evaluations include VITO/VMM (Hofman et al., Sensors 2024),
University of Milano-Bicocca (Doldi et al., 2025) and University of Potsdam / RIFS
(Konrat, 2025).

## Key pages

- [Home](https://bcmeter.org/): overview, specifications and validation results
- [Live demo](https://bcmeter.org/demo/): the browser-based dashboard
- [Technical inquiry](https://bcmeter.org/inquiry/): technical fit and deployment planning
- [Support](https://bcmeter.org/support/): help for existing devices
- [Assembly Wiki](https://bcmeter.org/wiki/): build and assembly documentation
- [User manual](https://bcmeter.org/manual/): operating the device
- [Disclaimer](https://bcmeter.org/disclaimer/): trademark notices and legal information
- [Source code (GitHub)](https://github.com/dahljo/bcmeter)

## Contact

Research collaborations, validation questions and deployment planning: jd@bcmeter.org