{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,2]],"date-time":"2025-11-02T16:38:19Z","timestamp":1762101499172,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2013,12,13]],"date-time":"2013-12-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1386892800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Large-scale noise pollution sensor networks consist of hundreds of spatially distributed microphones that measure environmental noise. These networks provide historical and real-time environmental data to citizens and decision makers and are therefore a key technology to steer environmental policy. However, the high cost of certified environmental microphone sensors render large-scale environmental networks prohibitively expensive. Several environmental network projects have started using off-the-shelf low-cost microphone sensors to reduce their costs, but these sensors have higher failure rates and produce lower quality data. To offset this disadvantage, we developed a low-cost noise sensor that actively checks its condition and indirectly the integrity of the data it produces. The main design concept is to embed a 13 mm speaker in the noise sensor casing and, by regularly scheduling a frequency sweep, estimate the evolution of the microphone\u2019s frequency response over time. This paper presents our noise sensor\u2019s hardware and software design together with the results of a test deployment in a large-scale environmental network in Belgium. Our middle-range-value sensor (around \u20ac50) effectively detected all experienced malfunctions, in laboratory tests and outdoor deployments, with a few false positives. Future improvements could further lower the cost of our sensor below \u20ac10.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s131217241","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,12,16]],"date-time":"2013-12-16T06:18:40Z","timestamp":1387174720000},"page":"17241-17264","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Active Self-Testing Noise Measurement Sensors for Large-Scale Environmental Sensor Networks"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Federico","family":"Dom\u00ednguez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Elsene 1050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nguyen","family":"The Cuong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Elsene 1050, Belgium"},{"name":"Department of Industrial Sciences and Technology (INDI), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Elsene 1050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Felipe","family":"Reinoso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Elsene 1050, Belgium"},{"name":"Department of Industrial Sciences and Technology (INDI), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Elsene 1050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abdellah","family":"Touhafi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Elsene 1050, Belgium"},{"name":"Department of Industrial Sciences and Technology (INDI), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Elsene 1050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kris","family":"Steenhaut","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Elsene 1050, Belgium"},{"name":"Department of Industrial Sciences and Technology (INDI), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Elsene 1050, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,12,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"544","DOI":"10.1039\/C0EM00532K","article-title":"On the ability of consumer electronics microphones for environmental noise monitoring","volume":"13","author":"Thomas","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Environ. Monit."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9476","DOI":"10.3390\/s120709476","article-title":"A Bayesian framework for the automated online assessment of sensor data quality","volume":"12","author":"Smith","year":"2012","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bisdikian, C. (2007, January 19\u201323). On Sensor Sampling and Quality of Information: A Starting Point. New York, NY, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/PERCOMW.2007.88"},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Smith, W.L. (2010). Self-Testing Sensor. (EP 2163905 A1)."},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Markus, L. (2006). Self Testing Sensor. (EPO Patent 1666841-A1)."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Kjaer, B. (2009). Microphones & Conditioning, Br\u00fcel & Kj\u00e6r. Technical Report."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"(2005). Environmental Microphone Type 41AL, G.R.A.S. Sound & Vibration. Technical Report."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"(2009). 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