OPTIMIZED SMART CITY POLLUTION MONITORING AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR AWKA METROPOLIS USING WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS AND IOT
Keywords:
Smart city, Awka Metropolis, Air pollution, Noise pollution, Air Quality Index (AQI), Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Pollution monitoring, Real-time system, Smart Citizen KitAbstract
This paper presents the development and validation of a cost-effective, real-time air quality monitoring and control system for Awka Metropolis, Nigeria, integrating Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. By deploying pollution sensors at eight city hotspots and creating an ANN-based predictive model for the Air Quality Index (AQI), the system enables smart forecasting, real-time cloud visualization, and mobile accessibility via an Android app. Air pollution and environmental noise have become critical public health concerns in rapidly urbanizing cities like Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria. In response, this study developed and optimized a smart city air and noise pollution monitoring and prediction system using a wireless sensor network and machine learning models. A real-time monitoring substation, built with the Smart Citizen Kit (SCK), was deployed across Awka Metropolis to collect 12,958 datasets over 43 days. The system recorded six pollutant variables—PM1.0, PM2.5, PM10.0, eCO₂, TVOC, and noise—alongside meteorological parameters including temperature, pressure, humidity, and light intensity. Eight machine learning algorithms—Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), Support Vector Regression (SVR), Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP-ANN), Decision Tree, Random Forest, AdaBoost, XGBoost, and Extra Trees—were evaluated using both Train-Test Split and 10-Fold Cross-Validation. Results showed that ensemble models, particularly Extra Trees and Random Forest, significantly outperformed others in terms of predictive accuracy (R² ≥ 0.99 for key pollutants) and residual error (low RMSE and MAE). Hybrid models (stacking and voting ensembles) did not offer additional performance gains. Noise prediction yielded poor results (R² < 0.60), suggesting the need for broader contextual features. The research contributes a deployable low-cost monitoring system and pollutant-specific predictive models that can support proactive environmental health interventions in Awka and similar urban centers.References
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