Leveraging air/water current variability for sensor network verification and source localization

A system for determining the source of a pollutant comprising:

• a receiver for receiving measurements of current variations from a current sensor positioned in a sensing area, and for receiving pollutant measurements from a plurality of analyte sensors in the sensing area;
• a sensor validator that determines using current measurements form the current sensor whether the analyst sensors are functioning, wherein said sensor validator validates analyte sensor operation when said current sensor measures a current rate above a background current rate so that the analyte sensor can not sense pollutant measurements;
• and
• a pollution source locator including a dispersion model and at least one hardware processor to interpolate a location of a pollution source from variations in current measured from the current sensors and measurements of pollutants from the analyte sensors.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium is provided that includes a computer readable program for determining a source of air pollution, the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform the steps of:

• receiving measurements of current variations from a current sensor positioned in a sensing area;
• receiving pollutant measurements from a plurality of analyst sensors positioned in the sensing area;
• determining at current values above a background current value that do not allow for accurate measurement of pollutants by the analyte sensors, the current values above said background current value received from the current sensors whether the analyte sensors are calibrated, wherein calibrated analyte sensors read a uniform background reading at said current values above said background current value;
• and
• localizing a pollution source with a pollution source locator including a dispersion model and at least one hardware processor to interpolate a location of a pollution source from variations in current measured from the current sensors and measurements of pollutants from the analyte sensors.