US Patent 10365197 Optical particle sensor and sensing method

An optical particle sensor has at least first and second threshold settings applied to an optical sensor or a sensor signal to obtain first and second optical sensor readings. The first and second optical sensor readings are processed to determine a parameter which is dependent on a type of pollution event. The parameter is used to determine from at least one of the first and second optical sensor readings a mass of all particles below a first particle size. In this way the mass of all particles below a desired size can be evaluated, even though the optical sensor may not be responsive to the smallest particles.