# PMS5003 Particulate Matter Sensor

**Type:** Product page · **SKU:** CE09188 · **Brand:** [Kitronik](https://core-electronics.com.au/brands/kitronik-australia)
**Page:** https://core-electronics.com.au/pms5003-particulate-matter-sensor.html ([markdown](https://core-electronics.com.au/pms5003-particulate-matter-sensor.html.md))

## Retired product

This product is retired and no longer available for purchase. Replaced by: ADA3686.

**Replacement:** https://core-electronics.com.au/catalog/product/view/sku/ADA3686

## Description

Monitor air pollution cheaply and accurately with this matchbox-sized particulate matter (PM) sensor (PMS5003) from Plantower! It senses particulates of various sizes (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) from sources like smoke, dust, pollen, metal and organic particles, and more.

Pair this particulate matter sensor with the [Pimoroni Enviro+ for Raspberry Pi](https://kitronik.co.uk/collections/new-arrivals/products/5034-pimoroni-enviro-plus-for-raspberry-pi-enviro-air-quality) and build your own air quality monitoring station to contribute to citizen science projects such as [Luftdaten](https://united-kingdom.maps.luftdaten.info/). Just plug the cable into the sensor and then into the connector on the underside of Enviro+, and away you go!

The sensor features a small fan which pulls air past a laser. The laser can detect both the size and number of particles in the air. It is important to note that there is a blue protective film that covers the metal casing of the sensor, peel this off before use.

There are two options for digital output: passive and active. The default mode is active after power-up. In this mode, the sensor automatically sends serial data to the host. The active mode is divided into two sub-modes: stable mode and fast mode. If the concentration change is small the sensor would run at stable mode with the real interval of 2.3s. And if the change is big the sensor would be changed to fast mode automatically with an interval of 200~800ms, the higher the concentration, the shorter the interval.

**Software:** If you're using this sensor with Raspberry Pi, then you'll need to make a couple of changes to its configuration.

- Type (or copy/paste) and entersudo raspi-configinto the terminal to open the configuration tool.
- Using the arrows navigate down to and select option **3 Interface Options.**
- Using the arrows again select **P6 Serial Port** and answer the questions to **disable the login shell (answer No)** and **enable the serial port hardware (answer Yes)**.
- Accept your changes and then **Finish** and close.
- Open a terminal window then type (or copy/paste) and entersudo nano /boot/config.txtand add the linesenable\_uart=1anddtoverlay=pi3-miniuart-btto the bottom of the file.
- To exit the editor, press Ctrl + X together, and then Y then Enter.
- If you are using it with the [Enviro+](https://kitronik.co.uk/collections/new-arrivals/products/5034-pimoroni-enviro-plus-for-raspberry-pi-enviro-air-quality) board, then the [Enviro+ installation script](https://github.com/pimoroni/enviroplus-python/) will do all of this configuration for you.

You can also use this sensor with Raspberry Pi Pico (and other RP2040 boards) using this [MicroPython library for PMS5003](https://github.com/pimoroni/pms5003-micropython). You can install it easily using [Thonny's](https://thonny.org/) '**Tools**' > '**Manage Packages**' (search for '**pms5003-micropython**').

**Note:**

- There's a blue protective film that covers the metal casing of the sensor, peel this off before use.

**Features:**

- It senses particulates of various sizes (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) from sources like smoke, dust, pollen, metal and organic particles, and more.
- Small and discreet, approximately the same size as a matchbox! (50x38x21mm)
- Pair with a Pimoroni Enviro+ for Raspberry Pi and build your own air quality monitoring station.
- Use it to contribute to citizen science.
- A small fan pulls air past a laser which can detect the size and number of particles in the air.
- It comes with a 15cm Picoblade cable.
- UART serial interface.

**Contents:**

- 1 x PMS5003 Particulate Matter Sensor.
- A 15cm Picoblade cable

**Dimensions:**

- Length: 50mm.
- Width: 38mm.
- Height: 21mm.

**Requires:**

- A suitable microcontroller/computer;
- [Raspberry Pi](https://kitronik.co.uk/collections/coding/raspberry-pi-boards).
- [Raspberry Pi Pico](https://kitronik.co.uk/collections/coding/products/5330-raspberry-pi-pico-with-pre-soldered-headers).

- Optional;
- [Pimoroni Enviro+ for Raspberry Pi](https://kitronik.co.uk/collections/new-arrivals/products/5034-pimoroni-enviro-plus-for-raspberry-pi-enviro-air-quality)

**Resources:**

- [PMS5003 Particulate Matter (PM) Sensor Datasheet](https://core-electronics.com.au/attachments/localcontent/plantower-pms5003-manual_v2-3_77943dfe118.pdf).
- [Python library for Raspberry Pi](https://github.com/pimoroni/pms5003-python).
- [MicroPython library for Raspberry Pi Pico/Pico W](https://github.com/pimoroni/pms5003-micropython).
- [Enviro+ installation script](https://github.com/pimoroni/enviroplus-python/).

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## Images

- [Product image 1](https://core-electronics.com.au/media/catalog/product/C/E/CE09188-1.jpg)