Spatial assessment of air quality patterns in Malaysia using multivariate analysis

• Published in: Atmospheric environment (1994) 2012-12, Vol.60, p.172-181
• Main Authors: Dominick, Doreena, Juahir, Hafizan, Latif, Mohd Talib, Zain, Sharifuddin M., Aris, Ahmad Zaharin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: air; Air pollutants; Air pollution; air quality; aircraft; ambient temperature; Analysis methods; Applied sciences; atmospheric chemistry; Atmospheric pollution; Carbon monoxide; cluster analysis; Combustion; data collection; emissions; Exact sciences and technology; HACA; humidity; industry; linear models; MLR; monitoring; Motor vehicles; Multivariate analysis; particulates; PCA; Pollutants; Pollution; population density; principal component analysis; Stations; wind speed
• ISSN: 1352-2310; 1873-2844
• DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.06.021

This study aims to investigate possible sources of air pollutants and the spatial patterns within the eight selected Malaysian air monitoring stations based on a two-year database (2008–2009). The multivariate analysis was applied on the dataset. It incorporated Hierarchical Agglomerative Cluster Analysis (HACA) to access the spatial patterns, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to determine the major sources of the air pollution and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) to assess the percentage contribution of each air pollutant. The HACA results grouped the eight monitoring stations into three different clusters, based on the characteristics of the air pollutants and meteorological parameters. The PCA analysis showed that the major sources of air pollution were emissions from motor vehicles, aircraft, industries and areas of high population density. The MLR analysis demonstrated that the main pollutant contributing to variability in the Air Pollutant Index (API) at all stations was particulate matter with a diameter of less than 10 μm (PM10). Further MLR analysis showed that the main air pollutant influencing the high concentration of PM10 was carbon monoxide (CO). This was due to combustion processes, particularly originating from motor vehicles. Meteorological factors such as ambient temperature, wind speed and humidity were also noted to influence the concentration of PM10. ► HACA, PCA and MLR are used to assess the sources of atmospheric pollutants at eight stations. ► The stations has been categorized into three different clusters base on locations. ► Motor vehicles are the main sources of air pollutants. ► PM10 is the major air pollutant and has significant correlation with CO.