The use of remote sensing and GIS in water monitoring and management has been long recognized. This paper however discusses the application of remote sensing and GIS specifically in monitoring water quality parameter such as suspended matter, phytoplankton, turbidity, and dissolved organic matter. In fact the capability of this technology offers great tools of how the water quality monitoring and managing can be operationalised in this country. Potential application and management is identified in promoting concept of sustainable water resource management. In conclusion remote sensing and GIS technologies coupled with computer modelling are useful tools in providing a solution for future water resources planning and management to government especially in formulating policy related to water quality.

No abstract

No abstract

-Since the phase out of Halon extinguishers in the 1980s, hot aerosol fire suppression technology has gained much attention. Unlike traditional inert gas, foam, water mist and Halon fire suppression agents, hot aerosol fire extinguishing agents do not need to be driven out by pressurized gases and can extinguish class A, B, C, D and K fires at 30 to 200 g/m 3 . Generally, hot aerosol fire extinguishing technology has developed from a generation I oil tank suppression system to a generation III strontium salt based S-type system. S-type hot aerosol fire extinguishing technology greatly solves the corrosion problem of electrical devices and electronics compared to potassium salt based generation I & II hot aerosol fire extinguishing technology. As substitutes for Halon agents, the ODP and GWP values of hot fire extinguishing aerosols are nearly zero, but those fine aerosol particles can cause adverse health effects once inhaled by human. As for configurations of hot aerosol fire extinguishing devices, fixed or portable cylindrical canisters are the most common among generation II & III hot aerosol fire extinguishers across the world, while generation I hot aerosol fire suppression systems are integrated with the oil tank as a whole. Some countries like the U.S., Australia, Russia and China, etc. have already developed standards for manufacturing and quality control of hot aerosol fire extinguishing agents and norms for hot aerosol fire extinguishing system design under different fire protection scenarios. Coolants in hot aerosol fire suppression systems, which are responsible for reducing hot aerosol temperature to avoid secondary fire risk are reviewed for the first time. Cooling effects are generally achieved through vaporization and endothermic chemical decomposition of coolants. Finally, this review discussed areas applying generation I, II or III hot aerosol fire suppression technologies. The generation III hot aerosol fire extinguishing system is most applicable, especially in areas involving delicate electrical and electronic equipments. Nonetheless, developing a much cleaner, non-corrosive and highly efficient hot aerosol fire suppression system is still needed.

The oil content of the flesh of mesocarp has direct relationship with color bands red, green and blue. By running intensive experiments, it was found that oil content correlated with the red color band, with a regression value of 0.86. The finding of this study may be useful for determining the ripeness of oil palm for harvesting and for the use in the operation and control of continuous steriliser in palm oil mill.

A common practice of chlorophyll (chl) determination has been using the chemical analysis that is destructive and time-consuming. A current prospective alternative method such hyperspectral remote sensing offers a non-destructive measurement of chl which provides a result in the rapid and real-time manner. Therefore, the ultimate aims of this study were to propose the chls (chl a, chl b, total chl content (TCC) and relative chl content (RCC)) sufficiency levels via Jenks Natural Breaks (JNB) classification and recommend the best subset of chl-sensitive wavelengths, frond number and classifier for classifying the chls according to the designated sufficiency levels via hyperspectral remote sensing platform. In order to achieve the objectives, an experiment was conducted on mature Tenera palm stands (12 and 15 years old) with N treatments varied from 0 to 2 kg. The Jenks Natural Breaks (JNB) classification was proposed to determine the chl sufficiency levels. Feature selection was carried out to select the chl-sensitive wavelengths while Decision Tree (DT) and Random Forest (RF) classifiers were used to classify the chl sufficiency levels using the selected wavelengths. Results from this study showed that the chl-sensitive wavelengths mostly belong to the red-edge region and importantly, they were frond age-dependent. Generally, the classification accuracy tended to decrease as frond gets older. The RF performed the best in discriminating the chl sufficiency levels with accuracy ranging from 92.79 to 98.77% compared to 56.30-90.48% achieved by DT. In the nutshell, the execution of frond 9 was more ideal than frond 17 for monitoring chl content of mature oil palm via remote sensing and RF portrayed promising insight in assessing chls content of mature oil palm.

Mountainous regions are more sensitive to climatic condition changes and are susceptible to recent increases in temperature. Due to urbanization and land use/land cover (LULC) issues, Cameron Highlands has been impacted by rising land surface temperature (LST) variation. Thus, this study was carried out to explore the impact of the LULC change on LST in the Cameron Highlands from 2009 to 2019 using remote sensing images acquired from Landsat 7 ETM+, Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI/TIRS), and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 11A Thermal sensors. A split-window algorithm was applied to Landsat 8 images (2013–2019) to derive the LST. Air temperature data of the study area were also obtained to cross-validate data sources. Based on the validation results, the accuracy of LULC and LST outputs were more than 94.6% and 80.0%, respectively. The results show that the current trend of urban growth continues at a rate of 0.16% per year, and the area experienced an LST increase of 2 °C between 2009 and 2019. This study is crucial for land planners and environmentalists to understand the impacts of LULC change on LST and to propose appropriate policy measures to control development in Cameron Highlands.

Many habitat patches in tropical landscapes have become less suitable for wildlife due to an increase in anthropogenic disturbances. An index of habitat suitability based on the ecological factors that collectively determine the suitability of an organism's habitat is important for conservation planning. However, a widely accepted and comprehensive multicriteria habitat suitability index for umbrella species is still lacking, particularly in areas where information related to the biology and ecology of the species of interest is not available. Therefore we develop preliminary habitat maps and measure the degree of habitat suitability for large mammals, focusing on four umbrella species in the State of Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia: Panthera tigris jacksoni (Malayan tiger), Tapirus indicus (Malayan tapir), Helarctos malayanus malayanus (Malayan sun bear), and Rusa unicolor cambojensis (sambar deer). The former two are endangered and the latter two are vulnerable according to the IUCN Red List. The suitability of habitat patches for each species was measured across the entire study area as well as in nine wildlife protected areas by integrating GIS data and expert opinion. Expert opinions were used as the source of information regarding the stresses faced by the species because there was insufficient information available from ground surveys. We developed an index and maps of habitat suitability for each species, which were then integrated to represent a combined index (ranging from 0 to 27) and spatially explicit maps of the area's habitat suitability for large mammals. The average large mammal habitat suitability index value of the State of Selangor (9) indicates that many habitat patches have become unsuitable for such species. Of the nine wildlife protected areas, Fraser's Hill (22), Sungai Dusun (22), and Bukit Kutu (21) are very suitable; Klang Gate (20) and Templers Park (17) are suitable; and the remaining four are unsuitable for large mammals. We assume that this preliminary habitat suitability index and mapping are useful for conservation planning of wildlife habitats at both landscape and regional scales, as well as providing an initial foundation for revision by future research with significant new information.