Environmetric Study on Air Quality Pattern for Assessment in Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia

Ismail, Azman Shah; Abdullah, Ahmad Makmom; Samah, Mohd Armi Abu

doi:10.3923/jest.2017.186.196

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…It having a coast line length of about 4800 km (Abdullah, 1993 ). Malaysia consists of two large landmasses, Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia) and the Sabah–Sarawak (East Malaysia) in northern Borneo territories (Ismail et al, 2017 ). Borneo's large island is shared with Brunei, whereas Indonesia and Philippines border to the north.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of vulnerable regions of SARS-CoV-2 in Malaysia using meteorology and air quality data

Prasanna

Chidambaram

Karuppannan

et al. 2021

Environ Dev Sustain

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This study aims to explore the state-wise assessment of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic spread in Malaysia with focus on influence of meteorological parameters and air quality. In this study, state-wise COVID-19 data, meteorological parameters and air quality index (AQI) were collected from March 13 to April 30, 2020, which encompass three movement control order (MCO) periods in the country. Overall, total infected cases were observed to be higher in MCO phase 1 and 2 and significantly reduced in MCO phase 3. Due to the variation in the spatial interval of population density and individual immunity, the relationship of these parameters to pandemic spread could not be achieved. The study infers that temperature (T) between 23 and 25 °C and relative humidity (RH) (70–80%) triggered the pandemic spread by increase in the infected cases in northern and central Peninsular Malaysia. Selangor, WP Kuala Lumpur and WP Putrajaya show significantly high infected cases and a definite trend was not observed with respect to a particular meteorological factor. It is identified that high precipitation (PPT), RH and good air quality have reduced the spread in East Malaysia. A negative correlation of T and AQI and positive correlation of RH with total infected cases were found during MCO phase 3. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that T, RH, PPT, dew point (DP) and AQI are the main controlling factors for the spread across the country apart from social distancing. Vulnerability zones were identified based on the spatial analysis of T, RH, PPT and AQI with reference to total infected cases. Based on time series analysis, it was determined that higher RH and T in Peninsular Malaysia and high amount of PPT, RH and good air quality in East Malaysia have controlled the spreading during MCO phase 3. The predominance of D614 mutant was observed prior to March and decreases at the end of March, coinciding with the fluctuation of meteorological factors and air quality. The outcome of this study gives a general awareness to the public on COVID-19 and the influence of meteorological factors. It will also help the policymakers to enhance the management plans against the pandemic spreading apart from social distancing in the next wave of COVID-19. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-021-01719-z.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of vulnerable regions of SARS-CoV-2 in Malaysia using meteorology and air quality data

Prasanna

Chidambaram

Karuppannan

et al. 2021

Environ Dev Sustain

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“…Malaysia is located between 4.2105° N and 101.9758° with an area spread of 329, 960.22 km 2 . Malaysia consists of two large landmasses, Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia) and East Malaysia in northern Borneo territories (Ismail et al, 2017). Peninsular Malaysia covers a major part of the Malay Peninsula (14 states) and East Malaysia has two large states namely Sabah and Sarawak.…”

Section: Study Location and Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Monsoon Impact on the Air Quality During SAR-CoV-2 Pandemic Spread in Central Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah: Pre, During and Post Lockdown Scenarios

Prasanna

Chidambaram

2021

JCC

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Malaysia is considered as one of the countries with the highest novel corona virus (COVID-19) infected cases in Southeast Asia. Recent studies have identified that the air quality of a region also governs the transmission of the virus through pollutants. Hence, a study was conducted to assess the influence of air quality on the COVID-19 pandemic spread in central Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah. An attempt was also made to infer the effect of monsoonal precipitation on air quality. Central Peninsular Malaysia consists of major cities like Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya. These cities are highly populated, with the expansion of industrial activities, rapid urbanisation and greater usage of vehicles has resulted in air quality deterioration. Such conditions have led to related public health issues, compared to Sabah in east Malaysia. In this study, COVID-19 infected cases, air quality index (AQI) and precipitation data were collected from 25 January to August 2020 to infer the relationship of air quality to the pandemic spread before, during and after the implementation of lockdown periods in the country, referred as movement control order (MCO). The lockdown periods fall under various monsoon climate patterns in the country. Interpretation of data reveals that the variation in air quality correlates with the infected cases. Improved air quality was observed during the last phase of MCO with a lesser number of infected cases. The HYSPLIT model was adopted to study the backward air mass trajectories for different time frames to identify the variation in the sources of pollutants reaching the study area. The study determined that the air pollutants have reached the study area from various directions, reflecting a mixed contribution from the ocean and land area. The relationship between high precipitation (during inter-monsoon and SW monsoon) and improved air quality reveals the washout effect of air pollutants. The outcome of this study inferred that the variation of air quality and precipitation rates facilitate the pandemic spread in this region in addition to the other meteorological factors, apart from individual immune capacity and social distancing.

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“…Google used data collected from users who allowed Google to access their location and analyzed the changes by comparing it with baseline value. Baseline value is the median value for the corresponding day of the week, during the five week period 3 Jan-6 Feb 2020 (Google LLC, 2020). The movement in residential increase 23% from the baseline value after the implementation of MCO.…”

Section: Changes In Daily Movement During Covid-19 Movement Control Omentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Variations and Contributing Factors of Air Pollutant Concentrations in Malaysia during Movement Control Order due to Pandemic COVID-19

Ash’aari

Aris

Ezani

et al. 2020

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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The restriction of daily and economic-related activities due to COVID-19 pandemic via lockdown order has been reported to improve air quality. This study evaluated temporal and spatial variations of four major air pollutant concentrations across Malaysia before (March 4, 2020-March 17, 2020) and during the implementation of different phases of Movement Control Order (MCO) (March 18, 2020-May 12, 2020) from 65 official regulatory air quality stations. Results showed that restriction in daily and economic activities has remarkably reduced the air quality in all suburban , urban, and industrial settings with relatively small contributions from meteorological conditions. Overall, compared to before MCO, average concentrations of PM 2.5 , CO, and NO 2 reduced by 23.1%, 21.74%, and 54.0%, respectively, while that of SO 2 was constant. The highest reduction of PM 2.5 , CO, and NO 2 were observed in stations located in urban setting, where 63% stations showed significant reduction (p < 0.05) for PM 2.5 and CO, while all stations showed significant reduction in NO 2 concentrations. It was also revealed that 70.5% stations recorded lower concentrations of PM 2.5 during MCO compared to before MCO, despite that high numbers of local hotspots were observed simultaneously from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Spatial analysis showed that the northern part of Peninsular had the highest significant reduction of PM 2.5 , while the highest of NO 2 and CO reduction were found in stations located in the central region. All pollutants exhibit similar diurnal trends when compared between pre-and during MCO although significant lower readings were observed during MCO. This study gives confidence to regulatory body; the enforcement of strict air pollution prevention and control policies could help in reducing pollution.

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Environmetric Study on Air Quality Pattern for Assessment in Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia

Cited by 20 publications

References 9 publications

Determination of vulnerable regions of SARS-CoV-2 in Malaysia using meteorology and air quality data

Determination of vulnerable regions of SARS-CoV-2 in Malaysia using meteorology and air quality data

Monsoon Impact on the Air Quality During SAR-CoV-2 Pandemic Spread in Central Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah: Pre, During and Post Lockdown Scenarios

Spatiotemporal Variations and Contributing Factors of Air Pollutant Concentrations in Malaysia during Movement Control Order due to Pandemic COVID-19

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