Relationship between land use composition and PM10 concentrations in Iskandar Malaysia

Abstract

Air pollution has always been a concern with increasing urbanization and poor land use planning adding to the problem. This study sets out to investigate the relationship between land use composition of an area and its ambient concentration of 10-μm-or-less particulate matter (PM10). For this study, Iskandar Malaysia has been chosen as the study area. To compensate for the limited number of air quality monitoring stations in the study area, Terra MODIS aerosol optical depth Level 2 products are used to assess PM10 concentration spatially. Land use data were developed from LANDSAT images used together with the land use database from the local authority. Finally, the relationship between land use composition and concentrations of PM10 in the study area are explained using contour ternary plots. The plots show how different compositions of three major urban land uses (residential, commercial, industrial) in an area results in different concentration levels of PM10. Concentrations of PM10 are evidently more affected by commercial land use, followed by industrial land use. Hence, responsible authorities in Iskandar Malaysia could control or reduce air pollution in an area by planning a better land use composition.