Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Air Pollutant Concentrations in Relation to Land Use and School Environment

Abstract

Excessive exposure schoolchildren to air pollution can lead to long-lasting health problems, allergies and respiratory disease. It is well known that the major factors contributing to increase of air pollution are motor vehicles and industries. Thus, it is important to analyze the spatial temporal air pollutant concentrations and its relation with school location as the location of schools and its surrounding can increase their exposure. In this study, six schools in Johor were selected and the land use surrounding the schools were updated using ArcGIS. The Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation technique was used to identify which schools’ area in Johor has a higher range of air pollutant concentration. There are four air pollution parameters obtained from the Department of Environment (DOE) which are PM2.5, CO, O3 and SO2. Hourly air pollutant concentration reading was obtained from the DOE in order to analyze air pollutant concentration during school period. The results obtained from the IDW technique showed that Sekolah Menengah Pasir Gudang (2) located in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia has reached a very unhealthy and hazardous level as compared to other schools in Johor. On the other hand, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tanjung Pengelih, Pengerang, Malaysia showed good to unhealthy range as compared to other schools in Johor. The spatial autocorrelation tool was used to analyze the relationship between the air pollution concentration and the school’s location in Johor. The results showed that the Moran’s Indices is positive showing a strong relationship that is clustering. It can be stated that there is a relationship between air pollutant concentrations with the school locations.