Abstract
ABSTRACTCritical conversion point (CCP) is a very crucial step in production of the ground level O3 chemistry. Thus, a multivariate analysis was applied on the dataset of nine selected locations in Malaysia from 1999 to 2010. It incorporated hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HACA) to explore the spatial variability of CCP and principal component analysis (PCA) to determine the major sources of the air pollutants that influence ozone CCP. High variability in CCP was observed between the monitoring stations that occurred during critical conversion time (CCT) from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The HACA results grouped the nine monitoring stations into three different clusters, based on the characteristics of ozone concentrations during CCT period. Results of PCA for the three clusters showed that the contributions to O3 level variation during CCT by meteorological variables (UVB, temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed) are higher at 51.6%, 48.5%, and 33.3% than that of primary air pollutants (NO2, SO2, PM10) at 19.2%, 21.4%, and 15.2% for cluster 1, cluster 2, and cluster 3, respectively. Therefore, applying a targeted spatial control strategy for ground level O3 precursors during the CCT period is a crucial step.
Highlights
Ground-level ozone (O3) is one of the criteria air pollutants that is always associated with degradation of air quality worldwide
Results of principal component analysis (PCA) for the three clusters showed that the contributions to O3 level variation during critical conversion time (CCT) by meteorological variables (UVB, temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed) are higher at 51.6%, 48.5%, and 33.3% than that of primary air pollutants (NO2, SO2, PM10) at 19.2%, 21.4%, and 15.2% for cluster 1, cluster 2, and cluster 3, respectively
This study analyzed the spatial variability of Critical conversion point (CCP) for O3 concentrations in nine monitoring stations located in Malaysia from 1999 to 2010
Summary
Ground-level ozone (O3) is one of the criteria air pollutants that is always associated with degradation of air quality worldwide. It induces harmful effects on human health, crop production, material quality, and the ecosystem. As a secondary air pollutant that is produced from anthropogenic activities, the formation and accumulation of O3 are induced by the emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (Seinfeld and Pandis, 2006). The study of ozone variations is complex because of various possible precursors, photochemical processes, and meteorological factors (Chattopadhyay and Chattopadhyay, 2011; Toh et al, 2013). This study is attempted to introduce the possibilities to use CCP in explaining the production of the ground level O3 and to explore the spatial variability of CCP in the context of tropical climate
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