Assessment of Surface Ozone Concentration in Northern Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

This study investigate the surface ozone variations in northern Peninsular Malaysia which is Penang and Ipoh. A database with hourly air quality data and meteorological parameters covering the period of 2013 - 2016 obtained from Air Quality Division, the Department of Environment (DOE) were analysed. The association between the O3 concentration and meteorological parameter as well as the other air pollutants were identified by using Pearson Correlation Analysis and Principle Component Analysis. In order to predict the next three hour of O3 concentration, two models were developed which is MLR and PCAMLR. The results indicate that Ipoh has higher ozone concentration with maximum concentration of 0.124 ppm. The diurnal pattern of ozone displayed a peak during afternoon and low concentration during night-time until morning. On the other hand, the NO and NO2 concentration shows opposite pattern from ozone concentration. Maximum concentration of O3 reached the peak at late afternoon at approximately 2 p.m. in Penang and Ipoh while the lowest reading was recorded was at 8 a.m. A significant correlation was observed between O3 concentration with temperature and wind speed in both urban areas. MLR was chosen as best predictive and more accurate model in predicting O3 concentration during the peak hour compared to PCA-MLR.