Variation of Surface Ozone Recorded at the Eastern Coastal Region of the Malaysian Peninsula

Problem statement: Variations of ozone (O₃) concentrations in the Eastern Coastal Region of the Malaysia peninsula were investigated using data obtained from the Malaysian Department of the Environment. The aim of this study was to determine the monthly and seasonal variations of ozone concentrations at all monitoring sites. This study deals with the air quality data recorded at four air quality monitoring stations in the East Coast of the Malaysian peninsula over a ten year period (1997- 2006). Approach: We focused on the usage of S-Plus and SPSS to analyze this data. The S-Plus programming was used to impute missing data and SPSS was used to obtain the variations of ozone and also to clarify the relationship between stations. Results: Over the entire 10 year period (1997- 2006), the trend in annual baseline ozone generally increased each year for all the four monitoring sites. There was also a seasonal variability in the measured ozone levels with high concentrations during the southwest monsoon and the northeast monsoon season, producing a significant increase in the amplitude of the seasonal cycle. The results also shown that the highest ozone concentrations were recorded at the Bukit Kuang air monitoring station (S1), with a daily mean value of 19 ppb followed by the Indera Mahkota air monitoring station (S2). The concentration of ozone recorded at Kota Bharu (S3) and Kuala Terengganu (S4), two stations located in the city centre, was found to be lower than the values recorded at Bukit Kuang and Indera Mahkota. The correlation between O₃ and NO is high at Kuala Terengganu (S4) (ρ = -0.579), whilst the relationship between O₃ and NO₂ are high (ρ = -0.397) at Indera Mahkota (S2). Conclusion: The concentration of ozone in the East Coast of Malaysian peninsula depends on the concentration of NOx and seasonal meteorological factors.