Summary: | "Haze is defined as the presence of fine particles with diameter of 0.1 to 10 pm in the
air which dispersed at high concentration caused white or brown vision (Soleiman et
at.., 2003) and majority containing particulate matter (Rahman, 2013). The haze
episodes and incidents were severe over the Southeast Asia including Malaysia since
the late 1980s. This research is to analyze occurrence of haze in Malaysia and
backward tracking its sources at the specific suspected period. Pollution hotspot and
seasonal monsoon were used to further explain and clarify the haze period. HYSPIT
model was used as backward trajectory software and four different stations with
geographical locations were selected which are Kuala Lumpur, Pahang, Kuching, and
Kota Kinabalu. In my findings, haze seldom happened in Kota Kinabalu but it was
frequently seen in Peninsular Malaysia. Haze period and pattern in Peninsular
Malaysia was similar where it usually happened during period of summer monsoon.
The sourceso f PM10to Peninsulara re usuallyf rom Sumatra, Indonesia. Kuchingw as
observed with few haze outbreaks which is in January to March (2008) and July to September (2009 & 2010). For Kota Kinabalu, a period of time was found with tremendousi ncreasedP M10c oncentration.I t happenedi n Februaryt o April in 2010. It is contributed by occurrence of EI Nino and prolonged dry spells from year 2009 to 2010. Monsoon and EI Nino are both important factors in determining the direction of haze and its intensity as monsoon changes the travelling path of pollutants and EI Nino increasesfr equency of forest burning."
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