Title: Investigation on the interannual variability of carbon dioxide column-averaged mole fractions in Peninsular Malaysia: 2003-2009

Authors: Kok Chooi Tan; Hwee San Lim; Mohd. Zubir Mat Jafri

Addresses: School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia ' School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia ' School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia

Abstract: Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas contributing to global climate change. The aim of this study was to assess the seasonal variations of CO2 concentrations in Peninsular Malaysia from January 2003 to December 2009 using level 3 of the CO2 column WFMD version 2.1 retrieved from SCIAMACHY satellite. The analysis for five locations showed that CO2 increased by approximately 15 ppm from 2003 to 2009. As the northeastern monsoon prevails, cold air outbreaks from Siberia are high and spread to the equatorial region in the form of northeasterly cold surge winds around the low-level anticyclones over South East Asia. Inversely, the air masses from southwesterly contribute to long range air pollution, including CO2 due to transportation of pollutants by wind during southwestern monsoon associated with biomass burning in Sumatra, Indonesia.

Keywords: carbon dioxide; CO2; Peninsular Malaysia; biomass burning; air quality; air pollution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2013.058814

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2013 Vol.53 No.1/2, pp.159 - 175

Received: 07 Feb 2013
Accepted: 05 Sep 2013

Published online: 28 Jun 2014 *

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