Factors influencing the variations of PM10 aerosol dust in Klang Valley, Malaysia during the summer

The associations between the variations of PM10 concentration during summer monsoon dry seasons over the Klang Valley, Malaysia and the local meteorological factors, synoptic weather conditions as well as the regional hotspots number were examined based on simple multiple linear regression analysis. The regressive relationships established, suggest that the variation of PM10 in Klang Valley was governed significantly by all of the examined factors. Local meteorological conditions are among those factors which governed the largest day-to-day variations of PM10 concentration in the Klang Valley areas during the dry season. When augmented by synoptic meteorological variables and foreign emission sources, a remarkable increase in the explained variance was apparent. On the other hand, domestic burning sources only had a minimal impact on PM10 fluctuations. Important synoptic weather patterns which influence the air pollution variations were also identified. These synoptic conditions include the strengthening of the summer monsoon southwesterly winds over the equatorial area. In addition, the formation of cyclonic circulation, associated with typhoon formation over the north-west Pacific and the South China Sea as well as over the Bay of Bengal, are found to have had a profound impact on PM10 variations over the Malaysian region through the modulation of regional moisture distributions. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.