Assessment on air quality pattern: a case study in Putrajaya, Malaysia

Abstract

Nowadays, air quality problem has become a major issue in Malaysia for the past two decades,
This study aims to determine the pattern of the air quality status, investigate the significant
pollutant, relationship between air pollutants and API and evaluate the pattern of air pollution
Data from Putrajaya monitoring station based on three years observation (2001-2013) were
used. Multivariate techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA), factor analysis
(FA) and statistical process control (SPC). The method of PCA and FA has identified that five
parameters with the value >0.75 affected the quality of air. SPC shows that SO₂ pollutants had
influence the quality of air the most compared to other pollutants. From the study, it can be
stipulated that the chemometric technique can provide meaningful information on the spatial
variability of large and complex air quality data.

Keywords: air quality pattern; PCA; FA; SPC.