Plenary Lecture

Investigating The Relationships Between Airborne Particulate Matter And Meteorological Variables Using Non-Decimated Wavelet Transform



Assoc Professor Azami Zaharim
Coordinator Fundamental Engineering Studies
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43600 UKM, Bangi, Selangor
MALAYSIA

Email: azami@vlsi.eng.ukm.my, azaminelli@gmail.com

Abstract: Malaysia has experienced several haze periods since early 1980s in which suspended particulate matter was the major components. The temporal variations observed in suspended particulate matter concentrations are the result of interactions of various meteorological variables and pollutants emissions in different time scales. In order to study the relationships between particulate matter, temperature and wind speed, non-decimated wavelet transform was applied to the time series. The time series registered significant relationships between meteorological variables and PM10 for low frequency components. While for the high frequency components, the relationships were not significant. The correlations between PM10 and temperature were found positive. The correlations between PM10 and wind speed registered both positive and negative correlations. The findings also support the suggestion that during the dry season, one of the major sources of particulates was from outside the country.

 

Brief Biography of the Speaker:
Azami Zaharim worked first 13 years as a lecturer in the Universiti Teknologi MARA (University of MARA Technology - UiTM) before joining the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (National University of Malaysia - UKM) in the year 2003. He is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment UKM, and is currently Coordinator for the Unit Fundamental Engineering Studies. He obtained his BSc (Statistics and Computing) with Honours from North London University, UK in 1988 and PhD (Statistics) in 1996 from University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. He specialize in statistics, public opinion, engineering education and renewable energy resources. He has until now published over 80 research papers in Journals and conferences, conducted more than 15 public opinion consultancies and delivered 3 keynotes/invited speeches at national and international meetings. He is currently the head of Renewable Energy Resources and Social Impact Research Group under the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI). In the year 2007, he headed the Engineering Mathematics Research Group. At the same time, he is currently active involve in outcome based education (OBE) approach at the national level and the chairman of the Engineering Education Research Group since 2005. He is also involved actively in the research for the future of engineering education in Malaysia 2006 under the Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia.