SPATIAL COMPARISON OF PM2.5 CONCENTRATIONS BEFORE AND DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN JAVA ISLAND (USING MERRA-2 REANALYSIS DATA)

• Main Author: Hardikasari, Isna
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Geologi, hidrologi & meteorologi
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/54842
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The concentration of PM2.5 always been increases every year. This is due to increased transportation activities, particularly in Java region. In addition, weather parameters such as surface temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed are also affecting the concentration of PM2.5. COVID-19 reduces the concentration of pollutants, such as PM2.5, because the ‘work from home’ policy has an impact on reducing the number of motor vehicles. Therefore, the effect of the pandemic on PM2.5 concentrations is investigated in this study. In addition, the effect of weather parameters such as surface temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed on diurnal scale also needs to be assessed against PM2.5 concentration. The data used in this study are PM2.5 concentration from MERRA-2 reanalysis product, M2T1NXAER, with spatial resolution 0.625°x0.5° and hourly temporal resolution. This data has been verified by observation data from the US Embassy in Central Jakarta. This study divided Java island into three regions, west, central, and east, in two periods, pre-covid and during covid. Analysis of variation in PM2.5 concentration is investigated from the difference between the two temporal periods. Furthermore, an analysis is carried out between the diurnal relationship of PM2.5 concentration with the weather conditions from the reanalysis data and surface observation data. The result shows that PM2.5 concentration in Java island is decreasing about 11.2% during the covid period and east region is decreasing about 19.48%. PM2.5 concentration has a negative correlation with surface temperature (-0.63) and wind speed (-0.56), and a positive correlation with relative humidity (0.62). thus, the ‘work from home’ policy and diurnal weather parameters do affect variations in PM2.5 concentration in Java.