Methane (CH4) is a strong greenhouse gas (GHG's), and it has a much shorter atmospheric lifetime, about 12 years and released to the atmosphere by biological processes occurring in anaerobic environments. The CH4 is second in importance only to CO2 with relative global warming ability 23 times that of CO2 over a time horizon of 100 years. The Interannual distributions of the atmosphere CH4 has been studied in Peninsular Malaysia during the period 2003 - 2009 using Atmosphere Infrared Sounder (AIRS) data, onboard NASA's Aqua Satellite. The analysis of CH4 above five dispersed stations in study area shows the high CH4 growth rates observed at the end of each year were attributed to the increased emissions from biomass burning and wetlands, and the reduced hydroxyl (OH) sink. In particular, we observe a quasi-biennial variation in CH4 emissions in Peninsular Malaysia with varying magnitudes in peak emission occurring in 2004, 2006, and 2008. The seasonal variation in the CH4 fluctuated considerably observed between northeast (NEM) and southwest (SWM) monsoon seasons. The CH4 value in NEM season was higher than its values in SWM season, and its values in the north regions, up of the latitude 4º, higher than its value in the rest of regions throughout the year. To study the CH4 distribution over peninsular Malaysia for 2009, the monthly CH4 maps were generated utilizing Kriging Interpolation technique. The AIRS data and the Satellite measurements are able to measure the increase of the atmosphere CH4 concentrations over different regions.
جاسم محمد رجب حسين | Jasim Mohammed Rajab | 1581