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CLIMATE AND AIR QUALITY

CLIMATE AND AIR QUALITY

Geography The Republic of Singapore is located between latitudes 10 09N and 10 29N and longitudes 1030 36E and 1040 25E. The land area of Singapore is approximately 710.3 square kilometres in 2009. This area comprises the mainland and other islands. The mainland measures 47 kilometres from east to west and 23 kilometres from north to south with a coastline of 180 kilometres. The figures are based on 2.515m High Water Mark cadastral survey boundaries. Singapore can be geographically divided into three major areas the central hilly area with heavy deposits of granite in Bukit Timah, Bukit Panjang, Bukit Mandai and Bukit Batok; the western undulating area comprising Mount Faber Ridge and Pasir Panjang Ridge and the eastern coastal area consisting of alluvium and sediment stretches from Katong to Bedok and Changi. Climate The main features of the climate of Singapore are the relatively stable temperature throughout the year due to its close proximity to the Equator and high humidity and abundant rainfall due to the maritime exposure of the island. The average daily maximum and minimum temperatures are around 31.1C and 24.7C respectively. The relative humidity is usually between 61 and 65 per cent on dry afternoons but frequently exceeds 90 per cent in the early hours of the morning before sunrise.

Although rain falls throughout the year, the wettest months are usually during the first part of the Northeast Monsoon season from November to January. During the Southwest Monsoon season, from May to September, early morning line squalls occasionally hit the island. Air Pollution The ambient air quality in Singapore is monitored by the National Environment Agency through the Telemetric Air Quality Monitoring and Management System. The system comprises remote air monitoring stations linked to a Central Control System via dial-up telephone lines. These stations monitor both ambient and roadside air quality. Automatic analysers and equipment are deployed at the stations to measure the concentrations of major air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3) and respirable suspended particles (PM). The air quality in terms of the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) was Good on 91 per cent of the days and Moderate on 9 per cent of the days in 2009. The air pollutants levels for SO2, NOx, CO, O3 and PM10 in 2009 were within the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) standards. The PM2.5 levels measured exceeded the US EPA standards.

Yearbook of Statistics Singapore, 2010

2.1

AIR TEMPERATURE AND SUNSHINE

1999 Air Temperature in Degree Celsius Means Daily Maximum Daily Minimum Absolute Extremes Maximum Minimum Bright Sunshine Daily Mean Hours

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

31.3 24.7

31.7 25.1

31.9 25.1

31.5 25.0

31.1 24.8

31.1 24.7

31.7 25.0

34.4 21.6

35.1 21.1

35.4 21.3

34.6 22.1

34.0 21.8

34.1 21.8

35.0 21.8

5.4

6.0

6.1

5.6

5.3

5.2

5.9

Source : National Environment Agency

2.2

MEAN RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND RAINFALL

1999 Mean Relative Humidity at 2.00 pm (Per Cent )


1

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

73

71

71

73

74

72

70

Rainfall Total (mm) Maximum in a Day (mm) Number of Rainy Days

2,134 77 177

2,136 178 147

1,931 134 175

2,753 198 174

2,886 159 195

2,325 134 182

1,921 87 166

Source : National Environment Agency 1 The ratio of the actual amount of water vapour in a given volume of air to the amount that would be present were the air saturated at the same temperature, expressed in percentages.

Yearbook of Statistics Singapore, 2010

2.3

AIR POLLUTION LEVELS

1999 Sulphur Dioxide (g / m3 ) (mean) Nitrogen Dioxide (g / m3 ) (mean) PM 10 (g / m3 ) 1 (2nd Maximum 24-hourly mean) Carbon Monoxide (mg / m3 ) (2nd Maximum 8-hourly mean) Ozone (g / m3 ) (4th Maximum 8-hourly mean) PM2.5 (g / m3 ) (mean) Lead (g / m3 ) (quarterly average) 22 36

2004 14 26

2005 14 25

2006 11 24

2007 12 22

2008 11 22

2009 9 22

139

85

101

228

69

57

77

3.6

2.8

2.4

2.6

1.7

1.5

1.7

125 na

143 21

155 21

127 23

140 19

103 16

100 19

0.04

0.08

0.03

0.02

0.02

0.02

0.01

Source : National Environment Agency Notes : United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Standards for Air Quality Sulphur Dioxide 80 g/m3 (annual mean) Nitrogen Dioxide 100 g/m3 (annual mean) PM 10 (Particulate Matter 10 microns ) 150 g/m3 (2nd Maximum 24-hour mean) Carbon Monoxide 10 mg/m3 (2nd Maximum 8-hour mean) Ozone 157 g/m3 (4th Maximum 8-hour mean), prior to 27 May 2008; 147 g/m3 (4th Maximum 8-hour mean), with effect from 27 May 2008 PM 2.5 (Particulate Matter 2.5 microns ) 15 g/m3 (annual mean) Lead 1.5 g/m3 (quarterly mean), prior to 15 Oct 2008; 0.15 g/m3 (quarterly mean), with effect from 15 Oct 2008 All measurements of air quality are corrected to reference temperature of 25oC and pressure of 760 mm of mercury. 1 PM10 levels in 2006 were affected by transboundary smoke haze from the land and forest fires in Indonesia.

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