Long-term trends and meteorological drivers of urban air pollutants in Padang, Indonesia (2019-2023): insights from continuous air quality monitoring

Environ Monit Assess. 2026 Apr 8;198(5):417. doi: 10.1007/s10661-026-15276-3.

ABSTRACT

Urban air pollution remains a critical environmental challenge in rapidly growing Southeast Asian tropical coastal cities. This 5-year air quality monitoring analysis investigates long-term trend patterns and meteorological influences on major air pollutants (PM₁₀, PM_2.5, SO₂, CO, NO₂, and O₃) in Padang, Indonesia, using continuous observations from 2019 to 2023. Long-term trend analysis based on the Mann-Kendall test indicates significant increasing trends in combustion-related pollutants, particularly CO (+311.5 µg m⁻³ yr⁻¹, p < 0.001) and NO₂ (+2.34 µg m⁻³ yr⁻¹, p < 0.05), whereas O₃ exhibits a significant long-term monotonic decreasing trend (-8.67 µg m⁻³ yr⁻¹, p < 0.01), despite seasonal and episodic increases observed during dry and post-pandemic periods. CO and NO₂ showed positive associations with high solar radiation and pressure and negative associations with precipitation, indicating pollutant accumulation under hot and dry conditions. Conversely, particulate matter demonstrated weak long-term trends but clear wet-scavenging influences. Seasonal monsoon variability and atmospheric stagnation appear to play important roles in shaping pollutant variability. These findings highlight the importance of integrating meteorological influence into air quality management strategies in tropical coastal cities.

PMID:41949715 | DOI:10.1007/s10661-026-15276-3