Unveiling air pollution patterns in Yemen: a spatial–temporal functional data analysis

The application of spatiotemporal functional analysis techniques in environmental pollution research remains limited. As a result, this paper suggests spatiotemporal functional data clustering and visualization tools for identifying temporal dynamic patterns and spatial dependence of multiple air pollutants. The study uses concentrations of four major pollutants, named particulate matter (PM2.5), ground-level ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), and sulfur oxides (SO2), measured over 37 cities in Yemen from 1980 to 2022. The proposed tools include Fourier transformation, B-spline functions, and generalized-cross validation for data smoothing, as well as static and dynamic visualization methods. Innovatively, a functional mixture model was used to capture/identify the underlying/hidden dynamic patterns of spatiotemporal air pollutants concentration. According to the results, CO levels increased 25% from 1990 to 1996, peaking in the cities of Taiz, Sana’a, and Ibb before decreasing. Also, PM2.5 pollution reached a peak in 2018, increasing 30% with severe concentrations in Hodeidah, Marib, and Mocha. Moreover, O3 pollution fluctuated with peaks in 2014–2015, 2% increase and pollution rate of 265 Dobson. Besides, SO2 pollution rose from 1997 to 2010, reaching a peak before stabilizing. Thus, these findings provide insights into the structure of the spatiotemporal air pollutants cycle and can assist policymakers in identifying sources and suggesting measures to reduce them. As a result, the study’s findings are promising and may guide future research on predicting multivariate air pollution statistics over the analyzed area.