Abstract:

Biomass open burning is defined as the combustion of the world’s living and dead vegetation, including grasslands, forests, and agricultural lands. Considered as a global phenomenon, it has been put in evidence as one of the major sources of gaseous and particulate emissions to the atmosphere. However, there is still a lack of reliable and up-to-date information on the spatial and temporal distribution of open burning emissions in Asia, more particularly in the Mekong River Basin Sub-region, including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, where intense activities are observed. We have developed a research program focused on a spatial and temporal inventory of biomass open burning in the Mekong Sub-region, using remote sensing data in combination with ground-based observations, in order to develop a database of emissions and appropriate emission factors of carbon monoxide (CO), and total particulate matter or aerosol (TPM), considering their involvement in long range transport of air pollutants and climate change. The overall objective of this program is to provide scientific information to support regional air quality modeling and monitoring, in order to better evaluate the impact of biomass open burnings on the atmosphere, and to build capacity of local researchers on this atmospheric pollution source.

Obtained results showed that open burnings in the Mekong River Basin Sub-region concern more particularly forest and agricultural areas. Also, burnings happened mostly during the dry season running from October to April. Resulted monthly emission maps of CO and TPM enabled to visualize critical areas in terms of emission intensity and frequency of burnings. The outcome spatial and temporal emission allocation constitutes an important component to support the formulation of national control strategies on reducing emissions from biomass open burning, and so to assist countries in the Mekong River Basin Sub-region to effectively contribute to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze.

Presentation: http://www.cleanairnet.org/baq2006/1757/docs/SW13_2.ppt