Impacts of post-harvest open biomass burning and burning ban policy on severe haze in the Northeastern China

Guangyi Yang; Hongmei Zhao; Daniel Q Tong; Aijun Xiu; Xuelei Zhang; Chao Gao

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136517

Impacts of post-harvest open biomass burning and burning ban policy on severe haze in the Northeastern China

Sci Total Environ. 2020 May 10:716:136517. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136517. Epub 2020 Jan 7.

Authors

Guangyi Yang¹, Hongmei Zhao², Daniel Q Tong³, Aijun Xiu⁴, Xuelei Zhang⁵, Chao Gao⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: yangguangyi@iga.ac.cn.
² Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China. Electronic address: zhaohongmei@iga.ac.cn.
³ Center for Spatial Information Science and Systems, George Mason University, VA 22030, USA; Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA. Electronic address: qtong@gmu.edu.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China. Electronic address: xiuaijun@iga.ac.cn.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China. Electronic address: zhangxuelei@iga.ac.cn.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: gaochao@iga.ac.cn.

PMID: 32059315
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136517

Abstract

Open filed biomass burning is a major contributor to airborne particulate matter and reactive trace gases during the post-harvest season in the Northeastern China. Due to prevailing weather conditions and high emission density, this region is prone to the accumulation of air pollutants that often leads to severe haze events. In this study, we combined satellite and ground observations, and a regional air quality modeling system to quantify the contribution of open biomass burning to surface PM_2.5 (particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 µm) concentrations during a severe haze episode. During this period (November 1^st - 4^th, 2015), the average PM_2.5 concentrations in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces reached 116.98 μg/m³, 98.60 μg/m³, and 70.17 μg/m³ respectively. Model simulations showed that open biomass burning contributed to 52.7% of PM_2.5 concentrations over Northeast China. Using the differences in active fire spots as detected by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suites (VIIRS) aboard the Suomi-NPP, we estimated that the burning ban enforced in 2018 have caused the PM_2.5 concentrations to decrease from the 2015 level by 67.10%, 53.23%, and 10.06% in the Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces respectively. Over the region, the burning ban proved to be effective in reducing fire emissions and lowering region-wide PM_2.5 concentration by 48.1% during the post-harvest season.

Keywords: Air quality; CMAQ; Crop residue burning; Emissions inventory; PM(2.5); Policy.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants
Air Pollution
Biomass*
China
Environmental Monitoring
Particulate Matter

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter