Publications

Ke, HB; Gong, SL; He, JJ; Zhou, CH; Zhang, L; Zhou, YK (2019). Spatial and temporal distribution of open bio-mass burning in China from 2013 to 2017. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT, 210, 156-165.

Abstract
Open bio-mass burning plays an important role in the formation of heavy pollution events during harvest seasons in China by releasing the trace gases and particulate matters into the atmosphere. A better understanding of spatial-temporal variations of open bio-mass burning in China is required to assess its impacts on the air quality and especially on the heavy haze pollution. The MODIS fire spots data and the calculated burned areas were used in this research, which shows the varying number of fire spots in China from 2013 to 2017, with the highest in 2014 and the lowest in 2016. Meanwhile, the fire spots were found mainly concentrated in three key periods (March-April, June and October-November) and two zones (Zone 1 and Zone 2) with inter-annual variations of burned areas. In addition, the contribution of major vegetation types burning was studied, the cropland occupied the largest proportion of burned area of more than 70% in any period time, followed by forest. Finally, from the perspective of climate and human activities, the causes of inter-annual variations were discussed. By comparing the average temperature and precipitation in the two zones from 2013 to 2017, it was found that the burned forest area is positively correlated with the average temperature of the zones and negatively correlated with the average precipitation. Meanwhile, the relationship between the El Nino events and the bio-mass burning was discussed.

DOI:
10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.04.039

ISSN:
1352-2310