Author: Liang, Liang
Title: Chloride emissions inventory from open biomass burning in tropical Asia for 2008-2018
Advisors: Wang, Zhe (CEE)
Degree: M.Sc.
Year: 2019
Subject: Burning of land -- Environmental aspects
Climatic changes
Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations
Department: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Pages: ii, 72 pages : color illustrations
Language: English
Abstract: Biomass burning contributes significant emissions of trace gases and particulate matters, which play a great role in atmospheric chemistry, climate and the public health. The burning emissions in tropical Asia is of importance worldwide, with considerable carbon storage. Within this study, the chloride emissions (Cl⁻, CH3Cl and HCl) from open biomass burning in tropical Asia were estimated from 2008 to 2018. The burned areas data in this study was derived from a newly published 500-m MODIS burned area product (MCD64A1). The land cover distribution in tropical Asia was obtained from 500-m land cover product (MCD12Q1), including four vegetation types: forest, cropland, grassland and shrubland. Peatland was an important emission source in tropical Asia, and the distribution map was derived from the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). The average burned areas in tropical Asia was 155073 km2yr⁻1 from 2008 to 2018, and the highest and smallest values were 184616 km2 (2009) and 117510 km2 (2008) respectively. At the country scale, the burned areas were mainly concentrated in Myanmar, India and Cambodia, which were the biggest contributors to cropland, forest, and shrubland fires, respectively. The burned areas distribution shows significant seasonal variations, indicating that forest, shrubland and grassland fires mainly occur in spring, caused by lighting and dry weather; while cropland fires concentrated in autumn when the large amounts of crop residues are produced. The average annual emissions were 244.0 Gg yr⁻1, 78.6 Gg yr⁻1 and 224.6 Gg yr⁻1 for Cl⁻, CH3Cl and HCl, respectively. The highest emission occurred in 2014 (689.3 Gg), followed by 2015 (682.7 Gg), 2009 (656.6 Gg), 2010 (595.8 Gg) and 2012 (582.9 Gg). The lowest emissions was in 2008 (349.0 Gg). Forest was (217.1 Gg yr⁻1, 41.1%) the biggest contributor to the total chloride emissions, followed by cropland (157.7 Gg yr⁻1, 29.9%), shrbuland (100.2 Gg yr⁻1, 19.0%), peatland (39.7 Gg yr⁻1, 7.5%) and grassland (13.3 Gg yr⁻1, 2.5%). The total chloride emissions were mainly concentrated in India (152.2 Gg yr⁻1, 28.8%), Myanmar (123.8 Gg yr⁻1, 23.5%) and Cambodia (62.5 Gg yr⁻1, 11.8%). The emissions from the burning in Indonesia were also significant with 59.8 Gg yr⁻1, 11.3%). Furthermore, we compare the Ocean Niño Index (ONI), which was used to describe the anomaly of sea surface temperature (SST), with monthly averaged burned area data. The results suggest that the occurrence of El Niño are in consistent with the size of burned areas in tropical Asia, especially in Indonesia, which implies that the extreme weather conditions play a vital role in the initiation of burning.
Rights: All rights reserved
Access: restricted access

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
5390.pdfFor All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only)1.91 MBAdobe PDFView/Open


Copyright Undertaking

As a bona fide Library user, I declare that:

  1. I will abide by the rules and legal ordinances governing copyright regarding the use of the Database.
  2. I will use the Database for the purpose of my research or private study only and not for circulation or further reproduction or any other purpose.
  3. I agree to indemnify and hold the University harmless from and against any loss, damage, cost, liability or expenses arising from copyright infringement or unauthorized usage.

By downloading any item(s) listed above, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the copyright undertaking as stated above, and agree to be bound by all of its terms.

Show full item record

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/200/10921