High-resolution and multi-year estimation of emissions from open biomass burning in Northeast China during 2001–2017

Abstract Open biomass burning (OBB) significantly impacts regional and global air quality, climate change, and human health. Northeast China (NEC) is susceptible to OBB, including forest, shrubland, grassland, peatland, and cropland burning. Here, we develop a high-resolution (1 km × 1 km), multi-year (2001–2017), and monthly emission inventory associated with OBB in NEC using the burned area product (MCD64A1), satellite and observational biomass data, vegetation index-derived spatiotemporal variable combustion efficiency, and emission factors. The emissions produced from the burning of 11 types of crop-residues were calculated using measured and MODIS fire radiative power (FRP) data. The results showed that the average annual OBB emissions in NEC for 2001–2017 were 23.4, 95.1, 1538.0, 30,816.8, 18.8, 258.5, 69.8, 133.7, 225.3, 321.8, and 11.3 Gg of BC, CH4, CO, CO2, NH3, NMVOC, NOx, OC, PM2.5, PM10, and SO2, respectively. Taking CO2 as an example, crop residue burning was observed to be the largest contributor of CO2 overall, accounting for 68% (20.9 × 103 Gg a−1) of the total CO2 emissions, which was followed by forest (30%) and grassland (2%) fires. Heilongjiang Province was the largest emitter of CO2 (16.7 × 103 Gg a−1) compared to Jilin (5.8 × 103 Gg a−1), Inner Mongolia (5.3 × 103 Gg a−1), and Liaoning (3.0 × 103 Gg a−1). Crop residue burning was dominant in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning, while forest fires were dominant in Inner Mongolia. Furthermore, CO2 emissions showed considerable interannual variability, with peaks in 2003 and 2008. Extensive burning of crop residues in the four provinces jointly determined these peak CO2 emissions, which occurred in March and October. Our high-resolution and multi-year inventory of OBB emissions can be applied to air quality modeling, atmospheric transport simulation, and biogeochemical cycling studies.