Biomass Burning and Their Impacts on Air Quality in Thailand

Air pollutant emissions from biomass burning in Thailand, including agricultural residue burning and forest fire, were investigated to develop an Emission Inventory (EI) for the year 2013. For the EI, we combined various data from satellites, government, and literature to estimate pollutants. Also, we integrated data on biomass residues from agro-industries for the EI. The pollutants were quantified for 2013, which included particulate matter (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), and sulfur dioxide (SO₂). Emitted pollutant amounts from forest fires and crop residue burning were studied; the latter included rice, sugarcane, corn, soybean, cassava, and potato. The emission factors (EFs) and other parameters were derived from country-specific values for Thailand and nearby counties. We then compared the monthly emission amounts with data from air monitoring stations representative of Thailand’s air quality. From our results, we infer that future research on biomass burning in Thailand needs to focus on identifying and quantifying particulate matter (PM) emissions. Better knowledge about PMs’ physicochemical characteristics from biomass burning will help fill the gap on air quality policies focusing on public health in Thailand and other Asian countries.