Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Satellite monitoring for carbon monoxide and particulate matter during forest fire episodes in Northern Thailand

  • Published:
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study explored the use of satellite data to monitor carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) in Northern Thailand during the dry season when forest fires are known to be an important cause of air pollution. Satellite data, including Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) CO, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aerosol optical depth (MODIS AOD), and MODIS fire hotspots, were analyzed with air pollution data measured at nine automatic air quality monitoring stations in the study area for February–April months of 2008–2010. The correlation analysis showed that daily CO and PM with size below 10 μm (PM10) were associated with the forest fire hotspot counts, especially in the rural areas with the maximum correlation coefficient (R) of 0.59 for CO and 0.65 for PM10. The correlations between MODIS AOD and PM10, between MOPITT CO and CO, and between MODIS AOD and MOPITT CO were also analyzed, confirming the association between these variables. Two forest fire episodes were selected, and the dispersion of pollution plumes was studied using the MOPITT CO total column and MODIS AOD data, together with the surface wind vectors. The results showed consistency between the plume dispersion, locations of dense hotspots, ground monitoring data, and prevalent winds. The satellite data were shown to be useful in monitoring the regional transport of forest fire plumes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bashkin, V. N. (2003). Environmental chemistry: Asian lessons. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bates, T. S., Kelly, K. C., Johnson, J. E., & Gammon, R. H. (1995). Regional and seasonal variations in the flux of oceanic carbon monoxide to the atmosphere. Journal of Geophysical Research, 100, 23093–23101.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office (CMPHO) (2008). Chiang Mai Provincial Public Health Office, Strategy Division. http://www.chiangmaihealth.com/cmpho_web. Accessed May 2012.

  • Dinoi, A., Perrone, M. R., & Burlizzi, P. (2010). Application of MODIS products for air quality studies over Southeastern Italy. Remote Sensing of Environment, 2(7), 1767–1796. doi:10.3390/rs2071767.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drummond, J. R. (1992). Measurements of pollution in the troposphere (MOPITT). In J. Gille & G. Visconti (Eds.), The use of EOS for studies of atmospheric physics (pp. 77–101). New York: North Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, D. P., Emmons, K., Hauglustaine, D.A., Chu, D. A., Gille, J.C., Kaufman, Y.J., et al. (2004). Observations of carbon monoxide and aerosols from the Terra satellite: Northern Hemisphere variability. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109(D24202). doi:10.1029/2004JD004727.

  • Edwards, D.P., Emmons, L. K., Gille, J. C., Chu, A., Attié, J.-L., Giglio, L. et al. (2006). Satellite-observed pollution from southern Hemisphere biomass burning. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111(D14312). doi:10.1029/2005JD006655.

  • Engel-Cox, J., Huff, A., Kanabkaew, T., & Kim Oanh, N. T. (2012). Satellite tools for air quality management with focus on particulate matter. Chapter 4, In N. T. Kim Oanh (Ed.), Integrated air quality management: Asian case studies. CRC Press: Boca Raton, Florida.

  • Forest Fire Control Division (FFCD) (2011). Fire statistics. http://www.dnp.go.th/forestfire/2546/firestatistic%20Th.htm. Accessed 15 Aug 2011.

  • Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. (1998). Multivariate data analysis (5th ed., pp. 164–165). Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heath Effect Institute (HEI) (2002). HEI Perspectives, understanding the health effects of components of the particulate matter mix: progress and next step. http://pubs.healtheffects.org/getfile.php?u=244. Accessed 20 Sep 2012.

  • Jesús S.-M.-A., Ernst S., Guido S., Andrea C., Peter S., Giorgio L., et al.(2012). Comprehensive monitoring of wildfires in Europe: the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). In J. Tiefenbacher (Ed.), Approaches to managing disaster—assessing hazards, emergencies and disaster impacts (pp. 87–108). InTech. http://www.intechopen.com/books/approaches-to-managing-disaster-assessing-hazards-emergencies-and-disaster-impacts/comprehensive-monitoring-of-wildfires-in-europe-the-european-forest-fire-information-system-effis. Accessed Oct 2013.

  • Khalil, M. A. K., & Rasmussen, R. A. (1984). Carbon monoxide in the Earth’s atmosphere: increasing trend. Science, 224, 54–56.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim Oanh, N. T., & Leelasakultum, K. (2011). Analysis of meteorology and emission in haze episode prevalence over mountain-bounded region for early warning. Science of the Total Environment, 409(11), 2261–2271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim Oanh, N. T., Piromyaporn, C., Ekbordin, W., & Wangwongwatana, S. (2005). Meteorological pattern classification and application for forecasting air pollution episode potential in a mountain-valley area. Atmospheric Environment, 39, 1211–1255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koe, L., Arellano, A. F., & McGregor, J. L. (2001). Investigating the haze transport from 1997 biomass burning in Southeast Asia: its impact upon Singapore. Atmospheric Environment, 35, 2723–2734.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lamarque, J. F., Edwards, D. P., Emmons, L. K., Gille, J. C., Wilhelmi, O., Gerbig, C., et al. (2003). Identification of CO plumes from MOPITT data: application to the August 2000 Idaho-Montana forest fires. Geophysical Research Letter, 30(13). doi:10.1029/2003GL017503.

  • McKernan E., Yurganov L., Tolton B.T., & Drummond J.R. (2001). MOPITT validation using ground-based IR spectroscopy. http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/mopitt/sarcof.pdf. Accessed 24 Sep 2011.

  • Pollution Control Department (PCD) (2012). Haze pollution situation in the northern region of Thailand on March 14, 2012. Resource document. Air Quality and Noise Management Bureau. http://aqnis.pcd.go.th/webfm_send/1482. Accessed 9 Apr 2012.

  • Pollution Control Department (PCD) (2013). Manual for standard measurement methods of particulate matter in ambient air. Resource document. Air Quality and Noise Management Bureau. http://infofile.pcd.go.th/air/DustinAmbient.pdf?CFID=17690991&CFTOKEN=61119767. Accessed 22 Oct 2013.

  • Pope, C. A., III, Ezzati, M., & Dockery, D. W. (2009). Fine-particulate air pollution and life expectancy in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 360, 376–386.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rajab, J. M., Tan, K. C., Lim, H. S., & MatJafri, M.Z. (2011). Investigation on the carbon monoxide pollution over Peninsular Malaysia caused by Indonesia forest fires from AIRS daily measurement. In F. Nejadkoorki (Ed.), Advanced air pollution (pp. 115–136). InTech. http://www.intechopen.com/books/advanced-air-pollution. Accessed 18 Dec 2012.

  • Song, C.-K., Ho, C.-H., Park, R. J., Choi, Y.-S., Kim, J., Gong, D. Y., et al. (2009). Spatial and seasonal variations of surface PM10 concentration and MODIS aerosol optical depth over China. Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences, 45(1), 33–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiyapirat, Y. (2012). Public sector responses to sustainable haze management in Upper Northern Thailand. Environment Asia, 5, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO). (2011). Integrated assessment of black carbon and tropospheric ozone. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Program.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Pollution Control Department (PCD) of Thailand for providing the air quality data. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are especially acknowledged for the readily available MOPITT data, MODIS data, and fire data (from the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS)). The authors also wish to thank the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) for the wind data. Air quality team at AIT is specially thanked for their assistance during the course of this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering and Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD), Asian Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 4, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani, 12120, Thailand

    Manlika Sukitpaneenit & Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh

Authors
  1. Manlika Sukitpaneenit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(PDF 422 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sukitpaneenit, M., Kim Oanh, N.T. Satellite monitoring for carbon monoxide and particulate matter during forest fire episodes in Northern Thailand. Environ Monit Assess 186, 2495–2504 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3556-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3556-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation