Characterization and Source Apportionment of Particulate Matter ≤ 2.5 μm in Sumatra, Indonesia, during a Recent Peat Fire Episode

Abstract

An intensive field study was conducted in Sumatra, Indonesia, during a peat fire episode to investigate the physical and chemical characteristics of particulate emissions in peat smoke and to provide necessary data for source-receptor analyses. Ambient air sampling was carried out at three different sites located at varying distances from the peatfires to determine changes in mass and number concentrations of PM2.5 and its chemical composition (carbonaceous and nitrogenous materials, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, water-soluble inorganic and organic ions, and total and water-soluble metals). The three sites represent a rural site directly affected by the local peat combustion, a semirural site, and an urban site situated downwind of the peat fires. The mass concentration of PM2.5 and the number concentration of airborne particles were as high as 1600 microg/m3 and 1.7 x 10(5) cm(-3), respectively, in the vicinity of peat fires. The major components of PM2.5 in peat smoke haze were carbonaceous particles, particularly organic carbon, NO3-, and SO4(2-), while the less abundant constituents included ions such as NH4+, NO2-, Na+, K+, organic acids, and metals such as Al, Fe, and Ti. Source apportionment by chemical mass balance receptor modeling indicates that peat smoke can travel long distances and significantly affect the air quality at locations downwind.

Dominant contribution of oxygenated organic aerosol to haze particles from real-time observation in Singapore during an Indonesian wildfire event in 2015

“…indicates the contribution of Cl -to the increase of NR-PM 1 during the haze event, as previously observed in Singapore and Indonesia (See et al, 2006(See et al, , 2007 …”

“…The Cl -concentration during the P1 period was slightly higher than that of the P2 period, which suggests a slight influence of wildfires. Table 2 summarizes the ratios of organic matter (OM, which is OA from ToF-ACSM) to OC (OM:OC), OC:EC, and WSOC:OC from the current and previous ambient measurements (Agarwal et al, 2010;Aggarwal et al, 2013;Balasubramanian et al, 2003;Engling et al, 2014;Jayarathne et al, 2018;Kunwar and Kawamura, 2014;Park and Cho, 2011;See et al, 2006See et al, , 2007Ye et al, 2017;Zhang et al, 2017). The OM:OC ratio of the current study (~1.8) is slightly higher than 1.6 estimated from urban air samples influenced by traffic emissions (Zhang et al, 2017).…”

“…; (b) See et al (2006); (c) Balasubramanian et al (2003); (d) Ye et al (2017); (e) Park and Cho (2011); (f) Aggarwal et al (2013); (g) Agarwal et al (2010); (h) See et al (2007); (i) Engling et al (2014); (j) Jayarathne et al (2017); (k) Kunwar and Kawamura (2014). …”

Canadian Forest Fires and the Effects of Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Hospitalizations among the Elderly

“…The impact of this increased pollution on the health of local populations has been well documented [9,11,13,17,29,30,[85][86][87]. For example, Duclos et al showed a 40% and 30% increase in number of local emergency room visits for asthma and COPD respectively, during 1987 forest fires in northern California [13].…”

A Key Indicator of Transboundary Particulate Matter Pollution Derived from Indonesian Peatland Fires in Malaysia

“…Few reports (See et al, 2007;Betha et al, 2013;Fujii et al, 2014aFujii et al, , 2015 have been presented concerning chemical characterization of particulate matter (PM) at the peatland fire sources in Indonesia. Fujii et al (2014a) reported that organic matter derived from the Indonesian peatland fires is extremely important since organic carbon (OC) constituted approximately 70% of the PM 2.5 mass at the source.…”