Impact of Biomass Burning on Air Quality in Temuco City, Chile

Abstract

17Residential wood burning emits a complex mixture of particulate and gaseous compounds. In this 18 article we show an in-depth chemical characterization of particulate matter evidencing the impact 19 of biomass burning on the urban air quality in Grand Temuco, the capital city of the Araucanía 20 Region, Chile. The measurements were carried out at two sites, Las Encinas and Padre Las Casas, 21 in spring and winter. Extremely high fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) concentrations (up to 700 22 µg•m -3 ) were frequently observed at both stations in the wintertime, while in spring, PM2.5 23 concentrations were significantly lower (campaign-average 6.4 and 8.6 µg•m -3 in Las Encinas and Padre Las Casas, respectively). Chemical composition of submicron PM was dominated by organics (average 87 %) followed by inorganic ions (10-30 %) and a minor contribution of black carbon (< 5 %). In the wintertime, atmospheric levels of biomass burning tracers, such as levoglucosan, potassium and chloride, were elevated and their diurnal profiles showed a significant concentration increase in the evening. Diurnal profiles combined with the in-depth chemical analysis clearly indicated that in the wintertime local biomass burning was the main source of air pollutants in the region. Furthermore, in winter, most of the high concentration events correlated with the periods with high surface pressure, low temperature and low wind speed. These events matched with higher temperatures at high altitude than at the surface characterizing the typical profile of a vertical inversion that prevents the dilution of air pollutants.

Development of Spatio-Temporal Land Use Regression Models for Fine Particulate Matter and Wood-Burning Tracers in Temuco, Chile

“…Temuco is one of the largest southern cities, and has also been seriously affected by residential wood-burning. As such, many studies have been carried out, ,,, showing, for example, that 87% of PM 10 and 96% of the PM 2.5 concentrations were due to residential wood-burning . These studies show clear evidence of the seasonal trends of common air pollutants; however, only a few studies have investigated the spatial variability of PM 2.5 due to wood-burning in Chile. ,,, …”

Impact assessment of biomass burning in Southeast Asia to 2019 annual average PM2.5 concentration in Thailand using atmospheric chemical transport model

“…Biomass burning is in favor of cultivators as it is a costless method to clear the agricultural residue from land for faster crop rotation, control undesirable weeds, pests, and diseased crops as well as to return some nutrients to the soil [10]. Rapid release of gaseous and particulate pollutants from biomass burning significantly deteriorates ambient air quality [11][12][13][14], degrades visibility [15], and poses adverse health effects to humans [11,[16][17][18]. Biomass burning does not only influence air quality locally but also has regional and global effects as biomass burning plumes are capable of long-distance-travelling, causing transboundary pollution problem [2,11,[19][20].…”