Spatiotemporal variation and distribution characteristics of crop residue burning in China from 2001 to 2018

In this study, we integrated a remote-sensing fire product (MOD14A1) and land-use product (MCD12Q1) to extract the number of crop-residue burning (CRB) spots and the fire radiative power (FRP) in China from 2001 to 2018. Moreover, we conducted three trend analyses and two geographic distribution analyses to quantify the interannual variations and summarize the spatial characteristics of CRB on grid (0.25 degrees x 0.25 degrees) and regional scales. The results indicated that CRB presents distinctive seasonal patterns with each sub-region. All trend analyses suggested that the annual number of CRB spots in China increased significantly from 2001 to 2018; the linear trend reached 2615 spots/year, the Theil-Sen slope was slightly lower at 2557 spots/year, and the Mann-Kendal tau was 0.75. By dividing the study period into two sub-periods, we found that the five sub-regions presented different trends in the first and second sub-periods; e.g., the Theil-Sen slope of eastern China in the first sub-period (2001-2009) was 1021 spots/year but was 1599 spots/year in the second period (2010-2018). This suggests that summer CRB has been effectively mitigated in eastern China since 2010. Further, the average FRP of CRB spots presented a decreasing trend from 27.5 MW/spot in 2001 to only 15.8 MW/spot in 2018; this may be attributable to more scattered CRB rather than aggregated CRB. Collectively, the fire spots, FRP, and average FRP indicated that spring, summer, and autumn CRB had dropped dramatically over previous levels by 2018 due to strict mitigation measures by local governments. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study integrated remote-sensing fire and land-use products to analyze crop-residue burning (CRB) in China from 2001 to 2018. The results showed an overall increase in CRB spots, with different trends observed in sub-regions and periods. Additionally, the average fire radiative power of CRB spots decreased, possibly due to changes in burning methods.