Open biomass burning emissions and their contribution to ambient formaldehyde in Guangdong province, China

Formaldehyde (HCHO) plays a vital role in atmospheric chemistry and O3 formation. Open biomass burning (OBB) is considered to be an important source of HCHO; however, its quantitative contribution to ambient HCHO remains poorly understood due to the lack of reliable high-resolution emission inventories. In this study, a satellite-based method coupled with local emission factorswas developed to estimate the hourly primary emissions of HCHO and volatile organic compound (VOC) precursors fromOBB in Guangdong (GD) Province of southern China. Furthermore, the contribution of OBB to ambient HCHO was quantified using the CommunityMulti-scale Air Quality model. The results suggested that in average OBB emissions contributed 5293 tons of primary HCHO per year, accounting for similar to 14% of the total anthropogenic HCHO emissions in GD. The ambient HCHO concentration ranged from 0.3 ppbv to 8.7 ppbv during normal days, and from 8 ppbv to 45 ppbv in downwind area duringOBB impacted days. The monthly contribution of OBB to local HCHO levels reached up to 50% at locations with frequent fires and over 70% during a forest fire event. Ambient HCHO was heavily affected by primary OBB emissions near the source region and by the oxidation of OBB-emitted VOCs in the downwind area. Secondary HCHO formation from OBB emissions was enhanced during photochemical pollution episodes, especially under conditions of high O-3 and low NOx. OBB-emitted ethene was identified as the most important VOC precursor of HCHO and contributed to the formation of similar to 50% of the secondary HCHO. The HCHO formation potential of cropland fires was 26% higher than that of forest fires. Our results suggest that OBB can elevate ambient HCHO levels significantly. Thus, strict control policies on OBB should be implemented, especially for open burning agricultural residues in upwind areas on serious photochemical pollution days.

Automated summary

This study investigates the contribution of open biomass burning (OBB) to formaldehyde (HCHO) levels in Guangdong Province, southern China. Using satellite and model methods, the researchers estimate the emissions of HCHO and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from OBB and quantify their impact on ambient HCHO. The results show that OBB significantly influences HCHO levels in the region, especially in areas with frequent fires.