Chemical Composition of Fine Particulate Matter from Peat Forest Fires at Palangka Raya and Its Dispersion using HYSPLIT

Abstract

An air quality monitoring was conducted to investigate the chemical characteristics of particulate emissions in peat forest fires at Palangka Raya, Indonesia during 2012 where a peat forest fire episode occurred. Aerosol samples were collected at Palangka Raya where represents a sub urban site downwind of the peat forest fires. The samples were collected using Gent stacked filter unit sampler. The sampler provides two size fractions: coarse (2.5-10 μm equivalent aerodynamic diameters EAD) and fine (<2.5 μm EAD). Black carbon (BC) was measured using Smoke Stain Reflectometer, and elemental compositions were analyzed using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF). The concentrations of PM2.5 during a haze episode were significantly different about seven to eight times higher when compared to the concentrations in non-haze conditions. The major components of PM2.5 in peat smoke haze consist of sulphur, biomass burning component (BC, K), and crustal components (Al, Fe, Si). The sulphur mainly comes from the peat as it is the earliest stage of transition from compressed plant growth to the formation of coal. The dispersion pattern to show the effect of wind direction using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model (HYSPLIT) simulation was also applied.