Doubling of annual ammonia emissions from the peat fires in Indonesia during the 2015 El Niño

Abstract

AbstractIn the autumn of 2015, thousands of square kilometers of forest and peatlands in Indonesia went up in flames. Among the primary species emitted by fires, ammonia (NH3) is of special relevance for air quality. Here we derive daily and total NH3 emission fluxes over the affected area using satellite measurements for the years 2008–2015. The 2015 fires emitted an estimated 1.4–8.2 Tg of NH3 (with a maximum of 0.06–0.33 Tg d−1). On an annual basis, the 2015 NH3 emissions are a factor 2–3 larger than in the previous 7 years. We derive NH3 emission factors for peat soils, which are found to be 2.5–8 times lower than those used in the GFASv1.2 emission inventory but in excellent agreement with those reported in other recent studies. Finally, we estimate that 3.28 × 109 m3 peat soil was consumed during these 2015 fires, corresponding to an average burn depth of 39 cm.