Investigation on the Carbon Monoxide Pollution over Peninsular Malaysia Caused by Indonesia Forest Fires from AIRS Daily Measurement

Abstract

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an important pervasive atmospheric trace gas affecting climate and more than 50% of air pollution nationwide and worldwide, which also plays as a significant indirect greenhouse gases due to its influences on the budgets of hydroxyl radicals (OH) and ozone (O3). We present a study on Atmosphere Infrared Sounder (AIRS), onboard NASA's Aqua Satellite, detection of CO emission from large forest fire in the year 2005 in the Sumatra, Indonesia. AIRS daily coverage of 70% of the planet symbolizes an important evolutionary advance in satellite trace gas remote sensing. AIRS is one of several instruments onboard the Earth Observing System (EOS) launched on May 4, 2002, with its two companions microwave instruments the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) and the Humidity Sounder for Brazil (HSB) form the integrated atmospheric sounding system. AIRS providing new insights into weather and climate for the 21st century, as well as AIRS’ channels include spectral features of the key carbon trace gases CO2, methane(CH4), and CO. AIRS is an infrared spectrometer/radiometer that covers the 3.7– 15.4 m spectral range with 2378 spectral channels. Troposphere CO abundances are retrieved from AIRS 4.55 mm spectral region, and measure CO total column by 52 channels with the uncertainty, which is estimated approximately 15-20 % at 500mb. Results from the analysis of the retrieved CO daily Level 3 standard (AIR×3STD) and Monthly product (AIRX3STM) were utilized in order to study the impact of Indonesia forest fire on CO distribution, and the monthly CO distributions in Peninsular Malaysia. AIRS daily CO maps from 12 – 25 August 2005 for study area show large-scale, long-range transport of CO from anthropogenic and natural sources, most notably from forest fire biomass burning. The sequence of daily maps shows the CO advection from central Sumatra to Malaysia. AIRS can also capture the temporal variation in CO emission from forest fires through 6-day composites so it may offer a chance to enhance our knowledge of temporal fire emission over large areas. The result was compared with daily CO emission (13-24) August 2007. The daily measurements of CO concentration on August 2005 are higher than August 2007. The northern region (uppers the latitude 4) was more affected by forest fires than the rest area. Substantial seasonal variations demonstrate season-to-season changes in rainfall and drought patterns in different seasons. We see such seasonal variations in the biomass burning emissions in the late dry season, while industrial contributions are evident at