Remote Sensing and GIS Application Analysis of Active Fire, Aerosol Optical Thickness and Estimated PM10 In The North of Thailand and Chiang Rai Province

Abstract

This study aims to analyze trends of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) generated from MODIS data which acquire from Terra / Aqua MODIS and PM10 concentration distribution from 12 Pollution Control Department (PCD) air quality ground measurement stations in the period 2007 – 2010, and find their relationship to generate estimated PM10 concentration maps for Upper Northern Thailand during the period 2007-2010 based on obtained relationships, as well as to study the situation of active fires in March from the years 2007-2010 in Chiang Rai province, where it was found most patients were affected by the haze in the year 2007. The results in this study showed that the trends of AOT and PM10 go together in similar direction in the same trend, even though the equation for the relationship between AOT and PM10 between year 2007-2011, from February to March, is Y = 57.09 +70.93 which give the correlation R = 0.32 is not very high. In the study, it also found the rate of active fire occurrence of Chiang Rai occurs 55% in forested areas, 40% in agricultural areas, 2% in community area and 3% in other areas. After checking on the fire occurrences on land cover, it was found also that burning areas were mostly found in forest areas and caused from the invasion of agriculture, such as rice and corn fields. Farmers tend to clear areas and eliminate weeds to prepare for planting the next season by burning. During burning period, in most cases, it lacks of brake fire in these areas, resulting in the spreading of fire. For agricultural land, farmers continue straw burning after harvesting, because it is easy and can save time. Therefore, to solve the pollution problem as a result of burning, stakeholders in all sectors should seriously work together, offer an alternative and transfer knowledge to farmers to reduce burning, using the results obtaining from this study, which remote sensing and GIS technology is applied.