Remote sensing of air pollution due to forest fires and dust storm over Balochistan (Pakistan)

Abstract

Forest fires and dust storms, inevitable and unprecedented in their intensity and extent, are a major source of atmospheric pollutants. The implementation of both systematic surveillance and lowering air pollution options from forest fires and dust storms remain largely unrecognized in many parts of the world. Therefore, this study examines the air pollution due to forest fires and dust storms over Pakistan using remote sensing techniques. High aerosol optical depth (AOD) (∼1.5) and ultraviolet aerosol index (UVAI) (∼4.50) values were observed in central, eastern, and southeastern Pakistan during May 18–25 indicating the dominance of absorbing aerosols (i.e., dust, smoke, and mixed-type aerosols). Mixed, dust, smoke, and non-smoke fine-dominated aerosols were observed on May 16 while dust, smoke, and mixed-type aerosols were found on May 23. Contrary to this, dust aerosols were found in abundance over southwestern Pakistan on May 16 and 22, and central and Southern Pakistan on May 23. Moreover, high concentrations of NO2, CO, and HCHO were found in central, eastern, and northeastern Pakistan during forest fire breakouts. The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model forward trajectories and concentration weighted trajectory (CWT) analysis also showed that the air masses from northwestern Pakistan carried away atmospheric pollutants from the forest fire region to eastern, northeastern, and southern Pakistan. These findings can be useful for both air quality and forest management in Pakistan.