Characteristics of carbonaceous aerosols emitted from peatland fire in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Biomass burning is a significant source of fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅). Forest, bush, and peat fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia are major sources of transboundary haze pollution in Southeast Asia. However, limited data exist regarding the chemical characteristics of aerosols at sources. We conducted intensive field studies in Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia, during the peatland fire and non-burning seasons in 2012. We characterized PM₂.₅ carbonaceous aerosols emitted from peatland fire based on ground-based source-dominated sampling. PM₂.₅ aerosols were collected with two mini-volume samplers using Teflon and quartz fiber filters. Background aerosols were also sampled during the transition period between the non-burning and fire seasons. We analyzed the carbonaceous content (organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC)) by a thermal optical reflectance utilizing the IMPROVE_A protocol and the major organic components of the aerosols by a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. PM₂.₅ aerosols emitted from peatland fire were observed in high concentrations of 7120 ± 3620 μg m⁻³ and were primarily composed of OC (71.0 ± 5.11% of PM2.5 mass). Levoglucosan exhibited the highest total ion current and was present at concentrations of 464 ± 183 μg m⁻³. The OC/EC ratios (36.4 ± 9.08), abundances of eight thermally-derived carbon fractions, OC/Levoglucosan ratios (10.6 ± 1.96), and Levoglucosan/Mannosan ratios (10.6 ± 2.03) represent a signature profile that is inherent in peatland fire. These data will be useful in identifying contributions from single or multiple species in atmospheric aerosol samples collected from peatland fires.