Climatological Aspects of Active Fires in Northeastern China and Their Relationship to Land Cover

Abstract

Biomass burning (BB) is a driving force for heavy haze in northeastern China (NEC) and shows distinct seasonal features. However, little is known about its climatological aspects, which are important for regional BB management and understanding BB effects on climate and environment. Here, the climatological characteristics of active fires and their dependence on land cover in NEC were studied using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products. Moreover, the influence of meteorological factors on fire activities was explored. The number of fires was found to have increased significantly from 2003 to 2018; and the annual total FRP (FRPtot) showed a generally consistent variation with fire counts. However, the mean fire radiative power for each spot (FRPmean) decreased. Fire activity showed distinctive seasonal variations. Most fires and intense burning events occurred in spring and autumn. Spatially, fires were mainly concentrated in cropland areas in plains, where the frequency of fires increased significantly, especially in spring and autumn. The annual percentage of agricultural fires increased from 34% in 2003 to over 60% after 2008 and the FRPtot of croplands increased from 12% to over 55%. Fires in forests, savannas, and grasslands tended to be associated with higher FRPmean than those in croplands. Analysis indicated that the increasing fire count in NEC is mainly caused by agricultural fires. Although the decreasing FRPmean represents an effective management of BB in recent years, high fire counts and FRPtot in croplands indicate that the crop residue burning cannot be simply banned and a need instead for effective applications. More efforts should be made on clean utilization of straw. The accumulation of dry biomass, high temperature, and low humidity, and weak precipitation are conducive to the fire activities. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of BB in NEC and provides a reference for regional BB management and control.