Upgrading the Evaluation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Open Burning in Agricultural and Forest Areas.

Upgrading the Evaluation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Open Burning in Agricultural and Forest Areas.

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Burning in forests and agricultural areas increases carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, which contribute to the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change. As a result, severe disasters occur more frequently, and burning significantly contributes to PM2.5 pollution, affecting public health.

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However, do you know how much carbon dioxide has recently been emitted from burning in Thailand?

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Space technology provides an answer by helping to accurately evaluate carbon dioxide emissions from burned areas, with results that can be verified using global standards.

Dr. Kampanat Deeudomchan, Head of the Natural Disaster Management Division at GISTDA, explained that in 2023, GISTDA prepared a forest sector carbon inventory using space technology to measure carbon stored across five pools.One key pool is biomass from forest litter and crop residues (such as twigs, leaves, and leftovers from paddy, upland rice,sugarcane, and maize fields). This evaluation allows for the accounting of both carbon storage and the CO₂ released into the atmosphere from burning.

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This led to the development of methods for assessing CO₂ emissions from open burning by overlaying burned-area satellite data onto biomass maps of forests and agricultural areas. For monitoring, Sentinel-2 satellite imagery—which features a 10-meter spatial resolution and is updated every 10 days—is analyzed, and the results are reported on GISTDA's disaster monitoring website (https://disaster.gistda.or.th).

Because the fuel load of biomass varies by plant type and region, carbon dioxide emissions from burning are not equal. The GISTDA research team collected sample biomass data from various forest types and three main high-risk agricultural crops: paddy, sugarcane, and maize. The process involved obtaining detailed cultivation and crop characteristic data across Thailand, and preparing the samples according to academic standards to determine accurate regional biomass values. A model was then developed to integrate this field data with satellite datasets to present the overall biomass of litter and crop residues.

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Dr. Kampanat explained that, in the final step, burned-area data analyzed from satellite imagery can be overlaid with biomass maps to estimate CO₂ emissions. What is the amount of this emission?

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The project results revealed that, according to 2023 satellite data, Thailand’s total burned area was approximately 1.8 million hectares. The largest burned areas were found in conservation forests 0.7 million hectares, followed by national forest reserves (0.62 million hectare) and agricultural areas (0.27 million hectare). Using the new calculation method, it is estimated that biomass burning across Thailand released approximately 8.39 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e). Forest areas released about 4.82 million tCO₂e, while agricultural areas (upland rice, paddy, maize, and sugarcane) released approximately 3.57 million tCO₂e combined. Notably, maize cultivation produced the highest agricultural emissions, releasing more than 2.2 million tCO₂e. This information helps suggest urgent government measures to utilize agricultural biomass more effectively, such as using crop residues for electricity generation, mushroom cultivation, or compost production, and supporting the use of farm machinery to collect these residues.

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The integration of satellite-based technology and field data collection boosts CO₂ evaluation standards in Thailand, improving accuracy based on actual conditions while ensuring that monitoring and verification meet international standards. GISTDA regularly collects this biomass data and is evaluating burned areas to estimate annual emissions; in the future, this data will be disseminated on a platform called Carbon Atlas.

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Ultimately, this project provides valuable data to support disaster management and policy measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the data will support the Thai government in preparing National Communications (NCs) and Biennial Update Reports (BURs) to demonstrate climate change mitigation efforts, highlighting the country's commitment to carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions