Remote Sensing-Based Estimates of Annual and Seasonal Emissions from Crop Residue Burning in the Contiguous United States

Figures & data

Table 1. Emission factors for crop types (g/kg)

	CO2	CH4	CO	NO2	SO2	PM2.5	PM10
Bluegrass11,32–34,36,37	1550 ± 50.2	5.11 ± 4.32	91.0 ± 43.8	2.16 ± 0.64	0.40	11.6 ± 7.69	15.8 ± 10.4
Corn11,31–34,37,39	1520	2.24 ± 0.49	53.1 ± 24.1	2.30 ± 1.59	1.19 ± 1.85	4.97 ± 0.93	10.7 ± 10.3
Cotton33,34,37,39	1520	3.30 ± 1.04	73.1 ± 15.4	3.44 ± 1.63	1.57 ± 2.08	6.19 ± 3.23	8.87
Rice31,33,34,36–38	1520	2.09 ± 0.94	52.6 ± 28.1	3.12 ± 1.25	1.38 ± 1.72	5.76 ± 4.82	3.31 ± 0.22
Soy31,33,34,37,39	1520	3.15 ± 1.00	68.9 ± 24.5	3.16 ± 1.44	1.56 ± 2.08	6.19 ± 3.23	8.87
Sugarcane11,33,34,37,39	1520	1.19 ± 1.31	58.5 ± 27.5	3.03 ± 1.65	1.66 ± 2.00	4.35 ± 0.57	4.92 ± 0.73
Wheat8,11,31–39	1630 ± 136	2.12 ± 1.20	55.1 ± 22.0	1.99 ± 0.83	0.44 ± 0.04	4.03 ± 1.46	6.61 ± 2.98
Other8,11,31–39	1520 ± 93.4	2.82 ± 1.47	63.9 ± 26.5	2.80 ± 1.29	1.17 ± 1.39	6.16 ± 3.13	8.50 ± 4.93
Notes: References used for the calculation of each crop-specific emission factor are listed with each crop name in subscript notation. All numbers are rounded to three significant figures.

Table 2. Range of emission factor values for crop types (g/kg)

Crop	CO2	CH4	CO	NO2	SO2	PM2.5	PM10
Bluegrass11,32–34,36,37	1520–1590	2.70–12.8	51.8–171	1.42–2.55	0.40	3.90–22.0	8.70–27.8
Corn11,31–34,37,39	1520	1.70–2.70	28.3–92.0	0.66–5.32	0.20–3.96	3.90–5.98	4.70–26.1
Cotton33,34,37,39	1520	2.70–4.50	58.0–92.0	2.50–5.32	0.34–3.96	3.90–8.48	8.87
Rice31,33,34,36–38	1520	0.72–2.70	27.0–92.0	2.30–5.30	0.40–3.96	2.95–12.96	3.15–3.46
Soy31,33,34,37,39	1520	2.25–4.50	27.0–92.0	2.32–5.32	0.40–3.96	3.90–8.48	8.87
Sugarcane11,33,34,37,39	1520	0.41–2.70	25.5–92.0	1.40–5.32	0.40–3.96	3.90–4.99	4.40–5.43
Wheat8,11,31–39	1520–1780	0.45–4.27	21.1–92.0	1.42–2.90	0.40–0.47	0.80–5.44	4.40–11.0
Other/fallow8,11,31–39	1520–1780	0.41–4.50	21.1–92.0	0.66–5.32	0.20–3.96	0.80–22.0	3.15–27.8
Notes: References used for crop-specific emission factor ranges are listed with each crop name in subscript notation. All numbers are rounded to three significant figures.

Table 3. Error range of emission factor values for crop types (g/kg)

Crop	CO2	CH4	CO	NO2	SO2	PM2.5	PM10
Bluegrass	±245	±7.10	±155	±1.64	±0.40	±12.4	±16.3
Corn	±177	±0.53	±193	±2.59	±2.25	±0.93	±9.32
Cotton	±177	±1.04	±99.4	±2.63	±2.48	±2.29	—
Rice	±177	±0.99	±194	±2.25	±2.12	±5.12	±0.15
Soy	±177	±0.81	±184	±2.44	±2.48	±2.29	—
Sugarcane	±177	±1.31	±112	±2.65	±2.40	±0.57	±0.52
Wheat	±323	±1.40	±199	±1.83	±0.44	±2.39	±2.98
Other/fallow	±208	±1.88	±163	±2.29	±1.79	±3.72	±4.19
Notes: – indicates no error calculations (i.e., one source for the emission factor with no available error estimate). Total error for other/fallow crop calculated as the average of the emission factor error for bluegrass, corn, cotton, rice, soy, sugarcane, and wheat. All numbers are rounded to three significant figures.

Table 4. Annual carbon and air quality emissions from crop residue burning by state averaged over the years 2003–2007

State	CO2	CH4	CO	NO2	SO2	PM2.5	PM10
Alabama	0.04	0.07	1.70	0.08	0.03	0.15	0.24
Arizona	0.13	0.06	2.78	0.24	0.09	0.09	0.11
Arkansas	0.46	0.70	16.8	0.82	0.33	1.57	2.10
California	0.51	0.14	11.4	0.96	0.36	0.17	0.24
Colorado	0.23	0.30	8.14	0.36	0.11	0.67	1.14
Delaware	0.01	0.01	0.20	0.01	4.00 × 10^−3	0.02	0.03
Florida	1.32	1.00	47.6	2.50	1.34	3.60	4.00
Georgia	0.05	0.08	1.90	0.08	0.03	0.16	0.26
Idaho	0.50	1.16	22.5	0.77	0.21	2.38	3.41
Illinois	0.14	0.23	5.40	0.25	0.11	0.50	0.80
Indiana	0.12	0.20	4.50	0.20	0.09	0.41	0.71
Iowa	0.11	0.20	4.30	0.20	0.08	0.38	0.64
Kansas	0.32	0.50	11.6	0.51	0.17	0.98	1.62
Kentucky	0.01	0.02	0.43	0.02	0.01	0.04	0.07
Louisiana	0.26	0.33	10.0	0.50	0.20	0.86	1.03
Maine	2.00 × 10^−3	3.00 × 10^−3	0.06	3.00 × 10^−3	1.00 × 10^−3	0.01	0.01
Maryland	0.01	0.02	0.40	0.02	0.01	0.04	0.07
Michigan	0.10	0.16	3.70	0.17	0.07	0.30	0.60
Minnesota	0.10	0.15	3.60	0.16	0.06	0.30	0.50
Mississippi	0.08	0.13	3.10	0.15	0.06	0.29	0.37
Missouri	0.22	0.33	8.00	0.37	0.15	0.73	1.07
Montana	0.18	0.27	6.49	0.29	0.10	0.55	0.90
Nebraska	0.11	0.18	4.24	0.19	0.08	0.38	0.65
Nevada	0.02	0.03	0.73	0.03	0.01	0.05	0.07
New Jersey	0.01	0.02	0.40	0.02	0.01	0.04	0.07
New Mexico	0.03	0.04	1.00	0.01	0.01	0.08	0.10
New York	0.02	0.03	0.76	0.03	0.02	0.07	0.13
North Carolina	0.04	0.08	1.70	0.08	0.03	0.15	0.23
North Dakota	0.23	0.34	8.50	0.37	0.12	0.72	1.15
Ohio	0.08	0.13	3.00	0.14	0.06	0.30	0.50
Oklahoma	0.20	0.30	7.40	0.30	0.10	0.60	1.10
Oregon	0.19	0.45	8.57	0.30	0.08	0.92	1.31
Pennsylvania	0.02	0.03	0.70	0.03	0.01	0.06	0.11
Rhode Island	2.40 × 10^−4	4.00 × 10^−4	8.20 × 10^−3	4.00 × 10^−4	2.00 × 10^−4	8.00 × 10^−4	1.02 × 10^−3
South Carolina	0.03	0.05	1.12	0.05	0.02	0.10	0.20
South Dakota	0.29	0.40	10.2	0.44	0.12	0.82	1.37
Tennessee	0.02	0.04	0.85	0.04	0.02	0.08	0.12
Texas	0.55	0.80	21.0	1.04	0.51	1.90	2.30
Utah	0.11	0.17	4.15	0.18	0.07	0.36	0.60
Vermont	4.00 × 10^−3	0.00	0.15	0.00	3.00 × 10^−3	0.01	0.02
Virginia	0.01	0.02	0.40	0.02	0.01	0.04	0.07
Washington	0.56	1.06	22.6	0.83	0.21	2.16	3.25
West Virginia	4.00 × 10^−3	0.00	0.15	0.01	3.00 × 10^−3	0.01	0.03
Wisconsin	0.10	0.15	3.50	0.15	0.10	0.30	0.60
Wyoming	0.07	0.10	2.49	0.11	0.04	0.22	0.35
Total	7.59	10.5	278.1	13.1	5.24	23.6	34.3
Notes: CO2 reported in Tg yr^−1; all other species reported in Gg yr^−1. Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire are omitted from the table because of zero emissions from crop residue burning. All numbers are rounded to three significant figures.

Figure 1. Average annual CO emissions (Gg) from crop residue burning by county for the CONUS (projection: Albers Equal Area Conic).

Figure 2. Average annual PM_2.5 emissions (Gg) from crop residue burning by county for the CONUS (projection: Albers Equal Area Conic).

Figure 3. Source counties of crop residue burning emissions. Cities contained within and/or contiguous to these source counties are labeled (projection: Albers Equal Area Conic).

Figure 4. EPA source regions of crop residue burning emissions (projection: Albers Equal Area Conic).

Figure 5. Monthly distribution of average CO emissions from crop residue burning by EPA source region for years 2003–2007.

Figure 6. Average contribution of emissions by crop type for the EPA source regions for years 2003–2007.

Table 5. Total and average carbon and air quality emissions from crop residue burning for the CONUS, 2003–2007, including interannual variability

Years	CO2	CH4	CO	NO2	SO2	PM2.5	PM10
2003	6.46	9.03	247	11.6	4.95	21.9	29.4
2004	6.03	8.95	234	10.7	4.41	21.3	28.1
2005	6.07	9.14	234	10.6	4.29	21.4	29.1
2006	5.72	8.19	208	9.22	3.60	18.8	26.4
2007	6.15	9.07	239	11.0	4.59	21.4	29.3
Total	30.5	44.4	1160	53.0	21.8	105	142
Average	6.09	8.87	232	10.6	4.37	20.9	28.5
Average interannual variability (± value)	0.31	0.52	18.0	1.03	0.59	1.51	1.95
Average interannual variability (%)	5.07	5.90	7.76	9.70	13.5	7.20	7.03
Notes: CO2 reported in Tg yr^−1; all other species reported in Gg yr^−1. All numbers are rounded to three significant figures.

Table 6. Comparison of global, continental, and U.S. agricultural, forest, and total burning emissions with estimated emissions from this analysis

Source	Scale (Land Cover)	CO2	CO	CH4	PM2.5	SO2
Andreae and Merlet34	Global (agricultural)	818	50.0	1.50	2.10	0.22
Yevich and Logan17	Global (agricultural)	140	23.0	1.00	—	—
Wiedinmyer et al.18	North America (agricultural)	—	1.62	—	0.13	—
Wiedinmyer et al.18	North America (forest)	—	44.2	—	5.10	—
Wiedinmyer et al.18	United States (total pyrogenic)	356	19.8	1.00	2.40	0.16
This analysis	CONUS	6.09	0.23	8.88 × 10^−3	2.09 × 10^−2	4.37 × 10^−3
Andreae and Merlet34	Percent CONUS cropland fire emissions	0.74	0.46	0.59	1.00	1.98
Yevich and Logan17	Percent CONUS cropland fire emissions	4.35	1.01	0.89	—	—
Wiedinmyer et al.18: North America (agricultural)	Percent CONUS cropland fire emissions	—	14.3	—	15.9	—
Wiedinmyer et al.18: North America (forest)	Percent CONUS cropland fires emissions	—	0.53	—	0.41	—
Wiedinmyer et al.18: United States (total pyrogenic)	Percent CONUS cropland fires emissions	1.71	1.17	0.89	0.87	2.73
Notes: The percent CONUS cropland fire emission values were calculated by dividing the average CONUS crop residue burning emissions by the published estimates of agricultural, forest, and total burning emissions. Emissions are reported in Tg yr^−1. All numbers are rounded to three significant figures.

Table 7. Comparison of CH₄ and CO emissions from crop residue burning estimated by the 2008 EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory with results from this analysis for 2003–2006

	Species	2003	2004	2005	2006	Average
EPA	CH4	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.04	0.04
	CO	0.80	0.88	0.86	0.83	0.84
This analysis (average emission factors)	CH4	9.00 × 10^−3	9.00 × 10^−3	9.00 × 10^−3	8.00 × 10^−3	9.00 × 10^−3
	CO	0.25	0.23	0.23	0.21	0.23
This analysis (maximum emission factors)	CH4	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02	0.02
	CO	1.05	1.00	1.00	0.96	1.00
Percent CONUS cropland burning emissions in the EPA estimates from average emissions (%)	CH4	22.5	22.5	22.5	20.0	21.9
	CO	31.3	26.1	26.7	25.3	27.4
Percent CONUS cropland burning emissions in the EPA estimates from maximum emissions (%)	CH4	50.0	50.0	50.0	50.0	50.0
	CO	131	114	116	116	119
Notes: Emissions from this analysis calculated using the average emission factors and the maximum emission factors. Emissions are reported in Tg yr^−1. All numbers are rounded to three significant figures.

Dennis , A. , Fraser , M. , Anderson , S. and Allen , D. 2002 . Air Pollutant Emissions Associated with Forest, Grassland, and Agricultural Burning in Texas . Atmos. Environ. , 36 : 3779 – 3792 . doi: 10.1016/S1352-2310(02)00219-4

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Quantifying Post-Harvest Emissions from Bluegrass Seed Production Field Burning; Washington State Department of Ecology, Air Quality, Ag Burning Research http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/aginfo/research_pdf_files/FinalKBGEmissionStudyReport_4504.pdf (http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/aginfo/research_pdf_files/FinalKBGEmissionStudyReport_4504.pdf) (Accessed: 2006 ).

 Google Scholar

Lemieux , P.M. , Lutes , C.C. and Santoianni , D.A. 2004 . Emissions of Organic Air Toxics from Open Burning: A Comprehensive Review . Prog. Energ. Combus. , 30 : 1 – 32 . doi: 10.1016/j.pecs.2003.08.001

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Integrated Assessment Update and 2018 Emissions Inventory for Prescribed Fire, Wildfire, and Agricultural Burning; Western Regional Air Partnership http://www.wrapair.org/forums/fejf/documents/emissions/WGA2018report20051123.pdf (http://www.wrapair.org/forums/fejf/documents/emissions/WGA2018report20051123.pdf) (Accessed: 2008 ).

 Google Scholar

United Kingdom Emission Factor Database; U.K. National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory http://www.naei.org.uk/emissions/selection.php (http://www.naei.org.uk/emissions/selection.php) (Accessed: 2006 ).

 Google Scholar

Andreae , M.O. and Merlet , P. 2001 . Emission of Trace Gases and Aerosols from Biomass Burning . Global Biogeochem. Cy. , 15 : 955 – 966 . doi: 10.1029/2000GB001382

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

IPCC Emission Factors Database; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/EFDB/main.php (http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/EFDB/main.php) (Accessed: 2006 ).

 Google Scholar

Dhammapala , R. , Claiborn , C. , Corkill , J. and Gullett , B. 2006 . Particulate Emissions from Wheat and Kentucky Bluegrass Stubble Burning in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho . Atmos. Environ. , 40 : 1007 – 1015 . doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.11.018

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Yevich , R. and Logan , J.A. 2003 . An Assessment of Biofuel Use and Burning of Agricultural Waste in the Developing World . Global Biogeochem. Cy. , 17 : 1095 doi: 10.1029/2002GB001952

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Wiedinmyer , C. , Quayle , B. , Geron , C. , Belote , A. , McKenzie , D. , Zhang , X. , O'Neill , S. and Wynne , K.K. 2006 . Estimating Emissions from Fires in North America for Air Quality Modeling . Atmos. Environ. , 40 : 3419 – 3432 . doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.02.010

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar