ESTIMATING NATIONAL WILDFIRE EMISSIONS FOR THE LAST DECADE IN TURKEY

Wildfire emissions are a major contributor of atmospheric gaseous and particulate pollutants for local air pollution levels. With respect to wildfires, Turkey faces one of Europe's most severe problems during summer. In this study, a database which holds data for wildfire emissions in Turkey for the last decade (between 2000 and 2009) was established in order to create a wildfire emissions inventory. The emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (N2O) sulphur oxides (SOx), total suspended particulate (TSP), particulate matter <10 mu m diameter (PM10) and particulate matter <2.5 mu m diameter (PM2.5) are estimated from wildfires in Turkey. European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme/European Environment Agency (EMEP/EEA) emission factors were used for different biomes of Turkey including temperate forest, Mediterranean forest and steppe. Total emissions from wildfires were estimated as 6,265,180 tons CO2, 386,530 tons CO, 18,078 tons CH4, 35,901 tons NMVOC, 13,444 tons NOx, 1,303 tons NH3, 414 tons N2O, 2,690 tons SOx, 63,974 tons TSP, 41,395 tons PM10 and 33,869 tons PM2.5 for the last decade. Comparing the total emissions in Turkey for the year 2000, wildfire emissions constitute 2.78% of CO2, 0.27% of PM (PM10+PM2.5), 0.02% of SOx, 0.40% NOx, 2.00% of VOC and 5.32% of CO emissions.