Interprovincial Joint Prevention and Control of Open Straw Burning in Northeast China: Implications for Atmospheric Environment Management

Large-scale open burning of straw residues causes seasonal and severe atmospheric pollution in Northeast China. Previous studies focused on the causes or assessment of atmospheric pollution in a single city. However, studies conducted on the interaction range, degree and policy control of pollutant transport on a large scale are still to be performed. In this study, we propose combined control of straw burning by dividing region the straw burning in Northeast China in recent 20 years, determining the transport routes between main cities, and analyzing the interaction characteristics of straw burning under different scenarios. The fire point data suggest that the most intense straw burning years in Northeast China in the past 20 years occurred in the range from 2014 to 2017, mainly after the autumn harvest (October–November) and before spring cultivation (March–April). The burning areas were concentrated in the belt of Shenyang-Changchun-Harbin, the border of the three provinces and Eastern-Inner Mongolia, and the surrounding area of Hegang and Jiamusi City. The lower number of fire points before 2013 indicates that high-intensity burning has not always been the case, while the sharp decline after 2018 is mainly due to scientific control of straw burning and increased comprehensive utilization of straw. Compared with S2, the PM2.5 concentrations increased by 6.2% in S3 and 18.7% in S4, indicating that burning in three or four provinces at the same time will significantly increase air pollution and exert a regional transmission effect. Straw burning in Northeast China is divided into six main regions based on correlation analysis and satellite fire monitoring. Under typical S3, the case analysis results indicate that there is regional transmission interaction between different cities and provinces, focusing on multi-province border cities, and it is affected by Northwest long airflow, and Southeast and Northeast short airflow. These results provide scientific and technological support for implementing the joint prevention and control plan for straw incineration in Northeast China.