BIOMASS BURNING AND RESULTING EMISSIONS IN THE NORTHERN-TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA

The extent of biomass burning in the Northern Territory, Australia, du ring 1992 (a year of low fire activity) was estimated using NOAA-AVHRR satellite imagery and was subsequently used to calculate the emission of gaseous compounds from biomass burning for that year. A total of 7 3,729 km(2) was determined to have been burnt, representing 5.5% of th e total Northern Territory area. The extent of biomass burning in diff erent vegetation units in the Northern Territory was also estimated wi th eucalypt communities comprising 72% of the total area burnt. An est imated 29.5 x 10(6) tonnes of biomass was consumed by burning, resulti ng in the production of an estimated : 1. 11.3 Tg C as carbon dioxide, 2. 1.02 Tg C as carbon monoxide, (3) 5.23 x 10(-3) Tg C as total part iculate matter, 4. 26.1 x 10(-3) Tg N as nitrous oxides, 5. various ot her trace gases. The calculated release of CO2 in this study accounts for only 41% of the estimated Australian contribution to global emmiss ions from biomass burning, indicating that the Australian contribution may be overestimted.