Smoke, Smog, Dust 2016-2017 Chiang Mai

[jonwilly]

Just back from my holiday by the seaside. Not as bad as 2 years ago when I last went away, during the Burning/Smog season, back then as soon as I got to Nakhorn Sawan there was Smog in the air.

I stayed again in the Chinos Buritos hotel and excellent view from their rooftop restaurant which was more than I can say for their Pork Steak, which I wanted after a month on seafood.

Saw Doi Suthep from miles away, always a good sign and no coughing now, which is always my first sign of bad atmosphere.

john

[Mapguy]

Looking at FIRMS reports of fires this year in the Doi Suthep area, there appears to have been in recent weeks quite a few sitings. The report received this AM was an astonishing 79 spotted in the past 24-hour period . This is by far the highest number I can recall in quite a few years, and the satellites don't pick all of them up in any case. From day to day the number can vary significantly, and 79 does not reflect a 24-hour average. It is really puzzling to me how this information and various ground reports reflected above do not seemingly agree.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Looking at FIRMS reports of fires this year in the Doi Suthep area, there appears to have been in recent weeks quite a few sitings. The report received this AM was an astonishing 79 spotted in the past 24-hour period . This is by far the highest number I can recall in quite a few years, and the satellites don't pick all of them up in any case. From day to day the number can vary significantly, and 79 does not reflect a 24-hour average. It is really puzzling to me how this information and various ground reports reflected above do not seemingly agree.

I've never been able to find any relation between fire maps for nearby areas (or fires spotted on the mountain) and then smog levels in the hours/days following those.

(Note that I'm not saying that there is no relation, just that I haven't found it and that I don't understand it.)

Good luck guys hang on there it's just another month or so. Don't understand why nobody is protesting , by phone, mail, feets on the street. Instead of just looking out of the window like a cow who will get butchered next.

At least do this even I recommend more one of the above sign, share make public:

https://www.change.org/p/chiang-mai-governor-improve-haze-pollution-information-for-public-health-in-northern-thailand#petition-letter

I would sign it if it has things in it that made sense.

Edited March 29, 2016 by WinnieTheKhwai

[blueyeshk]

Looking at FIRMS reports of fires this year in the Doi Suthep area, there appears to have been in recent weeks quite a few sitings. The report received this AM was an astonishing 79 spotted in the past 24-hour period . This is by far the highest number I can recall in quite a few years, and the satellites don't pick all of them up in any case. From day to day the number can vary significantly, and 79 does not reflect a 24-hour average. It is really puzzling to me how this information and various ground reports reflected above do not seemingly agree.

I've never been able to find any relation between fire maps for nearby areas (or fires spotted on the mountain) and then smog levels in the hours/days following those.

(Note that I'm not saying that there is no relation, just that I haven't found it and that I don't understand it.)

Good luck guys hang on there it's just another month or so. Don't understand why nobody is protesting , by phone, mail, feets on the street. Instead of just looking out of the window like a cow who will get butchered next.

At least do this even I recommend more one of the above sign, share make public:

https://www.change.org/p/chiang-mai-governor-improve-haze-pollution-information-for-public-health-in-northern-thailand#petition-letter

I would sign it if it has things in it that made sense.

Do your own I sign yours as well

[Sparkles]

Just spent a night away at Chiang Dao.Air quality is terible ,fires smouldering high into the mountains where there is no vehicular access.

Promises,PR releases , petitions all amount to nothing if there is no will to change habits.

[MESmith]

Just spent a night away at Chiang Dao.Air quality is terible ,fires smouldering high into the mountains where there is no vehicular access.

Promises,PR releases , petitions all amount to nothing if there is no will to change habits.

I guess the "crackdown" on burning only effected Chiang Mai valley, where smog levels this year haven't been too bad (excluding last Friday, saturday). My experience up in the areas away from Chiang Mai are same as yours. Terrible, appalling, health threatening

[Sparkles]

Just spent a night away at Chiang Dao.Air quality is terible ,fires smouldering high into the mountains where there is no vehicular access.

Promises,PR releases , petitions all amount to nothing if there is no will to change habits.

I guess the "crackdown" on burning only effected Chiang Mai valley, where smog levels this year haven't been too bad (excluding last Friday, saturday). My experience up in the areas away from Chiang Mai are same as yours. Terrible, appalling, health threatening

Might well be and we can only wait with anticipation for a CM "official" release on how many people were reported, or apprehended & fined, in CM.

We might also ask why is the "crackdown" applying only to CM.After doing 1,400 kms recently heading south and back, the whole countryside.north of Bangkok, was shrouded in smog

[CNXBKKMAN]

There was a nice smoke enhanced sunset tonight and as it got dark you could clearly see the smoke rising off mountain. There was plenty coming up from the Samoeng side and plenty over Doi Pui Ban Chang Khian area. Tomorrow might be a pea souper.

[Mapguy]

Relative to FIRMS reports and ground-truthing, it will be interesting to see.

[blueyeshk]

An ancient saying: fly away from February to May - don't forget to return in June

[Tywais]

Pop Areeya "Right to Breathe" Campaign

Right to Breathe twitter

[Sparkles]

Pop Areeya "Right to Breathe" Campaign

Right to Breathe twitter

We should applaud people creating an awareness campaign but why not put resources into stopping the burning not the after effects.

I think the CM improvement was as a result of threats to take action but did anything happen regarding apprehending those who defied the law ?

I doubt it or we would have heard at yet another media/PR exercise.

Some people like to pretend this is not a major issue,they are dead wrong ,the harm to especially young children will one day emerge

and after travelling 1,400 kms round the country recently by car there was not one location you could breathe without discomfort.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Sparkles

[blueyeshk]

It is still to early to finalize this burning season with about a month ahead but somewhat i sensed a tiny move of change one can just hope it was not all just slightly better than the past decade because of climate or drought effects maybe we witnessed the start of a change in thinking. Looking on today's fire map you can make clearly out the border line to neighboring countries which have to follow suit with reduction of burning if the overall pollution condition shall improve for everybody. Don't get me wrong - I am highly skeptical for the coming years and will not change my escape pattern by leaving from February to May because even with a eventually major reduction I still think the north is inhabitable for some month every year - I just hope my sense is right and they come to theirs.

http://www.ehabich.info/images/synchro/asia.jpg

[Chris Pirazzi]

Does anyone know how to get more than 30 days of history out of the Thai PCD site:

http://aqmthai.com/public_report.php

I tried to request both Raw and Daily PM10 reports for site 58t (Mae Hong Son) but it won't go before March 1st.

I used to find historical data here:

http://www.pcd.go.th/AirQuality/en_Default.cfm

but now they point to the aqm site with no data older than 30 days. Sigh.

[Cheesekraft]

when can we expect the air to reach safe levels?

[chiang mai]

when can we expect the air to reach safe levels?

When the rains come, typically around Songkran.

[triffid]

Looks like levels have gone down a bit. But do note, currently the PM2.5 levels are still at ~ 100 ug/m3 mark.

24-hr PM2.5 mean = 138 ug/m3. 5.5X > WHO levels.

2.5 times higher than Unhealthy levels (US EPA and many other countries).

Could please you tell me which site shows PM2.5 levels for Chiangmai? The usual one shows just the PM10s.

[vivid]

Looks like levels have gone down a bit. But do note, currently the PM2.5 levels are still at ~ 100 ug/m3 mark.

24-hr PM2.5 mean = 138 ug/m3. 5.5X > WHO levels.

2.5 times higher than Unhealthy levels (US EPA and many other countries).

Could please you tell me which site shows PM2.5 levels for Chiangmai? The usual one shows just the PM10s.

http://aqmthai.com/public_report.php

Choose 36t, which is for Chiangmai.

This is the official source in which sites like aqicn.org draw its data from. I guess aqicn only displays PM10 for CM and other cities though.

There are a total of ~ 10 thai cities which have PM2.5 data.

[Konini]

It has to be said that all of this data is very complex and dare I say enough to spin the head.

It may be a good idea for someone with a lot more knowledge than me to post (or copy/paste from an older summary) just what the PM10 and PM2.5's are and when we should be worried. A big ask as I know that those who know most have probably the least time to put towards doing it, I have the time but not the expertise I'm afraid and would leave readers more confused than helped.

[triffid]

Looks like levels have gone down a bit. But do note, currently the PM2.5 levels are still at ~ 100 ug/m3 mark.

24-hr PM2.5 mean = 138 ug/m3. 5.5X > WHO levels.

2.5 times higher than Unhealthy levels (US EPA and many other countries).

Could please you tell me which site shows PM2.5 levels for Chiangmai? The usual one shows just the PM10s.

http://aqmthai.com/public_report.php

Choose 36t, which is for Chiangmai.

This is the official source in which sites like aqicn.org draw its data from. I guess aqicn only displays PM10 for CM and other cities though.

There are a total of ~ 10 thai cities which have PM2.5 data.

Ok, I've got Chiangmai as no. 36t, but which column has its PM2.5 reading? I see only PM10specified in the column before the coloured one.

[Tywais]

Ok, I've got Chiangmai as no. 36t, but which column has its PM2.5 reading? I see only PM10specified in the column before the coloured one.

Need to scroll down to the bottom of the left list.

[Awk]

Does anyone know how to get more than 30 days of history out of the Thai PCD site:

http://aqmthai.com/public_report.php

I tried to request both Raw and Daily PM10 reports for site 58t (Mae Hong Son) but it won't go before March 1st.

I used to find historical data here:

http://www.pcd.go.th/AirQuality/en_Default.cfm

but now they point to the aqm site with no data older than 30 days. Sigh.

The older data is, or at least was two years ago, still available at the aqmthai website. They don't offer it up via the standard web interface however, possible to reduce the risk of their system getting overloaded.

They do (or did) however allow you to fetch the older data from the aqmthai website using your own, self-modified version of their http request.

Some years ago I did not fetch the data I wanted this way, but if you find a browser plugin that allows you to see and modify the http request before sending it to the aqmthai website, I'm guessing you might get the aqmthai website to generate the nice graphs for you too. Back then I just got a textfile with dates and numbers, and visualised it myself using some other program.

[Chris Pirazzi]

The older data is, or at least was two years ago, still available at the aqmthai website. They don't offer it up via the standard web interface however, possible to reduce the risk of their system getting overloaded.

They do (or did) however allow you to fetch the older data from the aqmthai website using your own, self-modified version of their http request.

Some years ago I did not fetch the data I wanted this way, but if you find a browser plugin that allows you to see and modify the http request before sending it to the aqmthai website, I'm guessing you might get the aqmthai website to generate the nice graphs for you too. Back then I just got a textfile with dates and numbers, and visualised it myself using some other program.

Fantastic! Awesome idea...and it worked!

I found that data seems to be available back to March 2013 for Mae Hong Son.

I poked around for an hour or two and found that the following JavaScript, entered into either Firefox's Web Console (line at the bottom) or Scratchpad will let you produce a graph for the desired date range and sample count (if the sample count is too low, the graph gets divided up into "pages" which usually have different vertical scales):

var option = document.createElement("option");
option.text = "2000";
option.value = "2000";
document.getElementById("showNumRow").add(option);
document.getElementById("showNumRow").value = "2000";

document.getElementById("datepicker_start").value = "2013-03-01";

Run that code, then click the "Graph" button.

I should note that this should be used with caution and not run huge numbers of times as it will create server load that is probably the reason why they restricted it in the first place! Use respectfully, otherwise they will have to waste time adding more restrictions at lower levels that we cannot bypass.

For those who would rather get raw data, you can also POST http://aqmthai.com/includes/getMultiManReport.php using a payload like:

action=showGraph
paramValue=PM10,%%
endDate=2016-04-05
startDate=2013-03-01
stationId=58t,%%
reportType=Daily
startYearMn=2016
startMonthMn=04
endYearMn=2016
endMonthMn=04
startTime=00:00:00
endTime=01:29:00
dataReportType=_h
showNumRow=2000
pageNo=1
startDateTimeCurrPage=undefined
endDateTimeCurrPage=undefined

and you will get XML data back. Edited April 4, 2016 by Chris Pirazzi

[Chris Pirazzi]

Looks like PM10 has only been getting worse in Chiang Mai for 2010-2015 (or measurement has gotten more honest at the Sri Phum intersection):

Wish we could have more of those nice days like in August 2014 when pollution was sucked out of the air

[vivid]

From the graph, it looks like 2015 was a pretty bad year for CM.

2016 is much better. Though still unhealthy air (number of days with PM2.5 24-mean > 56 ug/m3, whatever, i know that the graphs are for PM10)

Edit - actually it looks like the "Area under the graph" or average monthly concentration is higher for 2016. So it sort of masks the lower peaks.

If one is interested, you could run end Jan - end April range for each year and check out the average figure.

Edited April 5, 2016 by vivid

[chiang mai]

2015 was dire for both Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, the worst I've seen in twelve years.

[triffid]

Ok, I've got Chiangmai as no. 36t, but which column has its PM2.5 reading? I see only PM10specified in the column before the coloured one.

Need to scroll down to the bottom of the left list.

Capture.JPG

I'm sure I'm being stupid here but how do I find that left list?

[Tywais]

2015 was dire for both Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, the worst I've seen in twelve years.

2007 is the memorable year for me and nothing has quite beat that since in terms of both subjectivity and numbers. That was the year where some days were near brown outs as visibility was just thick brown and measured in a few hundred meters or less. I just grabbed some raw historical data and graphed/labeled it but only from 1998-2012 and 2004 & 2007 were quite serious, 2004 due to the number of days.

[triffid]

Ok, I've got Chiangmai as no. 36t, but which column has its PM2.5 reading? I see only PM10specified in the column before the coloured one.

Need to scroll down to the bottom of the left list.

Capture.JPG

I'm sure I'm being stupid here but how do I find that left list?

I think I've got there now. Sorry for the unnecessary query. But the 2.5 data is only up to a month ago.

[vivid]

Chiang Rai 73t just bombed out with a 1hr PM10 value of 459 ug/m3!!!

Take care folks, if you have anybody in that area!