A CHINESE research team has employed the country’s Fengyun-3D satellite’s global fire spot monitoring data to quantify global carbon emissions from open biomass burning (OBB) and develop a global high-resolution daily OBB emission inventory. The study, conducted by researchers from the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was published in the journal Earth System Science Data. OBB — characterized by its periodic nature, randomness, multiple sources, broad impact, and challenges in monitoring — is a major source of global carbon emissions, including forest fires, grassland fires, shrub fires, and crop residue burning. Accurately quantifying carbon emissions from OBB is crucial for understanding terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycles and is essential for determining carbon budget balances on both global and regional scales. This study quantified the estimated global average annual OBB carbon emissions from different regions and fire types during 2020 and 2022. (Xinhua) | 