1 Prediction of TSP and PM10 emissions from agricultural operations in Flanders, Belgium Pieter Bogman, Wim Cornelis, Heidi Rollé and Donald Gabriels Department Soil Management and Soil Care, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium, e-mail: wim.cornelis@UGent.be, www.soilman.ugent.be Abstract In Europe, long-term exposure to fine dust is an important factor responsible for Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY). The most severe effects in terms of overall health burden include a significant reduction in life expectancy of the average population by a year or more, ranging from around 3 months in Finland to more than 13 months in Belgium (WHO, 2006). Traffic and industrial activities are generally considered as being the major source of fine dust. However, in Flanders (Belgium), where about 45% of the area is under farmland, agricultural operations are likely to contribute to the total amount of ambient dust. In order to conduct a regional inventory of TSP (Total Suspended Particles) and PM10 (Particulate Matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 10 µm) emissions for Flanders due to farming operations, we developed a simple model and incorporated it into a GIS environment. The model is based on the NEI method (National Emission Inventory) on the one hand and the CARB method (California Air Resources Board) on the other, which are used in the context of fine particulate emission inventories in the USA. The model accounts for both agricultural tillage and harvesting operations and needs operation-specific emission factors, crop-specific emission factors, number of passes per operation, crop area, a TSP-PM10 conversion factor and a soil factor. The emission factors were taken from literature and fine-tuned based on enquiries with local farmers. The soil factor was obtained from wind-tunnel experiments and soil sieving on samples collected from various soil types present in Flanders and enabled translating the regional soil map to a soil factor map. This map was then intersected with the regional crop rotation map to produce a TSP and PM10 emission map of Flanders. The total yearly quantity of TSP emission estimated for Flanders is 10.1 kton or 7.5 kg ha -1 . For PM10 we obtained values ranging from 2.0 to 3.1 kton depending on the conversion factor used, or 1.5 to 2.3 kg ha -1 respectively. Although factors such as wind velocity or soil-water status are not accounted for in the model, TSP emissions measured at a sandy loam field in Flanders during one calendar year are in reasonable agreement with predicted emission values. Keywords: TSP and PM10 emission, agricultural operations, Flanders, NEI method, CARB method. 1. Introduction Airborne particulate matter from farming consists mainly of minerals (soil origin) or a combination of mineral and organic dust (plant origin). High concentrations of this kind of dust are associated with a number of health problems. These include skin and eye irritations (International Labour Organization, 1979), respiratory disorders (Dosman and Cockcroft, 1989) and an increased risk of lung and skin cancer (McDuffie et al., 1989; Doelman et al., 1990; Schenker et al., 1993). Due to these harmfull health effects and other environmental consequences of fine atmospheric dust, studies on dust emission all over the world are booming in recent decades (Goossens and Riksen, 2004). Still in Europe, at this moment, little literature is available concerning quantification of fine dust contribution from on field farming operations. Mainly in Germany, a few studies are available (Goossens et al.,