Review of Land Fires and Smoke Haze Situation for First Fortnight of October 2019

1.1 During the fortnight, the hotspot activities in the northern ASEAN region were generally subdued.

1.2 The occurrence of showers in the equatorial ASEAN region helped to subdue the hotspot activities in many parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan. However, hotspots emitting moderate to dense smoke haze persisted in the southern parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan where drier-than-normal conditions prevailed. These hotspots were mostly detected in southern Sumatra (namely in the provinces of Jambi, South Sumatra and Lampung) and in South, East and Central Kalimantan.

1.3 Figures 4, 5 and 6 show satellite images over the ASEAN region in the first fortnight of October 2019.

Figure 1 Smoke haze from hotspots in Central Kalimantan (marked by blue dotted lines)

Figure 2 Smoke haze from hotspots in southern parts of Sumatra (marked by blue dotted lines)

Figure 3 Smoke haze emanating from hotspots in southern parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan (marked by blue dotted lines)

Figure 4 Distribution of hotspots detected based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance and prevailing winds in the first half of October 2019 (Source of prevailing winds: JMA)