Review of Regional Haze Situation for November 2022 |

Review of Regional Haze Situation for November 2022

1.1 The inter-monsoon conditions gradually made way for the Northeast Monsoon over the ASEAN region in November 2022. The prevailing low-level winds over the northern ASEAN region blew from the northeast to east while the winds over most parts of the southern ASEAN region were light and variable in direction (Figure 1).

1.2 Most of the ASEAN region experienced wet weather conditions during November 2022, except for the northern, western and central parts of the Mekong sub-region where the conditions were relatively drier. Over the northern ASEAN region, rainfall amount was higher over the southern Mekong sub-region, coastal areas of Viet Nam and the Philippines. Widespread rainfall fell over much of the southern ASEAN region (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Average Daily Rainfall and Mean Winds for November 2022. (Source: JAXA GsMaP and GFS, respectively)

1.3 For November 2022, overall hotspot activities were mostly subdued due to the prevailing rainy conditions over the ASEAN region. Majority of the hotspots in the northern ASEAN region were detected in Myanmar, but the hotspot counts for the whole ASEAN region were generally lower or comparable to the counts in previous years (Figures 2 and 3).

Figure 2: Hotspot counts for the northern ASEAN region for the month of November (2018 – 2022). [Note: The hotspot counts from 2019 onwards are based on the NOAA-20 satellite, while those from 2018 are based on the Suomi-NPP satellite.]

Figure 3: Hotspot counts for the southern ASEAN region for the month of November (2018 – 2022). [Note: The hotspot counts from 2019 onwards are based on the NOAA-20 satellite, while those from 2018 are based on the Suomi-NPP satellite.]

1.4 Throughout the November review period, few to isolated hotspots were detected in the ASEAN region. While these hotspots were mostly short-lived, hotspots were relatively more persistent in the southern parts of Myanmar, central and northern Viet Nam, as well as central Thailand (Figure 4). On most days, no discernable smoke plumes were observed.

Figure 4: Distribution of hotspots detected in November 2022 based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 5: Maximum fire intensity in November 2022 based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

1.5 The fire intensity of hotspots detected over the ASEAN region was generally low in November 2022 (Figure 5). No significant smoke haze was observed from satellite imagery.