Haze Review for Year 2024 Archives - Page 2 of 2

Review of Regional Haze Situation for February 2024

1.1 1.1 The ASEAN region continued to experience Northeast Monsoon conditions in February 2024. Over areas north of the Equator, the prevailing winds blew mainly from the northeast except over the Mekong sub-region where the winds were mostly light and variable in direction. Over areas south of the Equator, the prevailing winds blew mostly from the northwest or north (Figure 1).

1.2 1.2 The Mekong sub-region remained dry throughout the review period of February 2024, with moderate to dense haze observed over many parts of the sub-region (Figure 6) on several days. On 7 February 2024, the Alert Level 2 for the Mekong sub-region was activated in view of the increasing hotspots and risk of transboundary haze in the Mekong sub-region. Showers were observed elsewhere in the ASEAN region, except for parts of Peninsular Malaysia and the Philippines where there were brief periods of drier weather. The overall hotspot and haze situation in the southern ASEAN region and the Philippines stayed subdued (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Average Daily Rainfall and Mean Winds for February 2024. (Source: JAXA GsMaP and GFS, respectively)

1.3 1.3 Over the Mekong sub-region, the hotspot counts in February 2024 were comparable to previous years (Figure 2). Over the southern ASEAN region, the hotspot counts were higher or comparable, with a rise in Kalimantan, Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sabah and Sarawak compared to the past few years. Sabah and Sarawak recorded the highest hotspot count over 5 years (Figure 3), although the hotspot count for the southern ASEAN region during the review period remained relatively low.

Figure 2: Hotspot counts for the northern ASEAN region for February (2020-2024) based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 3: Hotspot counts for the southern ASEAN region for February (2020-2024) based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

1.4 1.4 Hotspot activities were persistent over many areas of the Mekong sub-region in February, with fires of higher intensity observed mainly over parts of Lao PDR and northeastern Cambodia (Figure 4 and 5). Moderate to dense smoke haze was observed mostly in the northern, western, and central parts of the sub-region (Figures 6, 7 and 8).

Figure 4: Distribution of hotspots detected in February 2024 based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 5: Maximum fire intensity in February 2024 based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 6: Number of days with moderate to dense smoke haze observed in February 2024 based on satellite imagery, ground observations, and air quality reports.

Figure 7: Moderate to dense transboundary smoke plumes were observed drifting from northeastern Cambodia into the southern parts of Lao PDF and eastern Thailand on 17 February 2024. (Source: Himawari-9 satellite surveillance)

Figure 8: Moderate to dense smoke haze was observed over the eastern, central and southern parts of Myanmar on 24 February 2024. (Source: Himawari-9 satellite surveillance)

Review of Regional Haze Situation for January 2024

1.1 Northeast monsoon conditions continued in January 2024, as suggested by the prevailing low-level winds. Winds over areas north of the Equator in the ASEAN region blew predominantly from the northeast or east while the winds over areas south of the Equator blew mostly from the northwest to west (Figure 1). On occasion, the northeasterly winds strengthened over the South China Sea, and brought periods of cloudiness and widespread rainfall associated with the monsoon surge to parts of eastern Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.

1.2 Dry conditions persisted over the Mekong sub-region (Figure 1) under Alert Level 1. For the rest of the ASEAN region, increased rainfall was recorded except for the northern parts of the Philippines where conditions were relatively drier. Rainfall was much higher over the Mindanao region of the Philippines due to the presence of the Northeast Monsoon (Figure 1). The presence of monsoon surges continued in January which affected eastern areas in Peninsular Malaysia, causing fatalities and displacement of people, including damages to infrastructure and agriculture. (Figure 1)

Figure 1: Average Daily Rainfall and Mean Winds for January 2024. (Source: JAXA GsMaP and GFS, respectively)

1.3 The overall hotspot counts for the northern ASEAN region was generally lower in January 2024 compared to hotspots recorded for the same period in previous years, although hotspot counts in Cambodia were higher compared to the last three years. In the southern ASEAN region, the hotspot counts were generally lower or comparable to previous years (Figure 2 and 3).

Figure 2: Hotspot counts for the southern ASEAN region for January (2020-2024) based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 3: Hotspot counts for the northern ASEAN region for January (2020-2024) based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

1.4 Isolated to scattered hotspots were detected in the Mekong sub-region (Figure 4) and also the Philippines. Persistent clusters of moderate intensity hotspots, some with smoke plumes were observed consistently in the northeastern and eastern parts of Cambodia (Figure 4, 5 and 7).

Figure 4: Distribution of hotspots detected in January 2024 based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 5: Maximum fire intensity in January 2024 based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 6: Number of days with moderate to dense smoke haze observed in January 2024 based on satellite imagery, ground observations, and air quality reports.

Figure 7: Moderate haze was observed in the northeastern and eastern parts of Cambodia from January 2024 (Source: NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.)