Review of Regional Haze Situation for March 2026

1.1 During March 2026, Northeast Monsoon conditions remained over the ASEAN region. Over regions north of the Equator, the prevailing low-level winds blew mainly from the northeast to east, except over the Mekong sub-region where the winds were generally weaker and blew mostly from the southeast or south (Figure 1). Over regions south of the Equator, the prevailing low-level winds blew from the west to north (Figure 1).

1.2 Dry conditions continued over most of the northern ASEAN region during the review period, except for some showers observed over the southern parts of the Philippines and the northern parts of Myanmar (Figure 1). Meanwhile, showers prevailed over most of the southern ASEAN region, apart from parts of Peninsular Malaysia, the central parts of Sumatra and the northern parts of Borneo, where conditions were drier (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Average Daily Rainfall and Mean Winds for March 2026. (Source: JAXA GsMaP and GFS, respectively)

1.3 Over the northern ASEAN region, the hotspot counts for March 2026 were generally lower than or comparable to previous years (Figure 2). Over the southern ASEAN region, there was an increase in hotspot counts over Kalimantan, Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, with the highest count recorded in five years (Figure 3).

Figure 2: Hotspot counts for the northern ASEAN region for March (2022-2026) based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 3: Hotspot counts for the southern ASEAN region for March (2022-2026) based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

1.4 Scattered to widespread hotspots were detected in the Mekong sub-region. Persistent and intense hotspots were detected mostly in Myanmar, Lao PDR, as well as the northern parts of Thailand and Cambodia (Figures 4 and 5). Moderate to dense transboundary smoke plumes were observed across the Mekong sub-region on many days, particularly over the eastern parts of Myanmar and the northern parts of Thailand, Lao PDR and Viet Nam (Figure 6 and 7). During periods of dry weather over the southern ASEAN region, slight to moderate smoke plumes were observed emitting from hotspots detected mainly in parts of Peninsular Malaysia, the central parts of Sumatra and the northern and western parts of Borneo (Figures 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11).

Figure 4: Distribution of hotspots detected in March 2026 based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 5: Maximum fire intensity in March 2026 based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 6: Number of days with moderate to dense smoke haze observed in March 2026 based on satellite imagery, ground observations, and air quality reports.

Figure 7: Moderate to dense transboundary smoke plumes observed over parts of Myanmar, northern, central and eastern Thailand, parts of Lao PDR and the northern and central parts of Viet Nam on 31 March 2026. (Source: Himawari-9 satellite surveillance)

Figure 8: Moderate localised smoke plume observed over the central parts of Sumatra on 12 March 2026. (Source: Himawari-9 satellite surveillance)

Figure 9: Moderate localised smoke plume observed over the southeastern parts of Peninsular Malaysia on 16 March 2026. (Source: NOAA20 satellite surveillance)

Figure 10: Slight to moderate smoke plumes observed over the northern parts of Borneo on 25 March 2026. (Source: Himawari-9 satellite surveillance)

Figure 11: Moderate smoke plumes observed over the southeastern parts of Peninsular Malaysia on 30 March 2026. (Source: NOAA20 satellite surveillance)