Abstract
Vast and disastrous fires occurred on Borneo during the 2015 dry season, pushing Indonesia into the top five carbon emitting countries. The region was affected by a very strong El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate phenomenon, on par with the last severe event in 1997/98. Fire dynamics in Central Kalimantan were investigated using an innovative sensor offering higher sensitivity to a wider range of fire intensities at a finer spatial resolution (160 m) than heretofore available. The sensor is onboard the TET-1 satellite, part of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) FireBird mission. TET-1 images (acquired every 2–3 days) from the middle infrared were used to detect fires continuously burning for almost three weeks in the protected peatlands of Sebangau National Park as well as surrounding areas with active logging and oil palm concessions. TET-1 detection capabilities were compared with MODIS active fire detection and Landsat burned area algorithms. Fire dynamics, including fire front propagation speed and area burned, were investigated. We show that TET-1 has improved detection capabilities over MODIS in monitoring low-intensity peatland fire fronts through thick smoke and haze. Analysis of fire dynamics revealed that the largest burned areas resulted from fire front lines started from multiple locations, and the highest propagation speeds were in excess of 500 m/day (all over peat > 2m deep). Fires were found to occur most often in concessions that contained drainage infrastructure but were not cleared prior to the fire season. Benefits of implementing this sensor system to improve current fire management techniques are discussed. Near real-time fire detection together with enhanced fire behavior monitoring capabilities would not only improve firefighting efforts, but also benefit analysis of fire impact on tropical peatlands, greenhouse gas emission estimations as well as mitigation measures to reduce severe fire events in the future.
Highlights
The fires that swept across Indonesia during the latter half of 2015 were catastrophic on many levels
On Borneo, the province of Central Kalimantan was severely affected with Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) hitting recorded highs in excess of 1,500, far exceeding levels deemed hazardous for human health [5,6,7]
The MODIS hotspots burned area estimate, based on hotspot active fire detections converted to burned area, was outperformed by the Landsat object-based image analysis (OBIA) burned area analysis, which estimated 38% more newly burned area despite the data being of lower quality due to haze and cloud cover
Summary
The fires that swept across Indonesia during the latter half of 2015 were catastrophic on many levels. Costs incurred from the fires to the Indonesian government are estimated to be in excess of USD 16 billion [1], signifying 1.9% of the national gross domestic product. Reduced air quality in Southeast Asia is a consequence of major forest fires [2,3,4], and the resulting smoke cloud, coined the 2015 Southeast Asian Haze, spread across several countries, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines. Initial emission estimates from the 2015 peat fires amount to 1.75 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalents [1], placing Indonesia as the world’s fifth highest carbon dioxide emitting country above other nations such as Japan and Germany [12,13]
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