TITLE:
Recent Active Fires under El Niño Conditions in Kalimantan, Indonesia
AUTHORS:
Nina Yulianti, Hiroshi Hayasaka
KEYWORDS:
Dry Season; El Niño; MODIS Hotspot; MRP; Peat Fire
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.4 No.3A,
March
29,
2013
ABSTRACT: Analysis of
the most recent 10-year periods (2002 to 2011) of MODIS hotspots data (fires)
and precipitation in Palangkaraya and Pontianak
was carried out to identify seasonal and spatial fire occurrence in Kalimantan
under El Nino conditions, and to asses future forest condition in Kalimantan. Most data was tallied every 10-day to analyze
seasonal and spatial fire occurrence. Seasonal and spatial analysis results for
severe fire years, namely 2006 and 2009, under El Nino conditions were as
follows: the severest fire incidents for whole Kalimantan occurred in October
in 2006 under the driest conditions in both Palangkaraya and Pontianak. The severest
fires for the Mega Rice Project (MRP) area and its vicinity occurred in late
September in 2009 under the driest conditions for Palangkaraya. Fire activities
in the last 10-year in south Central Kalimantan were severe than other areas in
Kalimantan. This may be explained by different
dry conditions of peat. Namely, the peat in the southern part of Central
Kalimantan could become dryer under the relatively longer dry season (about
3-month) compared with other areas (dry season in West
Kalimantan is only 2/3-month). One of spatial analysis results
clearly showed a so-called a fire belt shape arising from severe fires that
occurred mainly on the southern coastal peatlands from West to Central Kalimantan in mid October in 2006.