Spatial and temporal patterns of 1999 forest/plantation fires in Sumatra

Fires have been used extensively in Indonesia for clearing agricultural land. In the El Nino episode of 1997/8, fires had burnt over 8 million hectares of land, enveloping the region in thick smoke. The Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) has since been monitoring the fires with AVHRR and SPOT imagery, and has compiled detailed burnt scar maps for damage assessment. In 1999, although a non-El Nino year, fires flared up and spread at an alarming rate through the period April-September. In this paper, the time evolution of fires in Sumatra is studied with monthly cumulative AVHRR hotspots maps. Details of fires due to economic activities are illustrated with sequence of SPOT images. Burnt scar map of Sumatra of 1999 fires is presented, together with the estimated total burnt area, and the percentage break-down of land cover types affected.