ABSTRACT
In Indonesia, biomass burning degrades the regional air quality significantly. This study reviews the history of biomass burning in Indonesia, especially on Sumatera and Kalimantan islands, where the fires are recurrent every year. This study uses satellite remote sensing data, local AERONET data, and meteorological information to characterize fire episodes in the study region. Although most fires are human-initiated, we infer that climatology plays a significant role in the fire occurrences. We show a strong correlation between the number of fire hotspots and climate phenomena such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Also, we show the strong influence of cold surge in the early year (January–March), which affects burning behavior in most of Sumatera and part of West Kalimantan. In the study, the implications of biomass burning on regional pollution are also discussed.
