ABSTRACT
The largest peatlands of the world are in Indonesia, and they cover about 15 million ha. Recently, the peatlands are being extensively degraded due to anthropogenic fires. The peatland fires cause the most destruction impacting the soil biogeochemistry and the atmospheric environment through the release of pollutants. Therefore, fire prevention is important not only through the implementation of new policies and law enforcement but also through efficient monitoring systems. Specific to monitoring, since the cloud cover and smoke limit the analysis of optical satellite image observation, the application of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data has immense potential. In this study, we apply differential interferometry SAR (DInSAR) analysis using ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data to monitor peatlands before and after a fire in Central Kalimantan 2014–2016. The DInSAR analysis suggested peatland surface height difference in the downward direction of about −2.9 cm before fire incidents and −23.5 cm after the fire incidents, suggesting the possibility of peat loss. Additionally, we used an intensity image from PALSAR to delineate the burnt peatland area. We infer that DInSAR analysis combined with SAR data can increase the accuracy of peatland fire monitoring compared to the optical remote sensing data, which have limitations in cloudy and smoky environments.
