Meteorological Conditions in South East Asia
16 June 1999
The Meteorological Service of Singapore reports on 15 June 1999 for the South East Asian region: "No hot spots were detected over Sumatra and Borneo. The region remains generally clear of smoke haze".
Fig.1. Regional Surface Winds and Haze/Hot Spot Map, 15 June 1999
(Source: http://www.gov.sg/metsin/hazed.html)The Indonesian Meteorological Agency Badan Meteorologi dan Geofisika publishs the Indonesia Daily Forecasting for 17 June 1999. For the representative selected areas metereological data are provided as follows:
Palembang Samarinda Ujung Pandang Dili Bandung Weather condition cloudy cloudy rain cloudy rain Temperature max (°C) 32°C 32°C 31°C 30°C 28°C Humidity (min-max %) 60-98 60-95 60-94 50-97 65-95 The Forest Fire Prevention and Control Project (FFPCP) in Palembang (Sumatra) provides a new fire overview map on 15 June 1999.
Fig.2. Fire Overview Map for 15 June 1999 of the FFPCP project in Palembang
(source: http://www.mdp.co.id/ffpcp/overview.htm)The fire overview map for the Integrated Forest Fire Management (IFFM) project in Samarinda (East Kalimantan) shows 3 hotspots on 15 June 1999.
Fig.3. Fire Overview Map for 15 June 1999 of the IFFM project in Samarinda
(Source: http://www.iffm.or.id/hotspots_map.htm)Summary: Although the current fire weather conditions do under normal conditions not favour extensive land clearing by fire or escaping wildfires in Indonesia, the consequences of the large wildfires of 1997-98 must been taken into consideration. These fires had caused extensive degradation of primary and secondary forests along with the spreading of "alang-alang" (Imperata cylindrica) grasslands. These grasslands facilitate the spread of uncontrolled fires over large areas.
See also the IFFN Country Notes.