Satellite will help forest fire detection

Satellite will help forest fire detection

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan (JP): The National Space and
Aviation Agency has developed a method to detect, through
satellite images, forest fires at their earliest occurrence.

Agus Hidayat, a senior official of the agency, said that with
the establishment of a new coordination team to prevent forest
fires, such information could be made available quickly to the
proper government agencies to act upon.

Agus told reporters that even before the method was developed,
the agency already had access to such information from the United
States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
since the 1980s but it had not been widely used.

He recalled that in 1987, the agency obtained NOAA data
indicting there was dry vegetation in East Kalimantan which
should have served as a warning of fire prone conditions. "A
major fire did occur later. But the Ministry of Forestry said
they received the data too late."

Agus said the agency's latest data showed hot spots in South
Sumatra and West Kalimantan with temperatures reaching 52 degree
Celsius on Aug. 18 and 24. "Hopefully, these signs were reported
promptly to the coordination team."

The team is headed by the Ministry of Forestry and the
Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedal).

Agus was speaking during a seminar on forest fire prevention
with experts from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, as a follow
up to a commitment for joint efforts the three governments signed
early this year.

The signing itself was prompted by the major forest fires that
broke out in various parts of Indonesia, leaving parts of Sumatra
and Kalimantan as well as Malaysia and Singapore covered by thick
smoke for weeks.

Cheng Lak Seng of Singapore's meteorological office also
pointed out at NOAA's satellite images could be used to identify
hot spots or signs of increased temperature.

He said further study was needed to reveal whether these hot
spots mean the occurrence of fire. He pointed out, however, that
such hot spots were detected on Aug. 15 but they disappeared
after a few days. (anr)