KUCHING: A satellite image released by the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has captured a vast blanket of smoke stretching across much of Indonesia and Malaysia as forest and peatland fires continue to burn amid severe drought conditions.
Captured by NASA’s Aqua satellite on Tuesday (Sept 1), the image shows thick smoke spreading across large parts of the region, while dozens of red hotspots mark areas where the satellite’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) detected thermal anomalies associated with active fires.
According to NASA, many of the fires are burning both on the surface and underground, particularly in Indonesia’s tropical peatlands.
“Some of these are tropical peatland fires, which burn slowly, release higher amounts of air pollution, and are notoriously difficult to extinguish because they smoulder at low temperatures and often burn underground,” NASA said.
Peatland fires are especially challenging to contain because they can continue smouldering beneath the surface long after visible flames have subsided, making them difficult to detect and extinguish.
The satellite image offers a stark illustration of the scale of the ongoing fires and the widespread haze affecting parts of Southeast Asia.
