Evaluation of the 1998 forest fires in East-Kalimantan (Indonesia) using NOAA-AVHRR hotspot data and multitemporal ERS-2 SAR images

In spring 1998 fires have devastated large areas of tropical rainforests in Kalimantan Timur on the island of Borneo in Indonesia. The authors report on results of the synergistic use of NOAA-AVHRR and multitemporal ERS-2 SAR data to analyze this disaster. Using a temporal sequence of more than 150 NOAA-AVHRR hotspot data sets acquired from January to April 1998 and a multitemporal series of 6 ERS-2 scenes they were able to map the burned area and trace the origins of some fires. By establishing a relation between hotspot density distribution and burned scars detected in multitemporal ERS images they were able to roughly estimate the burned area for the whole province. According to this NOAA-AVHRR based projection the total area severely affected by fire in Kalimantan Timur alone is approximately 4 mil. Ha