Lapan Sees 608 Hotspots across Indonesia; Kalimantan Has the Most

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan) releases on its website today, August 8 that there are 608 hotspots across Indonesia, which could become an early indication of wildfire.

It reports that 26 of those hotspots are in the low category, 409 hotspots in the medium category, and the rest 173 hotspots in the high category. The hotspots are detected by Terra, Aqua, SNPP, and NOAA 20 satellites operated by the institute. 

According to Lapan’s remote-sensing unit deputy, the number of hotspots is not in line with the number of wildfire incidents, yet it may show such an incident in an area. To date, the satellite data remains the most effective measure to monitor the land and forest fires for a broad area.

Furthermore, based on Environment and Forestry Ministry’s wildfire monitoring system SiPongi, the number of hotspots in West Kalimantan for the past week highly increased to 183, from previously 32 hotspots.

The data made West Kalimantan as the region with the most hotspots, followed by Riau that has 141 hotspots per Wednesday, August 7, up from last week’s 79 hotspots.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo previously expressed his disappointment over the increasing number of hotspots in Indonesia during a meeting on Tuesday, August 6. He then gave a firm warning for governors, mayors, police chiefs, and military commanders to prevent the 2015 wildfire incidents from recurrence.

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