Anthropogenic and climatic influences on biomass burning in Insular Southeast Asia

In this paper, we use the MODIS thermal anomaly product (hotspots data) to study the temporal and spatial patterns of vegetation fires in the western part of Insular Southeast Asia for a decade from 2001 to 2010. Fire occurrence exhibits a negative correlation with rainfall, and is more severe overall during the El-Nino periods. However, not all regions are equally affected by El-Nino. In Southern Sumatra and Southern Borneo the correlation with El-Nino is high. However, fires in some regions such as Riau and Jambi in the central part of Sumatra do not appear to be influenced by El-Nino. These regions are also experiencing rapid conversion of forest, especially those in peat areas, to large scale plantations.