Peat fire in tropical peatland not only releases a large amount of carbon into the atmosphere, but also causes significant damage to peatland ecology and the landscape. It is important to understand peat fire and to establish more effective methods to control peat fire. In this paper, the results of field and laboratory research elucidate the combustion and thermal characteristics of peat fire. Field studies were carried out at 9 study plots in actual peat fire areas along the Trans Kalimantan Highway of Central Kalimantan in 2002. Laboratory analyses using a bomb calorimeter and TG-DTA were carried out to obtain low and high ignition temperatures and calorific values of various peat fire fuels. Results of field studies on weather conditions, temperatures in peat layers during fire, patterns of peat fire fronts, peat fire spreading speeds, fuel composition, moisture contents and fuel losses during fires are described in this paper. This study clarified the nature of fire movement and the smoldering process in an actual peat fire in tropical peatland. Based on our results, a more effective method for controlling peat fire can be developed. Miyanishi (2001) elucidated the processes of smoldering combustion and pyrolysis in a shallow duff layer with a numerical simulation model. The results of numerical simulation showed that both pyrolytic and oxidative degradation of duff occur down to a depth of about 1 cm and that only endothermic pyrolysis occurs below that depth due to a lack of oxygen.The results of the studies mentioned above give an excellent overview of similar aspects of peat fire processes in tropical peatland. In spite of the very different climate, peat material and social economical conditions in which peat fires occur, there are some common physical factors that play major roles in determining the incidence and propagation of peat fires. These factors are the main subject of this paper.The aim of this study is to clarify the physical aspects of peat fire characteristics in tropical peatland of Central Kalimantan, including the weather in the dry season, peat combustion properties and characteristics of fuel materials. STUDY SITES AND METHODS Study sitesAs shown in Fig 1, Nine study plots along the highway were selected for field observations of wildfire in peatland during the dry season in 2002.The wildfires in each plot were caused independently. The distances between plots ranged from about 1 to 30 km.The depths of the peat layer at the nine plots were about 1-3 m ( RePPProT, 1990).
The original objective of theMega Rice Project (MRP) in CentralKalimantan, Indonesia – to convert onemillion hectares of tropical swamp forest to paddy fields – instead produced large areas of abandoned farmland with bare peat subject to frequent fires. To understand how peat fire occurrence is related to drought, we analyzed 1997 to 2007 United States Department Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hotspot data, sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, and weather data. We found that peat fire activity was proportional to drought severity as determined by SST anomalies, and that peat fires – the number of hotspots – correlated strongly with SST anomalies, implying that MRP area peat fires are related to peat dryness. Surface fires start when ground water levels (GWL) are about 20 cm below the ground surface, and hundreds of such fires can occur with deeper GWL. A detailed and precise hotspot distribution map showed that large MRP areas (Blocks A and C) located on deep peat layers have high fire density due to ongoing human disturbance, classifying MRP area peat fires as a man-made disaster.
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Until 2018, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was used as an explanation for fires in Indonesia’s peatlands. However, when the 2019 fires occurred independently of El Niño, more suitable indicators and methods were required to (a) analyze, (b) evaluate and (c) forecast peatland fires. In this study, we introduced the OLR–MC index—one of the rain-related indices derived from OLR (outgoing longwave radiation) in MC (maritime continent) area in Indonesia. This index showed stronger correlation with active peatland fires than the conventional ENSO index, and is likely to be able to respond to heat and dry weather supposed to be under climate-change conditions. We then analyzed peatland fires in the top six fire years from 2002 to 2018 and showed that peatland fires occurred in three stages—surface fire, shallow peatland fire and deep peatland fire. To explain each stage, we proposed a one-dimensional groundwater level (GWL) prediction model (named as MODEL-0). MODEL-0 predicts GWL from daily rainfall. Analysis using MODEL-0 showed the GWL thresholds for the three fire stages were between -300 mm and -500 mm; peatland fire activities during the three fire stages were dependent on these GWL values. The validity of MODEL-0 was shown by comparison with the measured values of GWL in the top three fire years.
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