ESA - Observing the Earth - Envisat focuses on carbon-rich peat swamp forest fires

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Envisat focuses on carbon-rich peat swamp forest fires

6 August 2003

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Burning peat swamps in Kalimantan, Borneo. ESA-led research has established that when these peat swamps - formed over thousands of years - start to smoulder, they release vast quantities of carbon. Multiple Envisat sensors have been used to study the 2002 fires.

Credits: Dr Florian Siegert/Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH

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This TERRA-MODIS image acquired 19 August 2002 shows thick haze across Central Kalimantan and spreading across the entire island of Borneo. Multiple Envisat instruments were also used during the fires to peer beneath the smoke and spot individual hotspots.

Credits: NASA

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A comparison of three different Envisat sensors. Top, a MERIS reduced resolution image showing smoke plumes. Middle, this AATSR night time acquisition identifies fire hotspots in red. Bottom: an ASAR wide swath image used to chart fire damage.

Credits: ESA/Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH

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A scene of total devastation after peat swamp fires in East Kilamantan, Borneo. In the fires of 2002 some 20 to 30 cm of peat was burnt off, releasing millions of extra tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. It is a characteristic of such fires that almost all the trees get killed but most of the other above ground biomass remains unburnt.

Credits: Dr Florian Siegert

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This a multitemporal picture created by combining two wide swath ASAR images taken 28 September and 7 December 2002. Rainy conditions during the latter acquistion have been shown to impede burnt scar detection, but nevertheless burnt scars are visible in yellow to bright orange; their location cross-checked against a Landsat image. Dark orange colours next to rivers indicate changes in water level between the two acquisitions, and related visibility of swamp vegetation.

Credits: Dr Florian Siegert/Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH

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