All of Sumatra regions share hot-spots

Antara 24 Mar 12;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - NOAA-18 Satellite operated by Singapore managed to detect 114 hot-spots throughout Sumatra island, analyst of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of the Pekanbaru Meteorological Station Marzuki said here Friday.

He said the number of hot-spots is dominated by Riau province with 42 spots, followed by the provinces of Jambi with 22 spots, South Sumatra 14, North Sumatra 10, West Sumatra 7, Bengkulu 6, Aceh 5, Lampung and Bangka Belitung three each, and Riau Islands only two spots.

"Actually the number of hot-spots this time is less than those on Wednesday (Mar 21), where Sumatra had 169 hot-spots," he said.

However, the spread of the hot-spots, Marzuki said, was not even like at present. "Some of the provinces where hot-spots have just appeared are Bangka Belitung, Riau Islands and Jambi," he said.

He said the number of hot-spots in March 2012 may be growing rather rapidly in view of an interruption in the position of the sun now exactly on the equator.

"This condition raised the temperature in Sumatra triggering the appearance of hot-spots in many places," he said.
(KR-FZR)

Editor: Ella Syafputri

BMKG detects drop in number of hot spots in w Sumatra
Antara 27 Mar 12;

Padang, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The Ketaping Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in West Sumatra said that in the last week there had been a drop in the number of hot spots in the area monitored by the satellite.

Head of the Padang BMKG Observation and Information Section Syafrizal said in Padang on Sunday that through the NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric) satellite there are still hot spots in West Sumatra but their number has reduced than those a week ago.

"The hot spots are still monitored in Pesisir Selatan subdistrict, Sijunjung and Pasaman regencies," Syafrizal said.

He said there were a total of five hot spots monitored in the three areas namely in Pesisir Selatan regency two, another two in Sijunjung regency and one in Pasaman regency.

In this context, data of the BMKG show that the number of hot spots had declined rapidly, because in Mar 23, 2012 there were still 23 of them, but in the two following days the number has dropped drastically to five hot spots.

The number of hot spots in West Sumatra is also less than those in Riau province with seven shot spots, and previously there were 40 of them.

BMKG said that while there are still hot spots in West Sumatra, they did not disrupt land and air transportation in the area because of smoke.

In this context, there are still hot spots in the area, and the BMKG also cannot be sure the hot spots were caused by forest fires or by the people who set fire on land to open it.

However, due to the high temperature in the area in the last couple of days reaching 32 degrees Celsius, BMKG still warned the people to stay alert for the possibility of fire.

"In the next few days the weather in West Sumatra may be hot with the temperature of not higher than 32 degrees Celsius, which is actually still normal," Syafrizal said.

(H-NG)

Editor: Ella Syafputri