earthobservatory NASA

Every January through March, vast numbers of small fires spring up across the countryside in Southeast Asia. Those months usually bring cool, dry weather—perfect conditions for burning.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured data (above) showing the locations of hundreds of fires burning in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma) on February 3, 2018. Each red dot on the map depicts one fire detection from the VIIRS 750-meter active fire data product. (Note that there is also a 375-meter active fire data product that detects more fires, but the 750-meter product is the basis for this useful mapping tool.)

On that day, there were significantly more fires in Cambodia than in neighboring countries. VIIRS detected 1,868 hot spots in Cambodia, 185 in Laos, 77 in Myanmar, 217 in Thailand, and 114 in Vietnam. The large number of fires in Cambodia were the most VIIRS has observed on a single day in 2018. The pattern is consistent with recent years: As depicted in the map below, the instrument has detected four-to-five times as many fires in northern Cambodia as it did in Vietnam and Thailand between August 2016 and February 2018. Northern Laos also had a relatively high number of fires. Tiếp tục đọc “Fire season in Southeast Asia” →