KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 353 hotspots have been detected in Kalimantan and another 113 in Sumatra, Indonesia that are expected to cause haze in several countries in the southern part of the Asean region.
In a statement today, Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) director-general, Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said the trajectory of the haze from Kalimantan would affect several states in east Malaysia.
He said this condition beginning today was expected to persist for several days.
"The Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) Model output has shown the forecasted haze trajectory for a period of 72 hours, starting from 0000 Coordinated Universal Time (8am) on Sept 30, until 0000 UTC (8am) on Oct 3.
"The trajectory of the haze from Kalimantan is expected to affect Kuching, Serian and Samarahan (in Sarawak) during the forecast period," he said.
However, Helmi said based on the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) reported the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 20 (NOAA-20) image satellite recorded, no hotspots for the High Confidence Level category were recorded in peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak.
"In Kalimantan, there were 353 hotspots detected, while in Sumatra, there were 113 hotspots," he said.
Meanwhile, according to ASMC, moderate to thick smoke plumes were observed originating from the hotspots detected in the southern part of Sumatra and were moving towards the northwest.
"Based on the latest satellite image (yesterday, Sept 30), scattered hotspots were detected in southern Kalimantan and Sumatra, while several hotspots were detected in Sulawesi, Java and Sunda Kecil Islands.
"In Kalimantan, moderate to thick smoke haze was observed in southern Kalimantan and most of central Kalimantan. Haze was also observed moving northeast and to east Kalimantan," he said.
ASMC said air quality stations in the southern and central parts of Sumatra, as well as in central Kalimantan, reported unhealthy air quality levels.