Singapore Affected by Severe Transboundary Smoke Haze in June 2013

Between June and early October the Southeast Asian region experiences the Southwest Monsoon season, with the low level prevailing winds generally blowing from the southeast or southwest. This is also the traditional dry season in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and southern Thailand During the Southwest Monsoon season, smoke haze that originates from widespread land and forest fires is a perennial problem that affects many areas of southern Southeast Asia. Most of these fires are due to land-clearing activities in some parts of the region. The resulting smoke is blown by the prevailing winds towards other parts of the region including Singapore, and is visible as moderate to dense haze. The smoke haze episodes affecting the region were particularly severe during the El Nio years in 1994, 1997 and 2006.

Fig 1: Daily 24-hr PSI values recorded in Singapore from 2009 to 2013(up to 31 Jul 2013)

Over a two-week period in June 2013, Singapore and its surrounding region were blanketed by transboundary smoke haze from fires in the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Many of the fires occurred on peatlands along the eastern areas of central Sumatra. In Singapore, the 24-hr Pollutant Standard Index1 (PSI) reached a record high of 246 on 22 June 2013, making this the worst transboundary smoke haze occurrence ever experienced in Singapore. The haze episode was exceptional for both its severity and timing. It occurred in the month of June during a non-El Nio year. In past years, significant transboundary smoke haze usually affected Singapore in September and October (Fig. 1).

The Singapore National Environment Agency (NEA) adopts the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) developed by the USEPA. The index is based on the highest 24-hour concentration of five air pollutants including particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10). Based on the 24-hr PSI value, the air quality is categorised as Good (PSI 50), Moderate (PSI: 51-100), Unhealthy (PSI: 101-200), Very Unhealthy (PSI: 201-300) and Hazardous (PSI above 300). During occurrences of transboundary smoke haze, PM10 is usually the dominant pollutant in Singapore.

In the second week of June 2013, drier atmospheric conditions prevailed across large parts of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and Singapore (Fig. 2). The 850hPa monthly mean winds showed a belt of anomalous westerly winds over the equatorial region of Southeast Asia (Fig. 3). The westerly winds were further strengthened by the presence of two tropical storms in the South China Sea on 17 23 June 2013. The extended dry weather coupled with the westerly winds provided the conditions for the escalation in fire hotspots mainly in central Sumatra to be blown towards Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia.

Fig 2: Relative Humidity at 700hPa (17 22 June 13) over the southern ASEAN (NCEP Reanalysis data)

Fig 3: 850hPa monthly mean wind for June 2013

Fig 4: NOAA-18 satellite Image on 14 June 2013 at 0848UTC (left) and 16 June 2013 at 0826UTC (right) showing hotspots (with smoke plumes) and haze over central Sumatra. Singapore experienced slightly hazy conditions on these days.

Singapore started to experience slightly hazy conditions between 13 and 16 June 2013 (Fig. 4), and the 24-hr PSI was in the moderate range during this period. However, the hazy conditions deteriorated rapidly from 17 June 2013, with an escalation in the number of hotspots2 over Sumatra and a strengthening in the prevailing westerly winds which blew dense haze from the fires in Sumatra toward Singapore (Figs. 5 and 6). The 24-hr PSI between 17 and 23 June 2013 was in the unhealthy to very unhealthy range. As a tropical storm in the South China Sea made landfall over
2

A hotspot corresponds to a pixel of an infrared satellite image that contains the spectral signature of high temperature bodies on the ground such as land fires.

Hanoi, the low level winds over Singapore shifted to blow from the south-southwest and southsoutheast on 24 June 2013. This shift in the wind direction brought an improvement to the haze situation in Singapore from 25 June 2013. However, the haze situation over southern Peninsular Malaysia started to worsen as the dense haze that had earlier affected Singapore was blown northward (Fig. 7). At around the same time, more rain clouds started to develop over the region including Sumatra. The rain helped to subdue the fires in central Sumatra, leading to an improvement to the overall haze situation in the region over the next several days (Fig. 8).

Fig 5: NOAA-18 satellite image on 18 June 2013 at 0805UTC showing widespread hotspots over central Sumatra and dense smoke haze enveloping parts of the region including Singapore

Fig 6: NOAA-18 satellite image on 22 June 2013 at 0900UTC showing dense smoke haze continued to linger over Singapore and the surrounding region

Fig 7: NOAA-18 satellite image on 25 June 2013 at 0826UTC showing the northward movement of dense smoke haze northward to Peninsular Malaysia while the situation in Singapore started to improve

Fig 8: NOAA-18 satellite image on 26 June 2013 at 0805UTC showing the development of more rain clouds over Sumatra that helped to subdue the hotspots there

During the severe haze event in June 2013, the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) monitored the regional weather and haze situation and issued haze advisories to both local and regional users. On the regional front, MSS hosts the ASEAN3 Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) which was established in 1993 to help enhance the capacity of the region in weather and climate prediction. In 1997 the ASMC was designated to provide advisories and alerts of
3

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

transboundary smoke haze affecting any part of the region. MSS/ASMC monitors and assesses the regional haze situation using polar orbiting satellites (NOAA-18/19, NASA Terra and Aqua) and geostationary satellites (MTSAT, Feng-Yun), data from regional air quality stations, wind profiler, and a suite of NWP and atmospheric dispersion models. During the severe haze in June 2013, the ASMC activated its regional haze warning system which is based on three levels of alerts4. It also provides on its website (http://www.weather.gov.sg/wip/web/ASMC) up-to-date satellite images, regional haze map showing hotspot and smoke haze areas, hotspot count charts as well as wind forecasts from NWP modes for users across the region (Fig. 9).

Fig 9: Products available on the ASMC website. From top left to bottom right: Regional Haze map, Regional PM10 concentrations, Regional Rainfall chart and Hotspot count chart.

Apart from its regional role, MSS supports its parent agency NEA in issuing haze advisories and alerts to the public in Singapore. When the haze situation deteriorated in June 2013, NEA commenced hourly updates of the 24-hr PSI and PM2.5 concentration values, to give the public prompt updates on the latest haze conditions. Daily media briefings were also conducted. NEA worked with other government agencies to issue the daily weather and air quality forecast as well as a comprehensive health advisory to help members of the public and workers plan their daily activities based on the 24-hr PSI and 24-hr PM2.5 levels. A haze microsite (www.haze.gov.sg) was also launched to keep the public better informed on the latest haze situation (Fig. 10). The microsite serves as a one-stop channel for haze related information.

ASMCs haze warning system comprises three Alert Levels: Alert Level 1 signifies the start of the dry season; Level 2 is activated when 150 hotspots or more are detected on two consecutive days, with dry weather conditions persisting and prevailing winds blowing towards other ASEAN member countries. Alert Level 3 is when there are 250 hotspots or more detected on two consecutive days with dry weather conditions persisting and prevailing winds blowing towards other ASEAN member countries.

Fig 10: The National Environment Agencys Haze microsite serves as a one-stop channel for haze related information.

With two more months before the end of the traditional dry season in early October, Singapore is still susceptible to the occurrence of transboundary smoke haze from fires in the region. The lessons learnt and enhanced measures and plans put in place during the latest haze episode will improve our national response to future occurrences of severe haze.