Climatology Station officer from the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) Yanuar Henry Pribadi stated here on Wednesday that based on monitoring by the Himawari weather satellite, the smoke, which spread on October 27 at 11:30 p.m. local time, was still seen covering parts of the Sumatran region.
The thick smoke has not yet reached Java Island though only a thin layer of smog is now visible at an altitude of about 10 kilometers over the northern Banten waters.
"The smoke had reached North Banten waters but is still relatively thin. There is a high possibility of it reaching Tangerang area and is not likely to settle downwards," Yanuar affirmed.
Yanuar pointed out that the thin layer of smoke was due to the wind blowing in the opposite direction towards Singapore and Malaysia.
"The thick smoke is likely drifting towards Malaysia and Singapore, and there is only a thin layer of smog over Java Island," he reported.
Head of the Environment Agency of Tangerang City Dr Liza Puspadewi stated that thin smoke was visible in the southern city of Tangerang on Sunday morning.
However, the incident was only experienced briefly as the smoke was very thin and later disappeared.
Liza said her institution will soon notify the public to issue an early alert in anticipation of the spread of the smoke.
"Actually, it is not really that alarming as it is still very thin. So, it is still relatively safe," she noted.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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