Air quality and health impacts of Indonesian forest fires

Environmental crises such as the extensive fires that occurred in Indonesia in the fall of 1997 require the development of accurate and timely information products for use by decision makers. These products are developed using a variety of environmental remote sensing systems and extensive use of geospatial analysis techniques. ERIM International (EI) developed products that characterized and tracked the smoke plumes generated by the Indonesian fires. Working in conjunction with NOAA, time series products were produced. New methods to ascertain quantitative estimates of smoke density and composition using remotely sensed techniques were also investigated.