The new control centre will delve deeper into the haze problem and plug current gaps in making proper predictions. - ST FILE
SINGAPORE: The Republic has been chosen to house South-East Asia’s control centre for forest fires and smoke pollution in a bid to help the region better forecast transboundary haze.
The aim of the regional centre is to provide more accurate haze forecasts so that governments and people can take precautions well in advance and prepare for unhealthy air.
Singapore is already home to the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) that not only has haze monitoring capabilities, but also focuses on weather forecasts and climate-related tools for the region.
The new Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre for Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution forecasts – which became operational in September – is an initiative by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
It is one of only two such centres in the world. It will delve deeper into the haze problem and plug current gaps in making proper predictions, said ASMC director Koh Li-Na on the sidelines of the ASMC-WMO regional forum on Wednesday (Sept 4).
Both the ASMC and the new centre are hosted by the Meteorological Service Singapore.
Said Ms Koh: “If we look at how we do a forecast today, we look at the satellite imagery and we try to identify where the hot spots are. But if you have very dense cloud cover, it’s harder to observe and give a forecast.”
Some hot spots detected through satellites may also not be forest fires, she noted, and this is where the new centre comes in, providing alternative tools and technologies.
“If we cannot take a direct observation, are there products out there that can help us to process the image, model the winds and model the (smoke) dispersion better? So that minimally, we can get a better understanding of what could be happening (with) a haze situation,” she added.
To that end, the new centre developed modelling capabilities to predict how smoke from forest fires in Sumatra, for example, will disperse through the atmosphere, showing which countries are likely to be hit by haze.
The centre can also glean more information on fire activity and the concentration of pollutants coming from forest fires in the region.
Singapore’s designation as the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre for Vegetation Fire and Smoke Pollution forecasts was announced by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu on Sept 4 at the three-day forum.
Canada is the only other country to have such a centre, since it is wildfire-prone. Both Singapore and Canada were assigned in June during the WMO executive council’s 78th session in Geneva.
The new centre aims to provide information to support decision-making in emergency response, environmental protection, public health management, fire management and law enforcement, said Fu, speaking at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
The data provided by the centre – which includes haze dispersal forecasts, satellite images and hotspots, as well as fire risk – is available on the website www.mss-int.sg/vfsp-was
Koh said that hosting the centre brings WMO’s attention and expertise to South-east Asia, while drawing regional players from the haze management ecosystem together. The Malaysian meteorological department, for example, contributes to the website by providing data about fire risk in the region.
“Forest fires is a real concern for this region... What WMO can bring to us will be their connections, networks – and they have links with modelling centres internationally,” she said.
There is low risk of transboundary haze affecting Singapore and the region in 2024, as wetter weather is expected with the La Nina climate phenomenon set to return, according to an outlook report by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
Singapore had a brief haze episode over two days in October 2023.
On the new centre, Associate Professor Steve Yim from the Asian School of the Environment at NTU said: “The centre may provide ASMC with more real-time and detailed data for monitoring and forecasting... to facilitate the cooperation between governments to mitigate or even prevent the occurrence of transboundary haze.” - The Straits Times/ANN
