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View all search resultsSmoke from Kalimantan fires reaches Jakarta skies
Satellite imagery from Himawari-9 captured on Friday showed smoke spreading across parts of Banten, Jakarta and West Java. The smoke was detected at an altitude of around 2 to 3 kilometers above the ground, according to the BMKG.
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Haze shrouds Jakarta on September 17, 2026. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
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moke from forest and land fires in Kalimantan has been detected in the atmosphere above Jakarta, although it has yet to reach ground level, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said on Friday, as firefighting efforts struggle to contain blazes across the country.
Satellite imagery from Himawari-9 captured at 8 a.m. showed smoke spreading across parts of Banten, Jakarta and West Java. The smoke was detected at an altitude of around 2 to 3 kilometers above the ground, according to the BMKG.
Alpon Sepriando, head of the agency’s satellite imagery analysis team, said differing wind patterns across atmospheric layers could carry smoke from Kalimantan toward Java.
Winds in the lower atmosphere were blowing from the east and southeast toward the west and northwest, while winds in the middle and upper atmosphere were moving from the northeast toward the southwest.
“The smoke has reached Jakarta, but it remains high in the atmosphere and has yet to reach the ground. If wind speeds weaken, however, it could descend to the surface as a thin layer,” Alpon said.
Read also: Regional fallout grows as Indonesia rejects disaster status
However, satellite detection alone does not establish whether smoke from the fires has increased pollution at ground level or how much it might contribute to Jakarta’s air quality.
