Tropical peatland fires in Indonesia, intensified during El Niño-related droughts, severely impact air quality. This study uses a network of low-cost sensors in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, during the 2019 fire season to quantify extreme air quality and city-scale variability, demonstrating relatively strong model performance compared to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) model. The findings reveal substantial health impacts, estimating over 1200 excess deaths in Palangka Raya, over 3200 in Central Kalimantan, and more than 87,000 nationwide in 2019 due to fire-induced PM2.5 exposure. The research highlights the urgent need for mitigation efforts, including fire prevention and landscape remediation.

Mark J. Grosvenor, Vissia Ardiyani, Martin J. Wooster, Stefan Gillott, David C. Green, Puji Lestari, Wiranda Suri