ESTIMATION OF CARBON EMISSION IN THE EX-MEGA RICE PROJECT, INDONESIA BASED ON SAR SATELLITE IMAGES

This paper aims to estimate the extent of the burned area in ex-Mega Rice Project (MRP) (Block A and Block E), Central Kalimantan and quantify the carbon emission as a result of peat fires in this area. A Synthetic Aperture Radar TerraSAR-X image was the main input in this study. Pre-processing included radiometric calibration, geometric reprojection and speckle filtering (Gamma MAP 7 x 7 kernel size). Maximum Likelihood (ML) classification was used for classifying burned areas. The classification result was validated based on data from the Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership report (KFCP). The burned area in 2010 as estimated by the TerraSAR-X satellite image HH/HV polarization was 47.6113 km(2) (4761.13 ha). Main pollutants (carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC)) emissions were estimated based on an empirical equation. The average annual carbon releases into the atmosphere from this area were estimated to be 173,019.46 ton CO2, 11,388.62 ton CO, 1,149.81 ton PM10, 996.50 ton PM2.5 569.43 ton OC and 72.27 ton BC. This study suggests that the methodology proposed based on Earth Observation data can be used to locate burned areas in tropical environment and quantify carbon emissions.