Why was the sky red in Jambi during the forest fire?

Abstract

Abstract Extreme biomass burning occurred in Jambi, Indonesia, in 2019 and coincided exacerbated with El Nino. Peak burning season was in September, with a total hotspot of 7034. Red sky has been reported on September 21 during the day. Sun photometer measurements in Jambi as one of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) stations in Indonesia from 1 to September 26, 2019, were used to investigate the red sky phenomenon. Assessment of aerosol optical properties and spectral variation analysis is conducted. The study reveals that the red sky occurred due to, firstly, very high aerosol loading with fine size particles were present. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) was 0.34 at 500 nm on a non-hazy day (early September) and increased sharply to 5.74 during a hazy day. A high level of fine-mode particle was indicated with Angstrom Exponent>1. Secondly, during September 23, only longer wavelengths of AOD were measured at 675, 870, 1020, and 1640 nm, while AOD in shorter wavelengths cannot be retrieved. Highest AOD on September 23 was 6.19 at 675 nm, which is associated with the red sky in the previous day. Thirdly, SSA was near 1, indicating purely aerosol scattering due to coagulated fine-mode particles due to high humidity.