Effects of Groundwater Level on the Occurrence of Forest and Peatland Fires: A Case of Study in Musi Banyuasin Regency

Ground water level (GWL ) is one of the indicator s to predict potential fires o n peatlands. O ther factors, such as rainfall and hotspots, c ould also trigger peatland and forest fires . Th is study aimed to analyze the relationship between  rainfall GWL, rainfall , and hotspots as  indicators of forest and land fires in Musi Banyuasin Regency , South Sumatra Province . The GWL data, hotspot distribution , rainfall data were processed using ArcGIS 10.6 software . Pearson bivariate correlation test was performed to determine the relationship between GWL , hotspot distribution, and rainfall. The results showed a decrease in rainfall, followed by an increase in hotspots, particularly during the dry season. The lowest rainfall and GWL occu r r ed in July – August 2018. The increase in rainfall wa s not followed by the GWL increase that reflect ed a degraded and dry peatland condition, which could cause a decrease of peat ability to absorb and store water properly.  The results also showed an inverse relationship between hotspots and GWL, which means that a decrease in the GWL will follow the increase in hotspots and vice versa.  This explains that the increase of hotspots contributed to a drought on the GWL of the peat lands . Keywords: ground water level, forest fire, hotspot, Musi Banyuasin, peatland, rainfall