Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian government is preparing to launch weather modification operations to extinguish forest and land fires that have scorched over 107,000 hectares.
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djamari Chaniago stated here on Monday that artificial rain generation is considered the most effective strategy for containing the widespread blazes across affected provinces.
“To create artificial rain, there is one requirement we must meet: we must find rain clouds. As long as rain clouds are absent, artificial rain cannot be generated,” Djamari said.
Weather modification operations involve flying specialized aircraft to spray salt compounds—such as sodium chloride—into target cloud formations.
The salt particles act as condensation nuclei, accelerating water droplet aggregation to trigger heavy precipitation directly over active fire zones.
Djamari noted that aerial monitoring teams have yet to detect sufficient cloud formations over target regions, but meteorologists anticipate favorable conditions within days.
“Based on current estimates leading up to August 18, there is a possibility of rain clouds forming over a three- to four-day window,” he noted, adding that cloud-seeding aircraft will be deployed immediately once suitable formations appear.
Containment efforts are currently addressing 107,000 hectares of burned land across both fire-prone and non-fire-prone areas.
Primary operations are concentrated in six high-risk provinces: Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and Riau.
Djamari stressed that the dry conditions and fire risks are intensified by a strong El Niño weather pattern, which is projected to persist until early October.
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Translator: Walda Marison, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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