Indonesia hopes to slow spread of wildfires by seeding clouds

From the Jarkarta Post:

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“The delayed arrival of two aircraft had postponed planned weather modification to extinguish land and forest fires in Riau, an official said Monday.

Pekanbaru’s Roesmin Nurjadin Airbase commander Col. M. Khairil Lubis said the two planes, which had been specially modified for cloud seeding, scheduled to start on March 1 had arrived late due to delayed administrative procedures.

“Based on the latest information from the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology [BPPT], the Cassa 212 planes owned by Pelita Air will depart for Pekanbaru today,” Khairil said after the launch of the Haze Disaster and Forest Fire Alert Operation at the Riau Governor’s office.

“The Indonesian Air Force will also deploy a CN-295 aircraft, or a Hercules plane for the same purpose,” he added.

“The cloud formation to the north of Riau is better now than a few weeks ago.

“The moment the planes arrive, cloud seeding will begin. The Hercules is able to carry three tons of salt each sortie, while the CN-295 and Cassa can haul two tons and a ton respectively,” he said.

“For the time being, aerial firefighting relies on water bombing using two helicopters from PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper and Sinarmas Forestry. The aerial firefighting has been ongoing for the past two weeks in Bengkalis, Pelalawan and Meranti Islands regencies,” said Khairil.

He pointed out that the Indonesian Military (TNI) had been very supportive of firefighting efforts in Riau.

“Besides soldiers, we have also deployed our weaponry, including fighter jets, to support operations. The Hawk 100/200 fighter jets based at Roesmin Nurjadin Airbase have been involved in patrols and photographing hot spots from the air since early February,” he said…”