The weather modification is part of the efforts to prevent forest and land fires in Riau, as agreed during the Forest and Land Fire Handling Coordination Meeting last week.
BNPB's Head of Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Center, Abdul Muhari, stated here on Thursday that the operations are being supported by the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU).
He explained that the BNPB has readied helicopters for waterbombing. Meanwhile, BMKG provides data and information based on satellite technology, and TNI AU is responsible for securing strategic military areas.
Muhari stated that in the first phase of operations, a Caravan aircraft was readied to wet peatlands and replenish water reservoirs.
"The total flight hours in phase I reached 15 hours and 12 minutes, with a total of 5.6 tons of sodium chloride used as seeding material," he explained.
According to Muhari, the decision to extend weather modification operations for another five days was based on the potential of rain clouds to optimize efforts to moisten the land.
As of Wednesday, monitoring indicated no forest or land fires in Riau Province, and no hotspots of potential fires were detected in vulnerable areas.
The BMKG forecasts suggest that Riau will continue to experience moderate to high intensity rainfall on Thursday.
The government has declared a forest and land fire emergency status in Riau Province from April through November or December this year.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Raka Adji
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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