Jakarta (ANTARA) \u2014 Indonesia\u2019s National Disaster Mitigation Agency\n(BNPB) has reviewed and tightened its standard operating procedures\nafter residents reported finding dry ice that had fallen in a\nresidential area during weather-modification operations.<\/p>\n
Berton Panjaitan, acting head of BNPB\u2019s Centre for Disaster Data,\nInformation and Communication, said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the\nprocedures had been strengthened by installing special filters in the\ndispersal chute and breaking the dry ice into finer particles so that it\nwould evaporate in the air before reaching the ground.<\/p>\n
The technical review and adjustments are intended to ensure that\nweather-modification technology (OMC) using dry ice, or solid carbon\ndioxide at an extremely low temperature of minus 78.5 degrees Celsius,\ncan be used safely in efforts to disperse the build-up of haze from\nforest and land fires.<\/p>\n
He previously explained that dry ice is released from aircraft into\nan inversion layer at an altitude of 5,000\u20137,000 feet to trigger rapid\ncooling in the atmosphere. This is intended to push smoke trapped in the\nlower layer upwards, allowing it to spread over a wider area.<\/p>\n
BNPB said trials of the OMC technology had improved visibility. At\nSultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport in Palembang, South Sumatra, seeding\nwith dry-ice particles about three millimetres in size on 16 October\n2026 improved visibility compared with the previous day.<\/p>\n
The aerial operation, carried out in South Sumatra since 16 October\n2026, is a collaboration between BNPB, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and\nthe Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). It uses a\nCasa 212 aircraft, registration A-2117. The operation was officially\nexpanded to Central Kalimantan on 19 October 2026, using a Casa 212-200,\nregistration A-2107.<\/p>\n
The dry-ice technology complements the deployment of 49 aircraft\nnationwide: 32 for water bombing and 17 for patrols and weather\nmodification. The aerial response is also supported by more than 60,000\npersonnel on the ground across six priority provinces.<\/p>\n
The combined aerial and ground response, now subject to tighter\nprocedures, had extinguished fires across 454.25 hectares out of a total\ntarget area of 1,024.33 hectares as of 19 October 2026. The six priority\nprovinces are Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central\nKalimantan and South Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The area extinguished] has reached 454.25 hectares. The public is\nurged to continue wearing masks when outdoors and not to engage in\nactivities that could trigger forest fires, for everyone\u2019s safety,\u201d\nBerton said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bnpb-tightens-dry-ice-seeding-procedures-1792504305", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }