BNPB explains how dry ice could help tackle haze from forest and land fires
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has explained the benefits and mechanism of dry-ice seeding, which is being trialled to tackle dense haze caused by forest and land fires.
Berton SP Panjaitan, acting head of BNPB’s Centre for Data, Information and Disaster Communication, said in Jakarta on Thursday that dry-ice seeding is a specialised atmospheric-modification technique designed to reduce concentrations of pollution and dense smoke without relying on the availability of rain clouds.
South Sumatra, one of six priority provinces grappling with dense smoke from fires on peat and mineral land, is the first target area for BNPB’s trial of the applied technology.
He explained that during forest and land fires, dense smoke is often trapped in the lower atmosphere by an inversion layer. Unlike normal conditions, in which air temperatures fall at higher altitudes, an inversion makes the atmosphere relatively stable, preventing smoke particles from rising easily.
BNPB says the dry-ice seeding method uses pellets about three millimetres in size, with temperatures reaching minus 75 degrees Celsius, to help destabilise the atmosphere.
As a result, he said, trapped smoke can be driven upwards and dispersed over a wider area, reducing its concentration and gradually improving visibility.
He said the technique differs from the use of salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), which is generally supplied as a fine powder and commonly used to trigger rainfall.
On the first day of the operation, Thursday, the team conducted two sorties, each carrying 800 kilogrammes of seeding material at an altitude of around 4,500 feet.
The seeding was focused around the area immediately surrounding Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport to ease disruption to air traffic in South Sumatra.
According to preliminary reports received by BNPB, the trial has shown positive results, with visibility rising from a low of about 650 metres to as much as 2,800 metres.
“The dry-ice weather-modification trial is scheduled to continue until 18 October 2026,” he said.
He said that after the trial ends, BNPB will conduct a comprehensive evaluation and further coordination with relevant parties to consider whether the same method could be used in other areas affected by forest and land fires.