One Tonne of Salt Sown in Aceh for Weather Modification Operation to Tackle Forest Fires

One tonne of salt has been sown in the skies over Aceh Barat and Nagan Raya districts as part of a Weather Modification Operation (OMC) to combat forest and land fires (karhutla). Acting Head of the Aceh Barat Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Teuku Ronal Nehdiansyah, stated in Meulaboh on Thursday that the operation is ongoing to help extinguish the fires. The latest mission (Sortie 1) was conducted by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in partnership with airline PT Semuwa Aviasi Mandiri, using a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX aircraft with registration PK-JVH. The aircraft took off at 14:52 local time and, after flying for approximately two hours, landed at 16:44 LT yesterday. The operation focused on blocking areas of potential fire clouds across the two districts. The salt seeding is intended to manage rainfall distribution to help control or extinguish the fires. The forest and land fires in Aceh Barat have already scorched 31.1 hectares.