Weather Modification Operation Held in Nusantara Capital City Airspace to Tackle Drought

To anticipate the impact of drought in the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) area and its surroundings, the IKN Authority, together with the Indonesian Air Force’s Dhomber Air Base in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, and the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), has conducted a weather modification operation (OMC) by dispersing sodium chloride (NaCl) salt into clouds that have the potential to produce rain. This effort is expected to increase rainfall while maintaining water availability and anticipating the emergence of hotspots that could trigger forest and land fires (karhutla).

Special Staff to the Head of the IKN Authority for Construction Management and Strategy, Danis Hidayat Sumadilaga, said on Friday (21/8) at the Dhomber Air Base Operations Base in Balikpapan that the measure was taken because East Kalimantan is currently facing a prolonged dry season. “We are currently experiencing a dry season. The impact of El Nino is not only in East Kalimantan, but throughout Indonesia, even throughout the world,” said Danis.

He assessed that this dry condition needs to be anticipated because it could affect the depletion of raw water availability. It could also increase the potential for hotspots to emerge in several areas. “What we need to anticipate is particularly related to water availability. That is why we are trying to carry out weather modification to simply increase the volume of surface water in the IKN area and its surroundings,” he said.

He revealed that the condition of water availability in the IKN area is still relatively good. However, a decline in water levels has begun to be seen in several water sources, including the Sepaku Semoi Reservoir or Dam, retention basins in the Central Government Core Area of IKN, and the Sepaku River intake. Therefore, the IKN Authority does not want to wait until conditions become more critical. The availability of clean water for the community can still be met, but anticipatory measures need to be taken early.

Commander of Dhomber Air Base Balikpapan, Colonel Pnb I Gusti Ngurah Sorga Laksana, said the aircraft was assigned to support the weather modification operation in East Kalimantan on 22-27 August 2026. In the implementation of the OMC, the IKN Authority received support from BMKG and the Indonesian Air Force. The aircraft used is a Cassa NC-212 from Air Squadron 4 at Abdulrachman Saleh Air Base, Malang, East Java.

“Today there is already one Cassa NC-212 aircraft from Air Squadron 4 at Abdulrachman Saleh Air Base, Malang, East Java, with a crew in accordance with orders to support weather modification operation activities from 22 August to 27 August,” said Gusti. He emphasised that personnel and equipment have been prepared; besides the aircraft, the material used in the operation is NaCl salt which will be dispersed into clouds under conditions that allow seeding.

“We have checked the readiness of the aircraft, and the salt is already at Dhomber Air Base. We are just waiting for the weather potential that was mentioned earlier,” he said. Gusti explained that the Cassa aircraft prepared for this operation is proven capable of flying for up to four hours and carrying NaCl salt with a capacity of around 800 kilograms in one flight. “We hope this operation can help the government, especially the IKN Authority and the East Kalimantan Provincial Government, deal with the current drought conditions,” he said.

Head of BMKG’s Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Meteorological Station in Sepinggan Balikpapan, Djoko Sumardiono, said East Kalimantan has had almost two weeks without rain. Thus, the main challenge of the OMC at present is the limited growth of clouds that can be seeded. “Clouds targeted by the OMC must have certain characteristics so that the seeding process can be carried out effectively,” he explained.

He said that based on weather monitoring on the day of the briefing, potential cloud growth was in the northern border area of East Kalimantan. However, the movement of clouds to the north meant that the OMC could not be carried out immediately. “The cloud development is on the northern border of East Kalimantan, but our mission would not be achieved if we carried out weather modification today,” he said.

According to Djoko, the success of the OMC depends heavily on atmospheric conditions and the availability of clouds that can be seeded. Historically, the success rate is around 30 percent. With the dry season causing relatively minimal cloud growth, the IKN Authority, BMKG, and the Indonesian Air Force have chosen to continue monitoring weather developments. Once potential clouds form and meet the requirements, the aircraft will be flown to disperse NaCl.

“This step is expected to increase the chance of rain in the IKN area and its surroundings, while maintaining surface water reserves and reducing the risk of drought and forest and land fires during the dry season period,” he concluded.