Why Weather Modification Cannot Yet Be Used to Extinguish Mount Bromo Fires, Ministry Explains

The Ministry of Forestry has stated that weather modification operations (OMC) to assist in extinguishing forest and land fires in the Mount Bromo area of East Java cannot yet be implemented. This is because the convective clouds required for the operation have not formed over the Bromo region. OMC is an intervention to increase the potential for rain by seeding clouds with sodium chloride (NaCl) using specialised aircraft, based on scientific data. The operation involves a team of experts from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), and the Indonesian Air Force.

“We have actually considered weather modification, but according to the BMKG, it will not be possible for at least the next 10 days because the convective clouds needed for OMC have not yet formed,” said the Director General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation at the Ministry of Forestry, Satyawan Pudyatmoko, at the Angke Nature Tourism Park in Jakarta on Monday (10/8/2026).

He explained that the fire in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) area has been ongoing for several days, since at least Tuesday (4/8/2026), and the hotspots have not yet been fully extinguished. The TNBTS Centre, as the technical implementation unit of the Ministry of Forestry in East Java, has recorded that the affected area has now reached 520 hectares, with data collection still underway.

According to him, the latest field observations indicate that difficult land access to reach the fire spots has forced the management to focus on a combined strategy of ground troops and water bombing. “Our approach is a combination of ground forces and water bombing. Just yesterday, there were 30 water bombing sorties. However, the difficult terrain, strong winds, and very low humidity make firefighting efforts challenging,” he said.