Indonesia Drops 2.4 Tonnes of Dry Ice over South Sumatra to Disperse Haze; Visibility at Palembang Airport Improves to 3,000 Metres
JAKARTA — Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said on October 17 that it deployed 2.4 tonnes of dry ice over South Sumatra province on October 15-16 in a weather modification operation to disperse thick haze from forest and land fires.
Berton Panjaitan, acting head of BNPB's Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre, said in a statement that the two-day operation involved three flights totalling seven hours and three minutes, initially focusing on the area around Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport in Palembang, where thick haze had disrupted flights. Visibility at the airport improved from 1,000 metres to as much as 3,000 metres during the operation, though he said further research is needed to determine whether the improvement was caused by the dry ice or other weather factors. Dry ice is being tested as an alternative method to disperse haze by weakening the atmospheric conditions that trap smoke near the ground.
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said in a separate statement that smoke from forest and land fires briefly reached the atmosphere over Greater Jakarta on October 16 but had begun moving away on October 17, with no evidence of an impact on ground-level air quality. South Sumatra is among six provinces prioritised by Indonesia for forest and land fire prevention and response, with 189 high-confidence hotspots recorded in the province as of October 16.
Sources: BNPB; BMKG
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 南苏门答腊省 Palembang 的 Ampera 大桥与穆西河。Photo by Firzafp, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
