Indonesian military launches multi-aircraft cloud-seeding to combat Kalimantan fires
The Indonesian armed forces deployed three aircraft on Oct. 25 to seed clouds with salt and dry ice over fire-hit areas of Kalimantan, aiming to generate artificial rain.
On Sunday, Oct. 25, the TNI dispatched a C-130 Hercules, a CN-295 and a Cassa-212 to spray over 10 tons of salt and dry ice over the fire-stricken regions of Kalimantan, seeking to trigger artificial rain. The Hercules delivered 4.8 tons of salt, the CN-295 2 tons, while the Cassa-212 completed five sorties with 622 kg of salt and 2.7 tons of dry ice. Military officials hope the induced rainfall will help suppress ongoing forest and peatland fires.
This effort follows a presidential order from Prabowo Subianto and builds on a prior Oct. 20 mission that used a Hercules carrying 2.6 tons of dry ice and 7 tons of salt from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base. In addition, a Super Puma helicopter from Air Squadron 6 has been on standby near Mount Lawu in Central Java since Oct. 21 to conduct targeted water-bombing and monitor new hotspots.
Why it matters
Artificial rain could curb deadly forest fires threatening lives and ecosystems in Indonesia.
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