Weather Modification, 4.8 Tons Of Salt Buried In Riau Sky To Overcome Forest And Land Fires

PEKANBARU - A total of 4.8 tons of salt salt has been sprinkled or smeared in Riau's skies with Weather Modification Technology (TMC) to make artificial rain overcome forest and land fires.

"The burial locations are in Bengkalis, Siak, Rokan Hilir, Pelalawan, Indragiri Hulu, Indragiri Hilir, Pekanbaru, and Meranti Islands," said Head of the Emergency Division of the Riau Province Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Jim Ghafur as reported by ANTARA, Monday, August 14.

TMC has been carried out six times since last Thursday (10/8). The seeding is done for three consecutive days and the location can change according to the conditions and potential of the cloud.

"Currently, 10.2 tons of salt is left to be sprinkled," added Jim.

In the last three days most areas in Riau Province have rained with moderate and heavy intensity.

As a result, there are currently four hotspots in Riau, namely in Indragiri Hulu Regency, Monday, August 14.

The most hotspots are currently recorded in South Sumatra Province with 47 points, followed by Bangka Belitung with 35 points, Lampung with eight points, Bengkulu with six points, Jambi with five points, Riau Islands with four points, and North Sumatra with two points.

While the atmosphere of Pekanbaru City was visible, Monday morning was foggy with air temperatures ranging from 23.0 to 33.0 degrees Celsius and humidity reached 55 to 99 percent.

However, the Coordinator of Data and Information of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency of Pekanbaru Station, Marzuki said the fog was a water vapor particle in the air.

"The fog that occurs is more dominated by water vapor with water particles. It doesn't come from smog," explained Marzuki.

Marzuki also said that the visibility in Pekanbaru City and its surroundings this afternoon reached 8 kilometers. According to him, if the visibility exceeds 5 kilometers, it indicates that the fog does not come from forest and land fire smoke.