Can The Republic of Indonesia Depend on Weather Modification Technology Operations?

Photo by Uwe happened to Unsplash

JAKARTA - Physical and environmental geographer Dr. Mangapul Parlindungan Tambunan explained the chances of the government's successful operation of implementing weather modification technology or TMC to suppress extreme weather conditions.

As quoted in a university press release received in Depok, the lecturer in the geography study program at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia said that the application of TMC is to accelerate the process of rain occurring in the desired space.

Dr. Mangapul explained, sprinkling salt into the air by using a plane in the area specified in the TMC operation could speed up the occurrence of rain.

"The TMC operation is carried out by looking at the condition of the clouds before the rain occurs so that they can be shifted to the desired space, such as at sea, by looking at the calculation of the rain intensity that will occur in a certain space," he said, Wednesday, February 8, quoted by Antara.

According to him, the success of TMC's operations was influenced by wind conditions.

Dr. Mangapul also stated the role of human interpretation in the application of weather modification technology, which is related to the hydrological cycle in the atmosphere.

"When the clouds form, that's where human interpretation exists. When condensation occurs, that's where the clouds (salt) are sown so that rain occurs in the space we want," he said.

According to a press release from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), TMC has been implemented in Indonesian territory since 1977. Previously the TMC operation was referred to as an artificial rain operation.

"TMC operations have been tested in several countries until they are used today in Indonesia. The level of effectiveness of the TMC operation can be said to be 50 percent successful and 50 percent failed. This really depends on the wind," said Dr. Mangapul.​​​​​​​

He added, until now there have been no reports regarding the negative impact of TMC's operations.