The government is preparing a weather modification plan involving salt seeding to check the growth of rain clouds and suppress extreme weather that is expected to occur on December 28, 2022, in Jakarta.
The weather forecast is based on data conveyed by a researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).
“We will try to modify the weather with a competition pattern, which is burning salt-seeding material to disrupt cloud growth. This is done by adding main condensation,” acting head of the Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) of Jakarta, Isnawa Adji, said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He informed that salt seeding is one of the schemes of the weather modification technique (TMC).
Jakarta BPBD coordinated with Air Wings 1 Squadron 2 of the Indonesian Air Force, BRIN, and National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base, East Jakarta, on Tuesday regarding the weather modification.
Based on this coordination, the Indonesian Air Force prepared several types of aircraft, including the CN-212 aircraft, which can carry 800 kilograms of salt-seeding material and release it using manual deployment techniques.
Meanwhile, the Cassa aircraft type can carry 2.4 tons of salt and it takes two hours to prepare the salt-seeding material, while the Hercules aircraft type can take a minimum of 5 tons of seeding material.
Adji said that TMC would only be effective starting in the morning until around 5 p.m. local time, with effective results occurring within the succeeding 4–15 hours.
Even so, TMC can only be implemented in Jakarta if the regional head declares an emergency alert status, he added.
“Regarding this, BNPB stated its readiness to carry out the TMC assisted by the Air Force, BRIN, and BMKG,” Adji said.
Meanwhile, Jakarta BPBD is also preparing to face potential hydrometeorological disasters by carrying out a number of efforts, including establishing flood mitigation supporting facilities and infrastructure in each flood-prone urban village, he informed.
In addition, the agency has ensured the readiness of disaster preparedness posts and evacuation sites along with supporting equipment at the administrative city/district, sub-district, and urban village levels, and asked that they be kept on standby and activated when a disaster occurs.
Jakarta BPBD has alerted 267 disaster mitigation personnel/TRC in all urban villages in Jakarta to accelerate disaster coordination and mitigation.
Earlier, BRIN’s climatology researcher Dr. Erma Yulihastin, via her personal Twitter @EYulihastin, informed of the potential for extreme rain and storms, based on data from the satellite-based disaster early warning system called Sadewa.
“People who live in Greater Jakarta and especially Tangerang or Banten, please be prepared for extreme rain and storms on December 28, 2022,” she wrote on her Twitter account.
Storms from the sea will move toward land through two routes, namely from the west through westerly winds that bring rainstorms from the sea and from the north through strong surface winds.
Based on the early warning, Banten, Jakarta, and Bekasi areas will be the central locations for the storm, which is expected to last from noon until the evening of December 28, she said.
Source: Antara News