Indonesia drops 2.4 tonnes of dry ice over South Sumatra in bid to disperse haze

Jakarta, October 17 — Indonesia has successfully deployed 2.4 tonnes of dry ice over South Sumatra over the course of two days in an attempt to disperse a thick haze caused by forest and land fires. The operation, conducted from October 15 to 16, initially targeted the area near Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport in Palembang, where the haze had caused flight disruptions.

According to Berton Panjaitan, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the weather modification operation utilized three flights, totaling seven hours and three minutes in the air.

South Sumatra is one of six provinces that Indonesia has prioritized for forest and land fire prevention and response efforts, alongside Riau, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan. As of Friday night, 189 high-confidence hotspots had been recorded in South Sumatra. Panjaitan explained that the dry ice was being used as an alternative method to disperse haze by disrupting the atmospheric conditions that trap smoke near the ground, potentially allowing it to rise and enhance visibility.

The operation proved successful, as visibility at the airport improved significantly, ranging from 1,000 meters to an impressive 3,000 meters during the two-day effort, creating more favorable conditions for flight operations.

However, Panjaitan cautioned that further research was necessary to establish a definitive connection between the dry ice treatment and the observed improvements in visibility. Separately, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that smoke from forest and land fires briefly reached the atmosphere over Greater Jakarta on Friday but had since moved away by Saturday, with no discernible impact on ground-level air quality.

The agency noted that air quality across Jakarta ranged from good to unhealthy on Saturday, with fine airborne particle (PM2.5) levels in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, fluctuating between 46.7 and 109.7 micrograms per cubic meter.