JAKARTA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has dispersed 8,000 kg of sodium chloride into the cloud through weather modification operations to help combat forest and land fires in Jambi province on Sumatra island, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said Friday.
BNPB spokesperson Berton Panjaitan said cloud-seeding operations were carried out on eight flights from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2, totaling 15 hours and 32 minutes of flight time.
"The operation aimed to increase rainfall by dispersing sodium chloride into clouds, as fires had burned more than 1,879 hectares of land in Jambi as of Thursday," Panjaitan said.
Most of the burned area was peatland, which is highly flammable and difficult to extinguish. The BNPB has identified 182 hotspots and 20 fire locations across the province.
Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency forecast unfavorable atmospheric conditions through Sept. 10, which could limit the effectiveness of weather modification operations.
Authorities will step up ground firefighting efforts, including water spraying, patrols and the construction of firebreaks, to contain the fires. ■