JAKARTA, Oct 17 — Indonesia has deployed a total of 2.4 tonnes of dry ice over South Sumatra in a two-day weather modification operation aimed at dispersing thick haze caused by forest and land fires.

National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre acting head Berton Panjaitan said the operation on Oct 15 to 16 initially focused on the area around Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport in Palembang, where thick haze had disrupted flights.

“The weather modification operation over the two days involved three flights, with a total flying time of seven hours and three minutes,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

South Sumatra is among six provinces prioritised by Indonesia for forest and land fire prevention and response, alongside Riau, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan, with 189 high-confidence hotspots recorded in the province as of Friday night.

Berton said dry ice was being tested as an alternative method to disperse haze by weakening atmospheric conditions that trap smoke near the ground, potentially allowing it to rise and improve visibility.

He said visibility at the airport improved from 1,000 metres to as much as 3,000 metres during the operation, creating more favourable conditions for flight operations.

However, he acknowledged that further research was needed to determine whether the improvement resulted from the dry ice treatment or other weather factors.

Separately, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in a statement said smoke from forest and land fires briefly reached the atmosphere over Greater Jakarta on Friday but had begun moving away on Saturday, with no evidence of an impact on ground-level air quality.

According to the agency, air quality across Jakarta ranged from good to unhealthy on Saturday, with levels of fine airborne particles (PM2.5) in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, recorded at between 46.7 and 109.7 microgrammes per cubic metre. — Bernama