The Implementation of Weather Modification Technology for Forest Fire Mitigation in Indonesia: The Evaluation and Challenges
摘要
As one of the countries with the largest peatland area, Indonesia faces a severe threat from ecological damage and reduced peatland area due to forest fires. In the broad framework of forest fire disaster management, the Weather Modification Technology (WMT) continues to be one of the solutions in forest fire suppression through physical engineering processes in the clouds to become rain and rewetting peatlands. Forest fires in Indonesia often happen in areas with extensive peatland covers, such as the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. From the evaluation analyzed in this paper, the WMT activities in 2020 managed to increase rainfall varying from 12% to 30% in areas experiencing forest fires. The rain produced from The WMT activities also managed to suppress the escalation of hotspots in forest fire-prone regions so that more massive forest fires do not occur. The evaluation of WMT activities is also carried out by analyzing the fluctuations in groundwater levels. The groundwater level showed an increasing trend during the application of WMT for forest fire suppression. That indicates that the rain from WMT could also be utilized to maintain peatlands’ wetness. Hence, the potential for further combustion below the peat’s surface, also known as peat smoldering, can be limited. The implementation of WMT for forest fire mitigation needs to be continuously improved by the Indonesian government. Through good planning, WMT can be carried out at the right time to be an anticipatory step in mitigating forest fire disasters in Indonesia.