Application of Weather Modification Technology for Peatlands Fires Mitigation in Riau, Indonesia

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Sigit Sutikno; Ilvi Rahmi Amalia; Ari Sandhyavitri; Almasdi Syahza; Heru Widodo; and Tri Handoko Seto

This paper presents the application of weather modification technology (WMT) for mitigation of peatlands fire in Riau Province, Indonesia. The application of WMT has been conducted to reduce the fire disaster risks which were very rare to be implemented in the world. The province of Riau which is about 56% covered with peatlands, is very vulnerable against haze disasters caused by peatlands fires. Peatlands are fragile ecosystems formed over thousands of years by the accumulation of dense wet plant material. When drained or cleared by fire for commercial plantations, such as for palm oil or pulpwood, the carbon is released into the atmosphere. In 2013-2015, Indonesia experienced its most serious fires in some years, worsened by dry weather caused by an El Nino phenomenon, and cloaked large stretches of Southeast Asia in choking smog for mounts. The history proved that the peatlands fires only can be stopped completely by rainfall. On the other hand, the peatland fires usually occur in the dry season that rainfall is very rare. The technology of artificial precipitation has an important role to solve this kind of natural disaster. The aim of this research is to study the impact of the application of the WMT on increasing precipitation for mitigation of peatlands fire in Riau Province. The analysis was focused on the Kepulauan Meranti and Siak Regency which are very severe peatland fire in 2014, 2015, and 2016. This research found that the application of weather modification technology could increase precipitation occurrence and significantly reduce peatland fire in Riau. The increasing rainfall value (PCH) in Kepulauan Meranti Regency was 1.019, 1.08, 0.68, and 1.649 during the four times WMT application from 2014 to 2016. However, the PCH value in Siak Regency during the four times WMT application in 2014 to 2016 was 1.127, 0.7, 0.66, and 1.88.

Citation:  Sutikno, S., Amalia, I. R., Sandhyavitri, A., Syahza, A., Widodo, H., Seto. T. H. (2020). Application of Weather Modification Technology for Peatlands Fires Mitigation in Riau, Indonesia, AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume  2227, No 030007, page 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0002137