02:09Russia: Authorities start cloud seeding to combat ravaging forest fires in Siberia
Russia’s Aerial Forest Protection Service (FSA) airplanes started seeding clouds using Antonov An-26 aircraft to try to induce rain in battle against the wildfires raging across Siberia, in Irkutsk on Thursday.
"Pilot-observers determine the places of fires when they are still on the ground. They determine the possibility of cloud formation using a computer programme, after that the plane flies to the designated area,” navigator of An-26 aircraft Sergei Steblevsky explained the method of creating artificial rain.
FSA’s Deputy Head Dmitry Selin said that eight fires were successfully extinguished in the Irkutsk region with the help of cloud seeding.
According to the FSA, more than 300 wildfires are currently raging across Siberia on a total area of 2.8 million hectares. Majority of the blazes are located in the regions of Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk.
Authorities have declared a state of emergency in four federal constituent entities of Russia; in the regions of Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk, the Republic of Buryatia and in the Republic of Sakha.
02:09Russia’s Aerial Forest Protection Service (FSA) airplanes started seeding clouds using Antonov An-26 aircraft to try to induce rain in battle against the wildfires raging across Siberia, in Irkutsk on Thursday.
"Pilot-observers determine the places of fires when they are still on the ground. They determine the possibility of cloud formation using a computer programme, after that the plane flies to the designated area,” navigator of An-26 aircraft Sergei Steblevsky explained the method of creating artificial rain.
FSA’s Deputy Head Dmitry Selin said that eight fires were successfully extinguished in the Irkutsk region with the help of cloud seeding.
According to the FSA, more than 300 wildfires are currently raging across Siberia on a total area of 2.8 million hectares. Majority of the blazes are located in the regions of Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk.
Authorities have declared a state of emergency in four federal constituent entities of Russia; in the regions of Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk, the Republic of Buryatia and in the Republic of Sakha.