Indonesia will use game-changing Japanese technology to monitor water levels in real time for various purposes, including to prevent land and forest fires as well as flooding.

National Research Council ( DRN ) chairman Bambang Setiadi said that the technology, called Sensory Data Transmission Service Assisted by Midori Engineering ( SESAME ), would change the way Indonesia managed its water resources, including in peatland.

“SESAME is a tool that can measure water levels in real time. The country doesn’t currently have a water management for flat terrain. If we implement SESAME, we can control the movement of groundwater and thus decrease land and forest fires,” he said on Tuesday.

According to Bambang, the way the technology, developed by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology ( BPPT ) and Hokkaido University, works is relatively simple.

“It works just like a smartphone. We input data from the censor, which is installed deep into the ground. And then the censor will report the depth of the water level. That’s what is great about SESAME. If we install it in all locations that are prone to land and forest fires, then we could prevent fires by using weather modification when we already know the water level is decreasing,” he said.

Hidenori Takahashi from Hokkaido University, who works on SESAME, said that the technology could also measure the impact of canals in draining water from peatland, which had made it nearly impossible to extinguish fires once they started in dried peatland during the dry season.

“We can measure the water level in canals and using that information, we can calculate how much water from inside peatland [is drained by the canal],” he said.

Bambang said that the technology had actually been used in pilot projects since 2013, but this year the BPPT planned to expand the implementation of the technology by installing 56 SESAME units, not only to prevent land and forest fires but also to prevent the recurrent flooding plaguing Jakarta.

One unit of SESAME costs around Rp 50 million ( US$3,796 ), according to him. “Forty-nine units will be installed in Jatiluhur Dam, with five units installed in peatland area [Riau, Jambi, Central Kalimantan and West Kalimantan], one in the Katulampa sluice gate in Bogor, West Java, and the last one at Gadjah Mada University,” he said.

With SESAME, the government would be better equipped to handle water level in dams and sluice gates during the rainy season.

“Usually people measure water levels with flashlights every hour. That’s why we will install SESAME in Jatiluhur and Katulampa. The SESAME units will start operating by August to coincide with the anniversary of Jatiluhur,” Bambang said.

Jakarta residents usually look at the possibility of flooding in the capital by monitoring the water level that streams from the 104-meter Katulampa sluice gate in Bogor to Jakarta. It generally takes up to 12 hours for water from Katulampa to reach the Manggarai sluice gate in South Jakarta.

The usage of SESAME in dams will also lead to better efficiency in water usage, according to him.  

As for the installment of SESAME in peatland, the BPPT is working with the Peatland Restoration Agency ( BRG ), whose head, Nazir Foead, recently visited Hokkaido University to look into the possibility of teaming up with Japan in its work, including the expansion of SESAME in Indonesia.