Thick cloud covered Mt. Salak before Sukhoi crash

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 05/12/2012 8:45 AM

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Tough terrain: Volunteers from the Indonesian Red Cross enter the climbing track in Cipelang, Cijeruk in the area of the Halimun Salak National Park in West Java to locate the exact crash location of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 on Friday. More than 200 joint personnel from the Indonesian military and police as well as the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) continued the evacuation process of the victims. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)Mt. Salak was covered in dark, thick clouds when the ill-fated Sukhoi Superjet 100 disappeared from radar screens on Wednesday, the National Space and Aviation Agency (LAPAN) has revealed.
Based on surveillance from MTSAT satellite, the entire volcano was covered by cloud that probably produced heavy rain, LAPAN spokeswoman Elly Kuntjahyowati said in a media release, quoting an atmosphere analysis by LAPAN’s Atmospheric Science and Technology Center.
The convection index reached 30 around Mt Salak at the time the plane disappeared – with an index of 0 being clear weather while the maximum of 50 means very heavy or extreme rain.
Based on the analysis by the Bandung-based atmospheric center, Elly said there was bad weather at Mt. Salak when the Sukhoi Superjet passed by.
The MTSAT, or Multifunctional Transport Satellite, is a series of weather and aviation-control satellites operated by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation and the Japanese Meteorological Agency.
An analysis of available data estimated that a Cumulonimbus cloud soared some 37,000 feet. or 11.2 kilometers, with a temperature of -48C at the top of the cloud formation.
“The estimation was acquired from the temperature recorded by the satellite. The temperature decreased by 6.5C for every kilometer increase in altitude,” an atmospheric technology center staff member, Krismianto, told The Jakarta Post over the phone.
He also said the analysis assumed that the surface temperature was 25C, with a cloud base of 2,000 feet.
Mt. Salak has three summits: Salak I at 2,211 meters above sea level, Salak II at 2,180 meters and Puncak Sumbul at 1,926 meters.