INDONESIAN ATLAS FROM SPACE: A REMOTELY SENSED AND CARTOGRAPHIC 
MODE OF GEOSPATIAL VISUALIZATION 
S. Martha 3 , A. Poniman b , S. Widjojo c 
d President of the Indonesian Association for Cartography / Executive Secretary of National Coordinating Agency for 
Surveys and Mapping/ BAKOSURTANAL, P.O. Box 46/CBI Cibinong, Indonesia; - sukendra@bakosurtanal.go.id 
b Deputy Chairman for Basic Survey and Natural Resources, National Coordinating Agency for Surveys and Mapping/ 
BAKOSURTANAL, P.O. Box 46/CBI Cibinong, Indonesia; - arispk@bakosurtanal.go.id 
c Head Centre for Atlas, National Coordinating Agency for Surveys and Mapping/ BAKOSURTANAL, P.O. Box 
46/CBI Cibinong, Indonesia; 
TS-71: WgSIV/2 
Image Based Geo-Spatial Information Management 
KEY WORDS: Atlas From Space, Integrated Visualization Of Satellite Imageries, Aerialphotos, Maps, Pictures And Textual 
Narration. 
ABSTRACT: 
To jointly visualize among images, maps and pictures in the same presentation like in an Atlas format can be one of the several 
efforts to socialize geo-spatial information for the public. Atlas of Indonesia from Space (Atlas Indonesia dari Angkasa), published 
by the National Coordinating Agency for Surveys and Mapping/ BAKOSURTANAL in 2006 displays many interesting places in the 
whole country. This Atlas covers not less than hundred images (such as Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM), Landsat ETM+, 
Quickbird and Ikonos satellites) and maps, within 260 pages describes all Indonesian condition of natural and socio-economic 
resources. The effort of visualization is part of excellent work in order to make the Atlas interesting. This Atlas provides the 
visualized quality of geospatial information so that public readers can easily access such information. Even though this Atlas will 
benefit tourists, it can also be used for other purposes. This paper will describe the roles of remotely sensed images to join with 
topographic maps and other graphical medium to make this Atlas design more attractive and useful. 
1 INTRODUCTION 
Geographically, Indonesia comprises about 17,508 islands 
covering 2,027,087 km2 of land area and 3,166,163 km2 of sea 
territorial waters. Indonesia is a beautiful country of God-given 
beauties of various and unique nature. Spreading all over the 33 
provinces, the beauties of nature can be found in land as well as 
in sea. The beautiful beaches, elegant mountains and hills, 
charm lake or pond, and luxuriant forest widely spread over the 
land. Sea parks, a variety of fishes, and other sea species added 
to the beauty of marine life of Indonesia. Man-made features 
and arts have add the beauty of the country. Many interesting 
places totaling over than one hundred objects of tourism such as 
nature, culture and history are spread from Sabang (western part 
of Indonesia) to Merauke (eastern part of Indonesia) can be 
found in Indonesia. Some of that unique places has been known 
by domestic or foreign tourists. 
All these interesting features could foster tourism when they are 
supported by the availability of sufficient information about 
tourism which is accurate, actual, interesting, and easy to access 
as well. One of the products providing such information is 
known as atlas. A collection of maps, narrations, and other data 
which are systematically structured, atlas can be used as a travel 
guide. 
BAKOSURTANAL published the book of Atlas of Indonesia 
from Space by using several sources of data. High and medium 
resolution satellite images provide pictures of tourism objects 
from space; maps served as direction to the tourism object 
location; narrations explain tourism objects, how to reach them, 
as well as provide information on the type of facilities available; 
and photographs present further detail and clear pictures of 
tourism objects. Hopefully the Atlas of Indonesia from Space 
will develop the tourism and attract the foreign as well as 
domestic tourists' interests in visiting objects of tourism in 
Indonesia. 
Atlas of Indonesia from Space can be a great medium to 
promote Indonesian tourism. Made in attractively designed 
book, this atlas tries to deliver information about location of 
tourism sites through satellite images, captured by remote 
sensing satellites which are commonly used for mapping 
activities. Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM), 
operated by US government, is one of some space remote 
sensing satellite imageries appeared in this atlas. Other satellites 
imageries used in this atlas are captured from Landsat 7 ETM+, 
Digital Globe with it’s Quickbird and Geoeye with it’s Ikonos 
satellite. This atlas is completed with topographic maps made 
by BAKOSURTANAL, photographic pictures for each sites, 
and narrations both in English and Indonesian. 
Huge contributions of some institutions, either inside or outside 
BAKOSURTANAL, are very helpful in the making process of 
this atlas, as those institutions provide raw data. Those 
institutions are Center for Land Natural Resources Survey, 
Center for Marine Natural Resources Survey, Center for Basic 
Mapping of Marine and Aerospace, and Center for Atlas, for 
institutions under BAKOSURTANAL. Tourism offices in most 
provinces within Indonesia provide raw data for this atlas. Some 
institutions, either government or private, gave their huge 
contribution, more than just providing raw data, through some 
great ideas, and knowledge regarding the atlas, and deeply 
involved in quality control process as well. National Institute for