337 
The performance of TERS will be in line with the 
existing generation of remote sensing satellites, 
i.e. better than 20 m in the multispectral mode and 
better than 10 m in the panchrometric mode or in a 
multispectral mode with a reduced radiometric 
resolution. 
Data of the Japanese geostationary weatherstellite 
GMS has been used to analyse the cloud cover over 
Indonesia. The preliminary results indicate that TERS 
can make at least one useful image from any part of 
Indonesia within a two week period. 
3 APPLICATIONS 
In discussions with the Indonesian user community key 
applications for satellite remote sensing have been 
identified. The two most important in relation to the 
TERS system are: the management of agricultural food 
production and the management of forest resources. 
Both applications were selected in view of the fact 
that processes are concerned with a yearly turnover 
of some billions of dollars. If the management of 
these renewable resources could be improved by better 
information, large benefits coud be obtained. The 
frequent data, needed for proper management, cannot 
be provided by existing satellite systems because of 
the cloud cover problem. The two key applications 
therefore can not yet become operational. 
3.1 Management of agricultural food production 
Any government has a need for timely information on 
the supply of and need for food. This is especially 
important in a country like Indonesia which is 
pursuing to be autonomous in its food production. 
Timely forecasts on the agricultural production are 
required for the planning of import, export and 
reserves of food. 
Rice is the most important food crop in the 
country; about 60% of the total area for food crop is 
for wet land rice, and rice is the staple food, 
supplying about 50% of the protein and carbohydrates 
of the Indonesian food consumption. The world market 
price of rice fluctuates of course, depending on the 
size of the crops, but the total Indonesian rice crop 
of about 30 million ton is worth billions of dollars. 
About 700 million US$ of rice has been imported in 
1980, against 200 million US$ in 1981. On the moment 
Indonesia is producing a surplus of rice and expects 
to become a supplier on the world market. 
Table 1. Rice production and imports in Indonesia 
* 
★ 
Year 
Production 
Imports 
1969 
12,249 
796 
1970 
13,140 
764 
1971 
13,724 
524 
1972 
13,183 
1,234 
1973 
14,607 
1,225 
1974 
15,276 
1,137 
1975 
15,185 
678 
1976 
15,845 
1,506 
1977 
15,876 
2,308 
1978 
17,525 
1,277 
1979 
17,872 
2,606 
1980 
20,163 
1,196 
1981 
22,286 
437 
1982 
22,837 
507 
1983 
24,006 
1,300 
1984 
25,825 
* 
(thousands of metric tons) 
It is very important to have accurate and timely 
forecasts on the fluctuations in the yearly food 
production, because early knowledge is a valuable 
asset in operating on the world market and planning 
the required storage and transport. 
The Indonesian food crop statistics and forecasts 
are based on monthly reports on crop acreages of 
local village chiefs and other relevant local 
officials, while the estimation of the crop yield is 
based on crop cutting of randomly selected plots. 
The accuracy and especially the timelines of the 
crop statistics and forecasts are questioned and need 
to be improved. The application of satellite remote 
sensing until now had its limitations because of the 
low ground resolution of Landsat and the presence of 
cloud cover. The new sensors onboard the Landsat 5 
and SPOT satellites will overcome the ground 
resolution limitation, however the cloud cover 
problem will still seriously hamper the operational 
use of these satellites for crop forecasting, as 
these systems lack the flexibility to make use of the 
variability in the cloud pattern. A system with a 
higher revisit frequency in combination with 
selective viewing can overcome the cloud problem and 
will make it possible to monitor the various phases 
of the crops. 
In that way it will be possible to base the statis 
tics and forecasts on unbiased and accurate objective 
measurements and to automate the process, which will 
increase the accuracy and speed even more. 
The Central Bureau of Statistics, in cooperation 
with other institutions, is studying the 
applicability of TERS for such a crop forecasting 
system. 
3.2 Management of forest resources 
About 60% (120 million ha) of the total land mass of 
Indonesia is covered with forests. The exploitation 
of forests is very important for the national 
economy, as wood is the main export article after 
oil. The mean annual production is over 20 million 
cubic meter at a value of over one billion US$; 
however the exploitation of the forests cannot 
continue in this way, for on the one hand the timber 
industry is progressing rapidly, requiring about 80 
million cubic meter in the year 2000 and on the other 
hand the national forest/ potential is declining. 
The forests also have a social and protective 
function besides the economic function and the forest 
resource development policy is therefore aimed at: 
a. Economic exploitation 
b. Creation of employment opportunities 
c. Conservation of the forests. 
The execution of such a policy requires objective 
information on the available forest resources and on 
the exploitation of these resources. 
The inventory of existing forests is being made and 
is being regularly updated by means of field work, 
aerial photography and satellite imagery. The proper 
exploitation of the resources by private companies 
has to be monitored by the government. Until now it 
has proved to be very difficult to monitor the 
operations of the concessionaires with regard to the 
method and amount of logging as well as to the 
compliance with the obligations for reforestation. 
The inspectors in the field have an exceedingly 
difficult job, because it is almost impossible to get 
a good oversight over the large areas. The problem in 
executing proper inspections makes it clear that 
illegal logging is difficult to prevent. Illegal 
logging represents a direct loss of income to the 
Indonesian State. 
Due to the frequent cloud cover, the use of 
aircraft or existing satellite imagery however is not 
effective at the moment. More frequent satellite 
imagery would provide the capability to monitor the 
activities of the concessionaires with respect to the 
conditions of the concessions, such as: 
-areas and amounts to be logged