The National Space and Aviation Agency (Lapan) said in a press statement issued on Saturday the meeting would bring together delegates from the United States, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Japan, Italy, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
The meeting would mainly discuss preparations for the acquisition of Landsat data by ground station operators in the world, including Indonesia, the statement said.
Landsat is a US-owned remote sensing satellite designed to get earth image from the outer space.
Since it was for the first time launched in 1972, Landsat has produced millions of earth images kept at Landsat receiving ground stations all over the world.
The Landsat images have been used for a wide range of researches in the fields of agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning and education.
At the meeting Indonesia would be represented by Lapan which has so far been engaged in aviation researches. The agency began to use remote sensing for researches in 1973 at Pekayon, East Jakarta to meet national demand for remote sensing.
In 1983 Lapan began receiving Landsat 4 MMS satellite data. To optimize the reach of data received, Lapan built a ground station in Parepare, South Sulawesi, in 1993.
In addition to Landsat data, the Parepare ground station can also receive Spot 2 and Ers 1/2 satellite data. So far, Landsat data are the most popular data for satellite image users.
(D009/S012)
(T.SYS/B/S012/S012) 28-01-2012 13:53:07
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
