The Natural Resource and Environment Ministry has therefore decided to use digital satellite images as additional substantiation nationally to record land ownership and map land which cannot be transferred.

"Our responsibility is to manage and preserve natural resources, besides taking care of the environment. Not only do the images specify the land a person possesses but they also reveal post-reform invasion," said Natural Resource and Environment Minister Yongyuth Tiyapairat.

He said all the images were from Geo-Infomatics and the Space Technology Development Agency or Gitsda, a public organisation. It distributes earth observation data to users worldwide for the management of natural resources and environmental studies.

The images have been taken by Ikonos, a satellite that orbits the earth at a distance of 680 kilometres, moving at seven kilometres per second. Its digital camera can trace objects on the earth's surface as small as one square metre. It provides imagery that can be combined in a variety of ways to accommodate a wide range of high-resolution applications.

The ministry has issued land ownership documents along with digital satellite images to people at At Samat in Roi Et province. The move aims to allow people to temporarily possess land in a certain forest area, enabling them to cultivate it for a living.

Satellite images, taken at the recommended 1:4,000 scale, also make it possible for officials to check if individuals stray into a conserved area.

They are free to call for new images at any time to compare them with old ones.

The ministry has allocated about 983 plots, measuring about 1,981 rai, to 414 households in the area.

"Land management is normally predicated upon on-the-spot inspections. Satellite images make for prevention of and protection from any kind of invasion," he said.

Suchalee Pongprasert

The Nation