Land Preparation, Belitung Island, Indonesia
27 January 2005

Note: The area of coverage in this IKONOS image is approximately 1.02 km x 1.02 km.
The reduced resolution image on display has undergone compression and so does not represent the true resolution of the original satellite image.

Land is being prepared for plantation on the northern side of Belitung Island in the Karimata Strait between Borneo and Sumatra. Part of a former low acidic wetland survives along a mangrove-fringed stream that flows across the image. Various generations of drainage ditches are visible extending some distance along with low bushy vegetation to lower the water table. The white colour over most of the image is probably related to treatment of acid sulphate soils by chemical stabilisers.