Estimation the Age of Oil Palm using Palsar Alos (Case Study: Landak, West Kalimantan)

World production of palm oil increased spectacularly in the last 20 years, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia. As the largest producer, good management in oil palm plantation is very important, the expansion of plantation also must be well planned, because its existence must not affect the surrounding environment. Therefore the information of oil palm age or condition of their growth is needed. Remote sensing has significant potential to aid oil palm monitoring and detection effort. It also provodes a cost-effective method to these purpose and at same time provides side specific assessments of management areas, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is crucial for this task. The SAR is an active sensor that operates in all weather condition and daylight independen delivering information all year around at the time that is needed. SAR is sensitive to texture, size and orientation of structural objects, moisture content and ground conditions. This paper present the preliminary study that has objective to develope method for prediction of oil palm age by using PALSAR ALOS in Ngabang, Landak District, West Kalimantan. The study is focused in oil palm plantation of Government Oil PalmPTP N 13 Kalimantan.Data and information about oil palm blocks and it’s age were collected from this company. The statistic analysis by using regression method indicates that oil palm age can be estimated by using backscatter values, with logaritmic model and R²around 0.60 at HV polarization of PALSAR ALOS