There is a growing demand for rice with increase in population. As rice is still the major staple food in Indonesia, the task of increasing rice production continues to engage the attention of national planners. Various methods used in estimating rice areas can provide information periodically through different information satellite data, which have a wide coverage area, and can be used as a source of information on the condition of rice areas. This study has an objective of using

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... satellite imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) to map the Indonesian rice paddies area. The algorithm was based on temporal profiles of vegetation strength and water content, using electromagnetic surface reflectance in visible to near infrared range. The results obtained from the analysis were compared to national statistics. Estimated Indonesian regional rice area was 8.27 million ha, which agrees with published values. The model performance was dependent on rice ecosystems. Good linear relationships between the model results and the national statistics were observed for all types of rice fields.