Recent earth observation satellite images, with very high spatial resolutions, of the coastal areas of Singapore in the Straits of Johore can be easily retrieved using Google Maps. Satellite images are also retrievable using Baidu Map. Satellite images acquired in the past few decades also provide a record of the actual state of the natural environment at the time of acquisition of the images. Several examples of the historical earth observation satellite images are discussed. A historical Landsatl MSS image acquired on 17 October 1973 recorded the state of the environment along,the Straits of Johore, before major land reclamations by Singapore and Malaysia. A historical image appeared on the cover of the International Journal of Remote Sensing, Volume 11 No 5 (1990). This image came from a MOS1 MESSR Verification Program that had been carried out by the National University of Singapore, using data acquired by the Marine Observation Satellite, on 5 October 1988. This image showed new coastlines of Singapore and the newly reclaimed land of Tuas View, arising from reclamation of land in the Straits of Johore. Land acquisition by Singapore in the Straits of Johore had given rise to a dispute between Singapore and Malaysia. Singapore and Malaysia then jointly revised the Border Agreement of 1927 and replaced it with a new Border Agreement on 14 October 1994. The dispute was amicably settled on 1 September 2005, when Singapore and Malaysia both accepted the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration Report of Arbitral Awards "Concerning Land Reclamation by Singapore in and around the Straits of Johor" A Landsat5 image acquired on 13 September 1989 showed the state of a group of small separate islands off the south coast of Jurong, in the early stage of being merged into a single island. A Landsat7 image acquired on 11 October 2002 recorded that the group of islands were already in a very advanced stage of being merged into the artificial Jurong Island. A Landsat5 image acquired on 8 October 2009, recorded the state of Jurong Island within one month of the official date of completion of land reclamation on Jurong Island on 24 September 2009. This image also recorded the state of work on the Tuas View Extension which will become the new container port of Singapore Historical images can be very useful in monitoring the long term changes in the environment arising from human activities.
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