The remote sensing data of a rugged terrain always suffer from topographic effects and, in such cases people frequently perceive valleys as ridges, and vice versa in the optical imagery of Sun-synchronous satellite. The appearance of inverse topography can be termed as false topography perception ( FTP) FTP has been observed in various satellites images such as Landsat, IRS, and SPOT The problem of FTP becomes more severe in high altitude areas of hilly terrain, such as Himalayan terrain. FTP is usually caused by the combination of various interrelated factors; among them are topographic relief, Sun elevation, the azimuth angle, viewing angle, and hatching or engraving features present on the slopes. Once satellite data of rugged terrain are acquired, then all FTP-influencing factors are fixed, except for the viewing angle of the observer. Hence, the correction of FTP becomes straightforward. There are two ways to correct satellite dala for FTP effects: ( a) rotate the image by between 135° -180° i.e changing the viewing angle of the observer; or (b) inverse the image data by making a negative of the whole image (255-image) which will bring change in the Sun' s illumination by 1807deg; The present paper discusses the FTP phenomena and its causes, and suggests methods of correction.