Drones for land surveying: Why not?
GEODETIC ENGINEERS use conventional surveying instruments and global navigation satellite system receivers to map properties. Soon, they might fly drones to do the job.
At least, that’s what a team of drone experts — from Micro Aerial Projects and Skyeye — is proposing.
The team flew drones in Cordova, Cebu last April for 10 days to find “cost-effective” and “time- efficient” ways to scale land titling there. The project’s an initiative of the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) and The Asia Foundation and was conducted in collaboration with the Municipality of Cordova and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Here’s how it works: A “special GPS platform” was put on the drone “that communicates directly into the base station on the monument,” Matt Cua, CEO of Skyeye, said in a statement.
“A survey-grade GNSS receiver attached to the drone gives a more accurate centimeterlevel position. Through this method, there is no more need to establish ground control points ( GCPs), points in the surface of the earth with known, latitude, longitude and altitude,” FEF said in the statement.
Flying time was 10 to 15 minutes. High resolution maps were generated and printed, helping the people of Cordova identify their land parcels.
“The community will be able to identify where their lot is. So if you are able to show that on an aerial map, you will be able to draw a line of their property,” Walter Volkmann, president of Micro Aerial Projects, said.
The technology cuts survey time, which takes usually six hours for three hectares. It’s useful to address land titling issues usually hobbled by “high cost” involved in subdivision surveys.
“So instead of spending half a day on a 3-hectare land you are able to do 40 hectares in one day,” Skyeye’s Mr. Cua said.