Empowering our ‘Gramas’ with High-Resolution Geospatial Data using Drones Inching for an Atmanirbhar Bharat | Roter Group of Companies
The drone industry was in a nascent phase until the end of first decade of 2000s. Today, it is one of the trendiest topics when talking about technologies of the future and has managed to catch the attention of the common man with its myriad applications. Also termed as ‘Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’ (UAVs), drones have been used widely in military operations for long. In recent times, they have forayed into other fields like inspection, law enforcement, shipping, surveying and geographic mapping, and even aerial photography and videography.
Why UAV in Surveying?
Survey-grade drones, also called mapping drones, provide real time data of the land area under concern. Using mapping drones like Trinity F90+ specifically designed for the surveying and mapping industry can produce topographical survey results of the same quality as the accurate measurements collected using traditional methods.
Trinity F90+ Fixed wing Mapping grade drone, SVAMITVA work horse
Further, Trinity F90+ drones can collect data of over 700 hectares in less than 90 minutes, in a single flight. In other words, the time consumed is only a fraction of the time utilised in case of conventional surveying methods. Drones supply high-resolution imagery and an accurate input for land information. The cost of site survey as well as workloads are automatically reduced.
Using professional survey grade UAVs like Trinity F90+ is fast becoming a preferred method of collecting high resolution, quality geospatial data and information in a very cost-effective manner. It provides a flexible, transparent methodology for collecting data for a range of applications including village boundaries, land cover, infrastructure, utilities, public facilities, etc.
Drones in India for Land Records – SVAMITVA Scheme
Survey of Village Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (SVAMITVA) is a property survey programme launched nation-wide by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on the National Panchayati Raj Day, 24th April 2020. A Central Sector Scheme of Ministry of Panchayati Raj, it is an antidotal step towards establishing a clear property ownership in rural inhabited (Abadi) areas.
Sample Orthophoto using Trinity F90+ Imagery Payload
Zoomed View of a Small Portion from the above orthophoto
To establish property ownership, surveying, and mapping of the defined area of land is done using survey drones. This is followed by providing ‘Record of Rights’ to the village household owners. High resolution orthophotos are generated using drone photogrammetry surveys by Survey of India (SoI) for demarcating property boundaries in this manner.
Professional survey grade drones, such as TrinityF90+ are the main work horse for field data collection. Property boundaries extracted by SoI (with the help of chuna markings) are verified by village authorities and villagers. Further, legal ownership cards/Title deeds/property cards are issued to the property owners. The SVAMITVA scheme is indeed a milestone towards achieving Gram Swaraj.
Future of Drone Data for Land Administration and Management
High resolution orthophotos collected for SVAMITVA can be used for many other purposes by the village authorities., including as a base map for checking and approving any new building construction, calculating building areas and accurate building taxes, detecting illegal construction/encroachment to public property, and so on. DEM or 3D terrain prepared through SVAMITVA scheme can be used for infrastructure scheme planning, such as new road construction, water flow regulation structures, and so on.
Drone LiDAR Point Cloud – Top View and Cross Section of Building
In addition to better planning and sustainable habitats, SVAMI
TVA is also paving the way for reformed land governance and socio-economic upliftment, thereby reinforcing economic growth. The backbone of this entire process is the data collected via drones.
The recent liberalization of Geospatial and Drone policies is set to give a great boost to technology-based surveying and mapping. Drones play a critical role in geospatial data collection for large-scale topographic mapping, urban and rural planning, infrastructure, etc. Drone survey has transfigured the area of surveying and mapping, aiding in the planning of topographic settlements, and studying land relief features with better clarity and precision across the world. It has found profound application in land administration through the SVAMITIVA scheme which is a giant leap towards India’s goal of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
