Drone mapping technology to lead Ghana’s land digitalisation agenda
A pilot project conducted in Ghana by Micro Aerial Projects LLC, in collaboration with Survey and Mapping Division of the Lands Commission, has given a strong indication that digitalisation of land administration is possible.
The transformation could be achieved if the government and its related agencies fully embrace the drone mapping technology, which provides accurate details of properties thereby resolving boundary disputes, cost and time saving.
Mr Walter Volkmann, President of the Micro Aerial Projects LLC, said this at a day’s workshop in Accra to share the success story of the pilot project and to educate stakeholders drawn from government, international development agencies, traditional authorities, civil society and the private sector on the operations as well as the benefits of the drone mapping.
He explained that drone mapping could be used to improve efficiency in cadastral surveying and mapping, development task coordination and general communications in land administration as providing clarity in boundary adjudication.
“We are looking forward to bolstering the cadastral system in Ghana which is in distress at this point in time from the perspective of its usage with citizens finding it difficult to access and interpret cadastral information and getting cadastral services especially with the rise of boundary disputes,” he said.
“These disputes come about as a result of not having clarity on the ground. Drones will provide a good means of bringing clarity in resolving this boundary issues, because they report in detail what actually exists on the ground especially when a survey might have gone wrong”.
Mr Patrick Robert Ankobiah, Acting Chief Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, said drones could support the development of various sectors of the economy and boost the gross domestic product.
“Until recently one’s ability to have a bird view of the earth could only be done by the satellite. Only well capitalize public and private enterprises could afford to benefit from such a service. However the emergence of small drones has made it easy and affordable,” he said.
He said with the massive potential of drones in delivering geo-specious products it would be beneficial especially in the area of drone mapping service, which would help build the capacity of various institutions in terms of delivering effective and efficient services to its clients.
The drone project provides the ideal platform for live, rapid and real time monitoring of on-site inspections and data acquisition. The drone work has an independent platform known as V-Map System. The V-Map System regulates the precise GPS solution for the drones’ flying path, camera exposure, and conventional ground surveys.
Source: GNA