During the summer of 2007, COWI aircraft began the process of taking approximately 50,000 aerial photographs of Serbia with the ultimate goal of improving the country's economy. They will be used to create an orthophoto, a highly detailed image made from adjusted aerial photographs allowing it to be used like a map.
The orthophoto's exceptionally detailed resolution will form the basis of a register documenting plots of land, their size, and their value. Such a register, known as a cadastral system, will be a vital tool in determining land ownership in Serbia, allowing its land and housing market to grow and increasing economic growth and employment. The orthophoto will also be of great use to the national mapping insitution in Serbia - the Republican Geodetic Authority (RGZ) - in the production of topographic maps.
COWI is producing a nationwide orthophoto of Serbia as part of a European Union-funded and the European Agency for Reconstruction-managed project. The project recipient is the Republican Geodetic Authority, on behalf of the Serbian nation.
Beginning in July 2007, COWI's aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art Vexcel aerial surveying cameras took some 9000 photographs of Serbia, 17 per cent of the 53,500 target.
While summer may seem the optimum time for aerial photography, the season has advantages and disadvantages. According to COWI project manager Yvonne Morville Petersen, "The good weather means you can actually get airborne and have long days to work in, but on the downside, wooded areas are thick with leaves which can take some of the detail from an image. It is something we have to more or less live within order to complete the data acquisition in a project of this size within the project duration."
The aerial photography is in three resolutions:
Different areas require different levels of detail. For example, urban areas with their networks of streets and buildings require more detail. Here, the photography is conducted at a different resolution and altitude to facilitate the capture of greater detail.
Other aspects of the project are the GPS surveying of approximately 2400 control points, which are used to prove the accuracy of the aerial photographs. The project also includes the creation of a new geoid and height model of Serbia, which will allow orthophotos to be produced in all scales.
The aerial team expect to take to the skies again in the spring of 2008, and the project is expected to finish in 2010.
By Martyn GlanvillePublished: 14.01.2008