Geographic Positioning Solutions for Land In Development

On June 4th, 2019 Global Land Alliance hosted panel discussion in Washington D.C. entitled “Geographic Positioning  Solutions for Land in Development” with the goal to facilitate a collaborative discussion between suppliers and appliers of positioning technology that work in the land sector. 

There are currently 3.2 billion dollars invested in the land sector allocated to projects spanning the globe. Approximately 75% of land project spending goes to the capture of land parcel data; development of land information systems; technical advisory services, and cartography and geodesy. Some regions and communities are mapping their land for the very first time, others are updating from long-outdated colonial pasts, others have been through the developing and surveying process every decade. One of the most existential questions one faces in development is how to implement projects so that data is collected accurately and stored sustainably so that projects are not in vain and have to begin from scratch a few years later. Good development should be sustainable and built capacity of communities to accurately map land. The seminar sought to collaborate on problems often faced while implementing projects and how to best bridge accurate technology and sustainable capacity building of communities.

Moderated by Global Land Alliance’s Kevin Barthel; panelists included Doug Merrill of Leica Geosystems, Frank Pichel of Cadasta Organization, Bryan Baker of Leica Geosystems, and Joseph Muhlhausen fromWeRobotics discussed the latest and best way for utilizing and applying positioning technology for land in development. 

Doug Merrill from Leica Geosystems presented many options for the latest devices to accurately map to answer the question: What is really needed from GPS? What accuracy do you need? Maybe you don’t need accuracy now but what about in three to five years? 

There are many tools one can consider: Optical Total Station vs. GNSS Receiver; GNSS hardware, software to use in the field, and software to use in the office; corrective CORS Network, dedicated reference stations, etc. These components can work together for data capture.  

Technology similar to navigation systems in your car are “self correcting”. These smart corrections may not be the best for land. CORS networks are advantageous due to cost and time saving, as well as ease-of-use. With minimal training professionals and non-professionals can easily use GNSS to derive centimeter coordinates. In emerging countries where it’s often difficult to source trained personnel, a team of non-professionals can be managed by a professional to conduct wide-spread data collection, for example land parcel coordination. However CORs Networks pose certain challenges such as maintenance, need for internet coverage and software/hardware compatibility. While these challenges exist, especially in less developed environments, the benefits are widely unquestioned.

There are technologies that are compatible with smartphones and tablets that allow you to “Bring your own device”. This allows people to use the operating system they desire with a Smart Antennae — which is fit for purpose and particularly useful in developing countries. Something as simple as AA batteries can be an obstacle for implementation in some communities. It is important to take the time to analyze capacities. Smart antennas can be updated based on meters. Getting from meters to centimeters. 

Scenic aerial view of village near Phang Nga bay, Thailand

Dedicated Reference Stations in the field can be useful because they can be initially set up quickly, it does not require significant software investment or expertise and can be easily moved over large areas. However some obstacles one faces are: risk of theft of the hardware, requires purchase of additional hardware, requires dedicated radio purchase, set-up, and knowledge, corrections only available and valid over a limited area.

In positioning, there are a lot of technologies and lots of tools available. Its good to know advantages and disadvantages when choosing the best path forward. There is no universal answer for what to use when, it depends on the applications. 

Frank Pichel from Cadasta Organization pointed out a main issue of the Land sector as being the lack of long term effects at land and information technology project. We can get very accurate data that is then stored in poor platforms and locations.

Adding to the problem, there are legal and regulatory environments that don’t address needs of mapping. Traditional approaches aren’t working if 70-80% of people worldwide do not have documentation.

Even informal data has value. Not one size fits all— informal / parallel registry. Need to be pragmatic about decisions— if a community has never used technology there’s no sense in recommending that as an option. Accurate and accessible land information, even informal, are beneficial to local governments and business in communities.

Bryan Baker from Leica Geosystems told a story of work he performed in a forested village in Peru that had an issue with knowing their boundaries. Leica went into this community to see what the most accurate way to set boundaries to prevent encroachment of loggers, miners, and other groups interested in the village’s natural resources. Additionally, a nearby community was selling land in their jurisdiction but the village did not have the legal proof to combat this. In this situation, Bryan and the Leica team did not need to take 2mm imagery with 10000 photos of this land to make an accurate deed. With accurate information the village could find out if their community was being encroached on. Illegal logging activity was a big problem and with UAV they could see if their community was being encroached upon

When one starts using drones, one must create an Orthmosaic area of the entire community. There are other options such as satellite imagery that take 6 month to 1 year age process. Sometimes satellite imagery alone not good or accurate enough for land, perhaps drone imagery is not good enough for land tenure applications and terrestrial measurements are required at some point. 

Using the right drone for the right job is key to mission specific requirements of the project and constraints of the country. What is important is finding the right tool for the job—in some cases many tools working together.

Joseph Muhlhausen presented some of the work of WeRobotics in their localized technology and engagement program “Flying Labs”. Muhlhausen underscored the symbiosis between localizing technologies through initiatives such as flying labs, data sharing, and accelerate development with incubators.

"When we do community engagement, we see a lot of interest from the community afterwards. When we bring information back to the community and it changes the way people interact with data".

Flyinglabs networks builds local capacity. Check out the video from the Tanzania Flying Lab here.

If you use a drone it’s safer for the user than to walk the ground, more cost effective at scale to use drones. One can also complement existing data with drones. 

Usually drone imagery is going to be much more detailed than other satellite imagery. However there is an economy of scale: between 0-100 mm drones can be cost effective, above that you should think carefully about what technology you should use.

When thinking about flight planning there are physical and cultural risks. The drone is not going to give you all the information to complete your data goals. It is important to create your own socioeconomic data to complement drone imagery. At that point, the data and the SD card become the more valuable than the drone itself. Data processing and data analysis — stitching together photos to make one coherent photo. Creates an actionable item.

Drones are useful for Land Tenure in that they can create accurate mapping and from that one can formulate a good land administration plan. They are also important for parallel applications such as flood risk modeling through drones. Governments can respond more preparedly to scenarios such as an island that is vulnerable to sea level rise. Policy makers will have to create an evacuation plan on vulnerable areas to flooding— extremely valuable tool. Spatial monitoring can also help with Agriculture, marine conservation, pollution control

In a subsequent “brainstorming” session, audience members, largely implementers of land development programs, were invited to ask questions of the panel to address positioning obstacles frequently faced.

In answering the changes the panelists have seen in positioning throughout their career, Bryan Baker responded “visualization” has changed the most in the sense

 that one is able to take an image and making able to make an accurate picture and can “capture all the data at one time”. Muhlhausen responded to the same question that processing power has shown the most progress, stating “I think some of the algorithms have existed for a while but the technology has caught up to process a lot of information very quickly”.

How can we bridge the gap between the technology and the applicators?

Baker answers with an example “engineers without boarders is doing some exciting work with using very low level technology with rural communities where even double AA batteries can be a hurdle for development”. He builds on the realities of working in a resource-starved community, that community may reallocate use resources brought to a project, such as solar panels or other tools. Merrill adds to this point, “Don’t over technologize the solution if it won’t stay. Early engagement with the community with answer a lot of questions or provide a path forward. It’s a challenge— it’s not easy”. Local engagement and simplicity or ease of use is important.

Pichel approached the question from an institutional perspective, making the point that some of the most conservative actors exist in the land sector, i.e. surveyors and lawyers, and they are very risk adverse. Education component and generational change within government land agencies, he stated, will play a role in change. That is, if officials do not modernize they will be usurped by the younger generations. Muhlhausen added “When we do community engagement, we see a lot of interest from the community afterwards. We bring this back to the community and it changes the way people interact with the data I think working with local partners, like global land alliance does, it really helps the project”.

A question was posed regarding the capacity for such a rapid advancement in technologies for many of these communities. Is the expectation for people the global south to accelerate technology-wise 50 years overnight? Merrill responded that yes this is the case, but that this phenomenon is “not specific to developing areas”.

Others attendees postulated about the entrenched interest with drone technology— will those in the surveyors’ department fear they will be displaced with this advanced technology and/or establishing a CORS network? 

Baker responded, “The average age of surveyors is getting older and older and the demand is becoming more and more. With technology, it will ensure younger surveyors will have a role. We can’t incorporate the younger surveyors into old technologies”. Muhlhausen echoed this thought reflecting that he “train surveyors and I train governments— if they don’t adapt to newer technologies than they won’t get anything out of my trainings, and that is unfortunate.”

Barthel reflected “these communities are sometimes unmapped for the reasons. Community engagement is very important but at the same time we have to actually do the work so where is the balance?”

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