The combined use of GPS and Spot 'space maps' has made possible an efficient methodology whereby villagers are actively involved in making such decisions. For example, in South Africa, they are helping produce basemaps as management tools for land redistribution. Despite the past efforts of field survey teams, existing cadastral data were obsolete or almost completely lacking. Insufficient manpower and budget meant that field campaigns had thus far been unable to acquire adequate coverage. Joe Schiller, marketing manager at SAC was under no illusions as to the scale of the task.
Land use is a dynamic phenomenon that can change in the space of a few days or weeks.
We therefore needed source data no more than one year old to determine the current status of land ownership. The areas of interest are large, widely dispersed and hard to reach. Annotations made in the field to correct or supplement parcel boundaries defined by the DLA can be quickly digitised to update the cadastral database. Information extracted from the maps is accurate, consistent and up to date, not only because it is based on recent imagery, but also because SPOT satellites can be programmed to acquire images of specific areas of interest. Proving the point With the success of the project behind them, the DLA and the SAC are laying the groundwork for a larger-scale exercise.