News
The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, or drones) offers high quality and data precision in its various fields of use. Recently, INCRA (National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform) announced a new regulation for the use of drones in Georeferencing.
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Announcement
The official announcement of the Incra/DF/02 Execution Rule took place on February 20th, in Brasília (DF), during the workshop Land Administration Registration and Georeferencing. Rogério Papalardo Arantes, Director of Land Structure Management at Incra, officially opened the meeting, thanking partner institutions and civil servants. “In this event, we are going to present the new tools, debate the update of regulations for the georeferencing and certification of rural properties with the integration of new technologies,” he announced. Arantes declared that Incra recently invested approximately five million reais in technological modernization. “Our challenge, in these two days, is to exchange experiences, promote the exchange between the entities and institutions present, and strengthen our efforts to modernize land governance in the country,” he stated. The event was attended by Incra civil servants and representatives of entities and agencies from all over Brazil and other countries active in the field.
The Standard
Signed by Incra's Director of Land Structure Planning, the Execution Standard approves the use of aircraft – manned or unmanned – for surveying photo-identifiable features for the purpose of georeferencing rural properties, with the exception of type M vertices, which must be materialized in the field using landmarks. For vertices under vegetation, for example, it will still be necessary to use conventional topography equipment. It also establishes that a specific Technical Responsibility Note (ART) must be obtained when aerial photogrammetry is used in georeferencing services. Therefore, only professionals qualified to work with aerial photogrammetry can sign off on the work. It was also defined that, when using aerial photogrammetry for the purpose of georeferencing rural properties, the technical representative for the work must file and maintain specific reports and materials. Thus, it is understood that the work must be carried out in compliance with the current legislation for aircraft, whether manned or unmanned, and that all information gathered before, during, and after the survey must be maintained.
Development of the standard
The standard was developed after the delivery of the technical report that certified the quality of the cartographic products created from UAV photogrammetry. The approval of the use of drones in the georeferencing of rural properties occurred after pilot projects were conducted by Incra/MG servers qualified to operate these vehicles. On February 17, the topographic aerial survey of the Jacaré Grande settlement, located in the Minas Gerais municipality of Janaúba, was completed. The work is the first in the state executed with this type of technology, speeding up the preparation of technical documents for the titling of the lots. The inaugural flight took place on October 26, 2017, covering 780 hectares. The head of the Land Structure Ordinance Division of Incra/MG and also coordinator of the national group of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Marcelo José Pereira da Cunha, stated that the first shipment of analyzed images “proves the accuracy of the coordinates extracted by the UAV”. On the ground, 20 check points were determined, which are the parameters for verifying the level of precision achieved after processing the images. The overall average precision was 13.8 centimeters. “The best precision required by Incra's technical standard is 50 cm, and the most restrictive standard of cartographic accuracy for digital products in Brazil is 28 cm. Everything we measure on the mosaic of photographs has an uncertainty of only 13.8 cm, demonstrating the quality of the technology we have started to use,” adds Cunha.
Advantages of using this technology
Regarding the benefits of the technology, Cunha emphasized that the use of the drone “considerably speeds up our actions. If we had to manually take every boundary point with GPS, it would take us between three and four months to do the field work. Now, we did it in 15 days. Furthermore, if we were to bid for the subdivision of the area, we would spend about R$ 180,000. With the UAV there is only the cost of R$ 10,000 for travel and daily allowances for two or three civil servants, so we save financial resources and time”. The regional superintendent of Incra/MG, Robson de Oliveira Fonzar, states that modernization brings faster results to society, as it advances the production of technical elements fundamental to land regularization. “The incorporation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles accelerates georeferencing services. We anticipate by days what would take us months to do and this is reflected in better service to the settlers. In a much shorter time, we are able to prepare maps and documents necessary for the titling and legal security of the families on that land”, he considers. For Giovani Amianti, president of xmobots®, the publication of the standard is a major milestone for the drone sector, opening up a new range of application possibilities with remotely piloted aircraft. He states that, in addition to proving the accuracy of the generated products, UAVs also optimized the work of the civil servants who conducted the tests.
Quote: It is noted, therefore, that drones are being widely accepted in the areas where they are deployed. PixForce believes that drones and other involved technologies are the beginning of an intelligent future that will revolutionize various sectors, due to a logical factor: more results, better data quality, in less time, at lower cost. We work, daily, building the future of innovations in which we believe.
Fabio Caraça
Fábio Caraça is the Chief Growth Officer at Pix Force. He leads Pix Force's transformation into a scalable SaaS operation, combining strategic vision, culture, and high-impact execution.
