Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Updating Farmland Cadastral Data in Areas Subject to Landslides

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to verify the applicability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to update cadastral records in areas affected by landslides. Its authors intended to compare the accuracy of coordinates determined using different UAV data processing methods for points which form the framework of a cadastral database, and to find out whether products obtained as a result of such UAV data processing are sufficient to define the extent of changes in the cadastral objects. To achieve this, an experiment was designed to take place at the site of a landslide. The entire photogrammetry mission was planned to cover an area of more than 70 ha. Given the steep grade of the site, the UAV was flown over each line at a different, individually preset altitude, such as to ensure consistent mean shooting distance (height above ground level), and thus, appropriate ground sample distance (GSD; pixel size). The results were analyzed in four variants, differing from each other in terms of the number of control points used and the method of their measurement. This allowed identification of the factors that affect surveying accuracy and the indication of the cadastral data updatable based on an UAV photogrammetric survey.