A survey team from Cape Town-based drone services company Integrated Aerial Systems was in the KwaZulu Natal Province in South Africa recently, helping the Ethekwini Municipality map out an area earmarked for residential settlement.

The rising drone technology start-up says it was called in to assist the municipality as it conducts preliminary preparations for a housing and infrastructure development in the Greater Amaoti area.

Lying 20km north of the city of Durban, Greater Amaoti is one of the biggest informal settlements in South Africa; housing about 20,000 household in 2016 when the local municipality started plans to develop better housing infrastructure for the residents.

The project has taken another step forward, with IIAS coming in with their traditional survey expertise as well as modern technological knowhow to provide valuable data to support the municipality’s goals.

“Through an integrated approach of drone-based surveying and traditional terrestrial surveying, we were able to provide valuable data and insights that support planning efforts to develop more efficient, sustainable, and inclusive communities,” said Warren Witte, IAS CEO.

“Surveys are valuable tools for gathering information about communities, allowing planners within the municipality to make better-informed decisions, address specific needs, and create sustainable and liveable human settlements. Adding drones to the mix facilitates faster data collection speeds, high resolution, and high accuracy.”

According to the company’s report about its sojourn to KwaZulu Natal, IAS used combined traditional surveying techniques with modern drone technology and photogrammetry to create accurate and detailed geospatial data to help the Ethekwini Municipality in the planning phases of the development of this human settlement.

“Aerial data was collected over an area spanning 1300 hectares using a Phantom 4 Pro RTK drone equipped with a high-resolution camera, while land-based data was collected in collaboration with a local Professional Land Surveyor. The combination of traditional and modern surveying techniques made possible the production of precise and comprehensive geospatial data.

“Accurate geo-referenced digital terrain models, orthomosaics, topographical maps, and point clouds were produced using Structure-from-Motion (SfM) software in conjunction with the Ground Control Points set out by the local Professional Land Surveyor.

“With these deliverables, the municipality can share and collaborate with engineers, town planners, construction managers, and other professionals to help streamline the planning phase. Additionally, this data may be utilised in the future throughout the development and construction stages and even in the final stages as “before and after” comparisons.”

The company added that the Geospatial Information System (GIS) component of the project consisted of a combination of manual digitisation and machine learning techniques, which were used to accurately capture and classify various features, with manual intervention needed in more difficult situations.

“This ensured high accuracy and precision in the final geospatial data. The development of “planned” settlements includes road infrastructure, drainage, open space, and structured housing. The GIS component of this project, along with the previously described deliverables, will be used to plan the transformation of this informal settlement into a “planned” settlement.

“Incorporating aerial surveying into human settlement planning provides planners with a comprehensive view of settlements by facilitating more informed and data-driven decisions. It enables better resource management, improved infrastructure planning and design, and the development of more sustainable and resilient communities.”