Optimising Land Consolidation by Implementing UAV Technology

Abstract

The increase in population and the growing demand for food that accompanies it drive the need to achieve sustainable agriculture. Technological progress and methodological novelties provide tools that may support the processes of improving the spatial structure of agricultural lands, as well as their management. One of the examples may be the application of photogrammetric and remote-sensing products to facilitate land consolidation. In the following paper, the systematised procedure of conduct is investigated to determine the moments at which these products could be adopted. In identifying the possibilities for implementing the abovementioned tools, we analyse the legal regulations governing the process and the literature on the subject, as well as some practical examples encountered in surveying practice. In addition, the usefulness of such geospatial products is tested on data gathered during an exemplary UAV flight. We then investigate the issues with implementing the abovementioned tools and assess their advantages and disadvantages in smart agriculture. The research proves that reliable elaboration of the consolidation project concept is critical for its correct realisation, while modern measurement methods providing efficient, up-to-date, factual data facilitate the procedures and support rational decision making. Moreover, they enable us to ensure the necessary accuracy of the data for the scope of the land use and avoid analysing a compilation of several cartographic materials concerning the surveyed object. In the present study, the RMSExyz mean square error at the control points for the orthomosaic, generated using the Matrice 210 RTK v2 professional flying platform, is 5.6 cm, while for the orthomosaic created from images from the amateur drone Mavic 2 Pro RMSExyz, it is 9.2 cm. The results obtained also indicate the usefulness of low-budget drones during the land consolidation process.