Increasing demand to surveys like completion of land alienation surveys and cadastre is a challenge

P M P Udayakantha Surveyor General of Sri Lanka

Please explain briefly the vision and mission of Survey Department of Sri Lanka (SLSD)? How is it being achieved the present days context?

Our vision is “To be the leader in providing land information right through”

Our mission is “Provide high quality land information products and services through a professionally qualified and dedicated staff”

We continuously work hard and make improvements to meet the challenges which are also dynamic.

What are key initiatives/project of SLSD in recent years?

Working on establishment of a National spatial Data Infrastructure Re engineer the process of field surveys in order to improve efficiency and compatibility with land information system requirements.

Upgrading Geodetic Control Network with Six CORS Stations as first stage. Expected to cover the whole country at next stage.

Lidar Survey of five districts (almost one tenth of the country) to provide high quality DEM for disaster mitigation activities related to floods and landslides.

Geographical Names Standardization Development of a National Land Information System Mapping using UAV.

Technology is changing fast in this domain. What are the SLSD endeavours to keep itself “technologically updated”?

We continuously keep vigilant on recent development in technology with the view of adopting them to improve efficiency of present systems. We frequently attend the international workshops and Training Programmes to update the knowledge in technology.

What is the status of Land Information Systems (LIS) in Sri Lanka?

We have captured about one million land parcels into the system and available. This is about one tenth of the country. Capturing other information in much speedy manner is in progress with the concept of parcel fabric.

What is the update on Spatial Data Infrastructure of Sri Lanka?

Official activity is in progress. Baseline survey and Requirement study is being carried out and system development will commence soon. Data policy and standards are also being prepared and awareness activities are also in place.

It is realized that Disaster Management is an important area where all stakeholders agree on data sharing. This is prioritized in system development as it is required to share spatial data on regular basis for diasaster management activities.

How conducive is the policy for using UAV/UAS for the survey and mapping in Sri Lanka?

Survey Department recently acquired a UAV and now in operation. We are still at the initial stages for UAV surveys. There is a great potential and demand for UAV surveys.

Policy on UAV mapping is not being established yet. But it has been identified that in open areas where boundaries are clearly visible, it is possible to capture boundary points with an accuracy of 10-15 cm, which is as good as ground surveys. Application still have to be decided after further research. Still it is too early to develop a policy on UAV Mapping.

What are the main challenges before SLSD?

Increasing demand to surveys like completion of land alienation surveys and Cadastre in a shorter time is one of the main challenges.

Providing high quality elevation information is also another challenge we are facing. Development of a Geoid Model is in place in order to achieve this.

Provide high quality surveying and mapping work within a short period of time.

National Mapping Organisations are increasingly becoming irrelevant with the advent of players like Google Earth. Please comment.

These systems help many activities and it actually relieved us and allowed us to involve in more important activities related to development.