Between February 3 and 15, a team of IBGE servants carried out the first external work using a drone to map an area between states, developed jointly by the Division of Cartography, the Division of Territorial Structures and the Department of Geodetic and Cartographic Surveys of the Directorate of Geosciences (DGC). The work aimed at an aerial photogrammetric survey of 4 areas located between the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, with the purpose of clarifying doubts regarding the border between the states.

It took about 3 hours and 45 minutes of flight time to survey the areas, which together cover 9.3 km², and resulted in almost 6,000 photos being taken. The processing of the photos and generation of the products , carried out on a high-performance computer, took 60 hours.

The IBGE currently has three drones for mapping, located at the State Superintendencies in Ceará and Bahia, in addition to the DGC in Rio de Janeiro. They will be used in some areas of Geosciences, such as Cartography, Territorial Structures, and Environment.

"Using drones helps to increase speed and precision and achieve greater data accuracy. It is a very powerful tool, because it allows the presentation of numerous high-quality products for managers of a given area to perform various analyses to aid decision-making. This work can help improve the management of territorial borders in various areas of the Brazilian territory", pointed out Manager of Geoinformation Solutions Fernando Barroso.

Throughout 2024, drone surveys were carried out at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) and at the IBGE branch in Parada de Lucas. According to cartographic engineer and Technologist in Geographical and Statistical Geoinformation, Luiz Antonio Xavier, the difference in this current work was the use of the drone for a specialized mapping survey to define state borders. “Now, in addition to mapping and generating orthomosaics, there is the primary issue of generating digital surface terrain to define state or municipal borders,” he explained.

The IBGE is not responsible for defining territorial borders, but acts as a mediator and technical consultant, providing state managers with the Methodology for Dealing with State and Municipal Territorial Issues, developed by the IBGE, and cartographic inputs so that the states can subsequently update their boundaries. The drone mapping work between Minas Gerais and Bahia was carried out in support of the negotiations between the states underway in the trial of Ordinary Civil Action No. 3,609, currently pending in the Supreme Federal Court.

In 2020, IBGE carried out drone work in Rio de Janeiro

In 2020, some activities were carried out using drones in Sapucaia, in the state of Rio de Janeiro (RJ). There was a gap in aerial photogrammetric coverage in an area of ​​4 km² and it was necessary to use the drone to complete the coverage of the RJ25 project.

According to Leonardo Scharth, Cartographic Engineer and Technologist in Geographical and Statistical Geoinformation, the drone used in these types of work is different from the one used in journalistic coverage, for example. It is larger and has a specialized camera for mapping with very high-resolution images. “Operating with drones brings a new possibility of obtaining data; it is another source of information so that we can fulfill IBGE's mission, which is to portray the country,” he stated.

To use a drone, it is necessary to register with the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), have a certified pilot, obtain a flight authorization from the Department of Airspace Control (DECEA) of the Brazilian Air Force, stating the location where the flight will take place, plan the flight before going into the field, and, after the flight, process the images collected using specific software. The drones used in IBGE fieldwork are meant to generate high-resolution and precision mapping by means of aerial photogrammetric techniques.

The Geoinformation Solutions Manager, Fernando Barroso, received training to operate the drone and explained that “the equipment that IBGE acquired is more suited to mapping and can also be used for the environment because, in addition to the RGB camera, which generates color images, it also has a multispectral camera, which means it can see other aspects of the image. This multispectral camera can be used, for example, in agriculture, to determine the health of a crop.”

Jose Henrique da Silva, Manager of the Brazilian Territorial Division, pointed out that, in the past, photogrammetric surveys were performed using conventional aircraft, and today, the work has been made easier with the use of drones. “The more sophisticated the drone camera, the better the resolution, as it allows you to see more details in the image, resulting in a better quality product.”

Among the possibilities for using drones in geosciences are the generation of images from the antennas of the Brazilian Network for Continuous Monitoring of GNSS Systems (RBMC) to assist in the maintenance of active stations; the creation of three-dimensional images of Tide Gauge Stations; detailed imaging for the Continuous Cartographic Base; among others.

IBGE Directorate of Geosciences

The Directorate of Geosciences (DGC) of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) has a large set of cartographic products that meet different needs, used by researchers, public managers and companies for planning and decision-making, such as topographic maps; thematic maps; continuous cartographic bases; territorial grids; municipal maps, image charts; and digital elevation models (DEM).

The DGC also has several geodetic products, which are essential for topographic surveys, georeferencing, navigation and scientific studies, such as the set of geodetic stations and landmarks that make up the Brazilian Geodetic Network (RGB) , the Brazilian Continuous Monitoring Network (RBMC) , the Permanent Tide Gauge Network for Geodesy  and Altitude References (Level References – RN). In addition to Geography and Environmental products, such as Coleções Biológicas; Biological Collections; Data on Brazilian biodiversity; the Brazilian Environmental Database and Information Bank (BDiA); among others.