Furaha N Lugoe

Spatial Data Acquisition, Display and Use Furaha N Lugoe

Land surveying and topographical mapping activities were introduced in colonial Tanganyika, about a century ago, as an essential instrument in the delivery of land to the settlers. In this regard, farms in the rural areas and plots in the urban centers were surveyed, displayed on survey plans and used as part of a technical requirement for granting certificates of title to land. At the same time surveys were undertaken to demarcate and coordinate international boundaries with neighboring countries in context of the Kenya, Uganda, N/Rhodesia, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Nyasaland boundary commissions involving also Britain, Belgium and Germany. Proper delimitation and delineation of boundaries provided for a successful demarcation that in turn have provided for the territorial identity of Tanzania. Almost a century later, the core processes in the land surveying sub sectors were: (i) re-definition of the geodetic datum and the development of the geodetic networks, both horizontal, vertical and 3D; (ii) cadastral surveying; (iii) village boundary surveying; (iv) hydrographic surveying; and (v) the determination and maintenance of territorial boundaries. Topographical, engineering, mining and other land surveying applications are also in applications as needed operations. The future hinges on surveying technology in GPS, GIS, Remote sensing, land information and decision support systems of the information age, but to accomplish the same tasks in packages of new products.