Puerto Rico orthophoto land base
In 1995, the Municipal Revenue Collection Center (CRIM) undertook a major strategic initiative to modernize the Puerto Rico fiscal cadastre system. When CRIM decided to undertake the modernization program there was not an accurate, up-to-date land base for the island. CRIM recognized the need to develop a complete, geo-referenced digital cadastral map of the Commonwealth, including the islands of Vieques and Culebra.
Drawing from experiences in the US state-wide mapping programs, a planimetric map meeting national map accuracy standards and high resolution orthophoto land base were envisioned. This land base would provide an accurate geospatial reference to create, split, merge, transfer, or delete parcels using a new computerized system. It was further determined that the land base would be of great value to other government and private concerns in the commonwealth as well as the 78 municipalities of the island for planning, engineering and infrastructure management uses.
Challenge
The mapping component of the project needed to meet a very tight schedule and provide a high level of quality required both for CRIM's use and for licensing the resulting vector land base, ortho imagery and parcels to other constituents on the island.
The mapping required evaluation of the existing geodetic network including the placement of second order control monuments in each municipality. The island's density required a complete coverage at 1:2000 scale with 1:1000 scale in urban areas. As a subtropical location, Puerto Rico had extremely unpredictable weather patterns which had to be factored into the flight planning. This was the first time in-flight GPS control was attempted at such a large scale in the island.
The amount of planimetric detail required by the specifications in order to ensure proper registration of the parcels called for a large compilation team.
Solution
CRIM contracted for a turn-key project from a consortia of Puerto Rican companies who in-turn contracted the services of Lucerne International to serve as overall manager for mapping and quality assurance.
Lucerne made an initial evaluation of mapping requirements and devised an overall master plan for two scales of mapping. Specifications were developed and tested through a pilot project that also provided a test bed to refine the specifications and select the eventual mapping team.
A team of four leading US mapping companies was selected for the photogrammetric mapping with Aero-Metric, Inc. serving as the Aerial Mapping contractor, teamed with Photo Science, James W. Sewall Company and Triathlon Mapping. Weather required required the aerial photography to be performed in three separate flying seasons.
Lucerne coordinated the activities of all mapping vendors on behalf of the Consortia providing a manageable single point of reference for the customer including quality assurance and delivery certification.
Continued funding for the project was a challenge that was eventually resolved allowing successful completion of the mapping.
Client
The Municipal Revenue Collection Center (CRIM) is a municipal entity responsible for the collection of all municipal taxes in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It was created in 1991 as part of a municipal reform that was intended to position municipalities closer to their primary sources of revenue. CRIM provides fiscal services to the 78 municipalities of the island and is responsible for the segregation, appraisal, notification, and collection of real and personal property taxes and the distribution of public funds provided by the sources defined by law.
Results
The resulting land base and parcel map is being used not only for the island's digital cadastre, and its 78 municipalities, but is also licensed by key organizations in the island such as the the Puerto Rico Power Authority, and more than 30 commonwealth government agencies through the Office of Management and Budget's Interagency Community Portal
Services
