The camera used to take aerial photographs of the landscape below is no ordinary camera, but one that also records the co-ordinates of the area captured by the camera lens. This process is called ‘support photography’, and allows the photographed image to be converted into so-called digital ortophotos, capable of laying out a totally up-to-date map of the land along with its photographic image. Thanks to this system, scale measurements can be made of surface areas that can later be compared with existing maps on the same scale.
Members of Seprona, the Nature Protection Service of the Guardia Civil, who investigate urban planning irregularities, check the resulting maps with those kept in the planning offices.
To detect irregularities being committed, the ‘ortophotos’ are superimposed over planning office drawings, providing instant information on where exactly the photographed image is. In this way, in the office, illegal buildings and building sites can be identified by the simple expedient of checking the legal status of the land they stand on, whether it be urban, rustic, in a green zone or fully protected by law.
One can also tell if an illegal building has been standing for more than twenty years (which affects its legal status) by checking a Junta de Andalucía computer programme using ortophotos so big and with such high resolution that the registration number of a car outside a house can be read.
