Municipal map model for the Dominican Republic, using drone-based digital photogrammetry and GIS. Case study: San José de Ocoa urban area

Updating urban cartography is essential for territorial development planning and management in the Dominican Republic, where municipalities lack Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that detail local productive components. To address this need, a municipal cartographic model was proposed using digital photogrammetry with a UAV and GIS, focusing on the municipality of San José de Ocoa. The study area was delimited using Google Earth satellite images and a flight was conducted with a Phantom 4 RTK drone, employing RTK/PPK techniques to ensure the accuracy of the geographic coordinates. GNSS observations were stored in RINEX 3.02 format for possible subsequent adjustments. Nine flights were conducted, obtaining 4 985 georeferenced photos with accuracies of less than 2 cm. Image processing was performed in three stages using Agisoft Metashape, generating digital terrain models and contour lines with Global Mapper. Subsequently, urban map elements, such as buildings and street axes, were vectorized using Civil 3D and orthophotos as reference. The result was a georeferenced plan including the footprints of buildings and bodies of water, exported in shapefile format. Finally, the cartography was validated by a walk through the municipality, updating the vectorized information with data from the UAV survey