Dr Alex said digital mapping could revolutionise infrastructure development in the country. "It will help us speed up the surveys for road building, and laying of high tension electric and telecommunication lines. Since satellite photographs are of high resolution, planners and engineers can work from their offices," said Dr Alex.
But the major advantage of digital mapping is in the preservation of land records and documents, according to Dr Alex. "Depending on the input we get from village offices and collectorates, it is possible to eliminate discrepancies associated with land dealings. The village level survey numbers and boundaries come in handy for the concerned authorities to detect malpractices in land transactions, if any. But this requires enormous output," said Dr Alex. He said it was possible to digitally map the world.
Ring roads for small and big cities too could be planned with the aid of the digital maps. "The digital images will provide us with the number and size of the buildings and other structures in the area. This is a major help in the planning process. City development is another area where these digital images could play a major role," Dr Alex said.
He disclosed that ISRO would have hyper spectral imagery cameras, which are capable of capturing images with more than 200 colours. "These are helpful in identifying the minerals on the earth's surface," said Dr Alex, an aerospace specialist who was honoured by the Astronomical Society of India for his outstanding contribution to remote sensing.