Strengthening the capacities of the Land Relations and Cadastre Agency with EU assistance

In the first quarter of 2023, the Agency for Land Relations and Cadastre, in partnership with the EU-funded Twinning project ”Improving spatial data services in the Republic of Moldova following EU standards”, conducted a series of dedicated seminars and trainings, outlined in the work plan. The topics addressed were the following:

 Metadata creation and maintenance

- In order to successfully organise and manage metadata for spatial data, public entities need to know how to create and maintain metadata according to existing standards. In this meaning, specialists from several public entities took part in a cycle of training sessions on the implementation of the Guidelines for creating and updating metadata for spatial data and network services, being trained by experts from Croatian State Geodetic Administration (SGA),

 Use of unmanned aircraft systems

(UAS, drones) in National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) – Croatian experience in using unmanned aircraft systems was shared to the representatives of Moldovan public entities, working with spatial data and having experience in data capturing and management, as well as to those who chose to expand their knowledge on the collection, updating and management of 3D data. Existing rules for UAS operation, mechanism of their functioning, software and hardware support, publishing on web, as well as benefits of drone usage in NSDI, were presented and discussed. Representatives of the Moldovan Civil Aviation Agency made an overview of the Moldovan legal framework and existing practices in our country.

 Introduction to spatial databases –The goal of this training was to raise the participants' awareness of the structure of a spatial database, the method of its creation, and the connection of users to this database. The participants learned from the Twinning project experts about the commercial and open-source technical solutions that exist on the market in working with spatial databases and carried out practical exercises in creating them as well as applying functions that allow for working with spatial data and analysis, while using the QGIS software. All the technical solutions applied during the training for the two groups are open source.

 Use of LIDAR data in the NSDI – This was the topic of the last seminar organised for 2 groups reuniting representatives from 10 public entities. One Croatian expert from SGA presented and explained the basic concepts of LIDAR scanning, the technical characteristics required to be met when contracting LIDAR scanning services, as well as hardware (technical equipment) and software support (programs) required for working with this type of data. Additionally, the applicability of LIDAR data was explained, by using existing good practices in Croatia, and the participants worked on the classification of LIDAR data into different categories/ classes.

The Twinning project “Improving spatial data services in the Republic of Moldova following EU standards” is financed by the European Union and implemented by the Agency for Land Relations and Cadastre (ALRC) of the Republic of Moldova, in partnership with counterpart organisations from Croatia, Poland and the Netherlands.