Advanced aerial and street imagery of Tongatapu and Ha’apai, to be collected in the coming weeks, is expected to provide ultra-high-resolution data that will enhance several services provided by government ministries as well as NGOs.

The Aerial and Ground Data Collection is scheduled from 31 October to 19 November 2025, in Tongatapu and Lifuka, Ha'apai, and will be conducted every two years to generate geospatial products for evidence-based decision-making.

As part of the preparation, surveyors and technical teams from the Pacific Community (SPC) are working alongside the Ministry of Lands to set up Ground Control Points (GCPs) across Tongatapu and Ha’apai. These GCPs will serve as key reference points to ensure the aerial imagery collected is accurately aligned and georeferenced.

PLACE, a global non-profit technology organization, is working with the Tonga Government to collect and manage two types of ultra-high-resolution optical imagery. High-precision mapping drones will capture optical images of ground data, while high-resolution street-level imagery will be captured via mobile mapping systems.

Technical officials from various government ministries and NGOs discussed the imagery collection, during a consultation held on Wednesday, 29 October 2025, at the Statistics Department conference room in Nuku'alofa.

The consultation was hosted by the Geospatial Information Services (GIS) of the Ministry of Lands, Survey, Planning, and Natural Resources (MLSPNR) in collaboration with PLACE, and supported by the Pacific Community (SPC), through the Digital Earth Pacific Programme.

It provided stakeholders with an overview of the work undertaken by PLACE, including their data collection methods and capabilities. The workshop also opened discussions on national geospatial data priorities and stakeholder data needs.

Participants raised questions regarding data privacy, and the advanced technology PLACE will be using.

Frank Pichel from the PLACE Foundation said that personal identifiers such as license plates and faces that are captured will be scrubbed from the imagery “to keep privacy."

He highlighted the importance of spatial data in the modern economy for various services, including "electricity, trash collection, delivering packages, and risk analysis.”

The team's advanced technology can also perform flood mapping and modelling, converting data into critical contour maps for low-lying areas, which is crucial for both Tongatapu and Ha’apai’s low-lying areas. Senior GIS specialist Yumi Nafe said that future data collection might extend to the outer islands, but current budget constraints limit it to Tongatapu and Ha’apai. Tongatapu was chosen for its dense population, and Ha'apai for being a low-lying island prone to sea-level rise.

The raw data collected will be the sole property of the Government of Tonga, with no restrictions on its use. The Government retains full rights to share the data across agencies and with the public and may engage with external partners to further develop its geospatial data resources.

The data will also be shared with SPC to support their ongoing work in Tonga.

PLACE is a global non-profit technology organization established in 2020 from the Property Rights initiative at Omidyar Network. Its mission is to make high-resolution aerial and street imagery more open, reliable, and accessible - supporting governments in improving citizens' lives, creating economic opportunities, strengthening public services, and promoting environmental stewardship. In partnership with governments, PLACE provides the expertise, training, and technical support needed to produce and maintain critical base mapping imagery.

PLACE works with governments to collect and manage two types of ultra-high-resolution optical imagery according to standard specifications: • Aerial imagery: 5-10 cm ground sample distance (GSD), RGB, geo-referenced optical images captured using high-precision mapping drones. • Street-level imagery: high-resolution, RGB, geo-referenced 360° street images captured via mobile mapping systems.