The use of aerial photography in systematic sampling

El uso de la fotografía aérea en el muestreo sistemático

Abstract

In this work, we processed the information offered by the aerial photographs to present a proposal that takes into account the financial cost and integrates the basic principle of systematic sampling, spatialization through orthophotos, as a preliminary step to carry out a socioeconomic survey in the Amazon parish Diez de Agosto, Ecuador. The procedure contributes to the systematic sampling since it replaces the requirements of ordering and numbering the target population, and offers the physical layout of all the sampling units integrating a geo-referenced physical representation of the terrain identified in the orthophotographic mosaic. In addition, the use of a squared grid side equal to the systematic jump, together with the randomly chosen angle which overlaps the space of the population to choose its elements, ensures that the sample is equally spread to the entire population.

The method also showed that it is possible to combine the financial situation with the accuracy achieved through sampling. Besides, it also allows to collect infor- mation through a GPS to delimit space units in the field.