Mapping very dense urban areas in Mayotte with Pléiades Neo HD15 imagery

In the context of Mayotte’s strong demographic growth, the existing environment is evolving rapidly, making it challenging to maintain up-to-date maps. Mamoudzou, with its density of around 1,700 inhabitants per square kilometer, is a densely populated city and a prime example of the building expansion currently taking place on the island.

As representatives of the administration of urban communities in Mayotte, CADEMA and 3CO are tasked with updating their local authority maps in a region where urban developments are evolving quickly. This update is vital for pinpointing flood and landslide-prone areas and offering necessary assistance to residences.
To address the obsolescence of their maps, the local authority seeks an alternative to expensive and hard-to-get aerial images that still satisfies their mapping needs. Their main goal is to acquire a recent, high-resolution view of the city that allows them to discern buildings in densely populated urban areas and update their maps effectively.

• Update the local maps in cities where infrastructures evolve quickly
• Find an alternative to expensive and difficult to aquire aerial images
• Discern buildings in very dense urban areas.

La TeleScop was created in 2018 by engineers and doctors from the research laboratories of the Maison de la Télédétection in Montpellier wishing to contribute to the knowledge of territories thanks to data from Earth observation using satellite imagery.

The Dembéni-Mamoudzou Agglomeration Community (CADEMA) is a public intercommunal cooperation establishment of  13 villages and 89,090 inhabitants, representing a third of the total population of Mayotte. The main objective of the CADEMA is to establish a space of solidarity with a view to carrying out a common regional development and planning project in the territories of Dembéni and Mamoudzou.