The Integrated Land Management Information System Project Development Office of the Addis Abeba City Administration is to have an aerial photograph of the city taken on Monday, November 22, 2010; its second attempt at updating its cadastral map.

In April 2010, the development office signed a 50 million Br deal with Hansa Luftbild German Air Surveys for the project, of which the map is but a component, which had drawn bids from 12 international and one local company.

The project is to establish a Real Property Registration and Land Information, a.k.a. cadastral, System; standardise an addressing system; and establish integrated offices at the central and district level, according to Zerihun Amdemariam, project manager of the development office.

The scheduled flight is the company's second attempt to take the photograph after it was too cloudy to get a clear picture during the previous attempt, according to Armin Runge, project manager of Hansa.

"Weather permitting, we will spend the whole day taking pictures from 2,000 metres and finish the same day," he told Fortune. "The plane will be fitted with an Ultracam, manufactured by Vexcel Company, with a high resolution of 20cm to take the pictures."

The city's existing cadastral map was converted into a line map in 2005 from an aerial photograph taken in 2001 by Ofek, an Israeli company. However, the map has become outdated due to the large number of construction projects, demolition of existing houses, and flourishing of illegal settlements in the city.

"The map also lacked information like geometric and area descriptions in addition to land use and legal ownership rights as well as restrictions," Zerihun told Fortune. "The new map, which will be made after digitally converting the aerial photographs, will include all the essential details."

Developing a standardised addressing system for house numbers and street names is another component of the project which the German company is expected to finalise within 20 months, according to the agreement.

A Cessna six, contracted by Hansa Luftbild from IMAO, a French company, is to be used for the flight, according to Runge.