Information System for the Vegetation Control of Transmission Lines Right-of-way

Surveillance and monitoring of the right-of-ways in all the Brazilian transmission lines, regarding the clearing and cleaning, are periodically done through field inspection or by using a helicopter. Once identified any irregularity, the EATE Company begins its plan for the next cleaning and clearing task. One of the Company´s line, located in the Northern part of Brazil (Amazon area), deserves special attention due to dense vegetation surrounding this line right-of-way. Information Systems containing geo-referenced data of the transmission assets, lands where the line passes, vegetation around the line and the applicatives utilized are useful tools to improve the efficiency of the maintenance engineering. Satellite images, aerophotogranometry, videography and airborne laser scanning are now available in the market. Due to the accuracy they offer (spatial resolution), these tools can well be applied to track not only invasions to the transmission line right-of-way but also to monitor the surrounding vegetation. Among the aspects considered within the scope of this paper are the following: -Development of a GIS (Geographic Information System) and its methodology aimed to the right-of-way surveillance using images, georeferenced database and a geoprocessing software. -Development of a transmission line 3D tracing using airborne laser scanning data.