To compile a large-scale map of the vegetation of the key area during the growing season, aerial photography was performed. Aerial photography was carried out with the help of a radio-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) -drone DJI Phantom 3 Pro in 2017 and DJI Mavic Pro in 2018. Both devices are equipped with a high-resolution RGB camera mounted on a gyro-stabilized gimbal that provides additional stabilization of the camera. The survey was performed from a height of 500 m, which gives a spatial resolution of 0.5 m. Each image is geo-referenced. The program Agisoft PhotoScan was used to create the mosaic. It allows to automatically carry out the entire cycle of necessary operations from the geometric correction of lens distortion to the construction of a geolocated orthophotomap. The orthophotoplans obtained in this way served as a cartographic basis for geobotanical mapping of the steppes. Taking into account the **data** of the field geobotanical survey of the territory in the ArcGIS 10.0 software carried out a visual decoding of a geolocated orthophotomap.