1. The FGDC US Cadastral Standard (CadNSDI)
October 31, 2013
Nancy von Meyer
Meet Up Presentation

2. Agenda CadNSDI Standard Background, Terms and Scope
The Standard PLSS Data PLSS - Feature Classes and Examples
Standard PLSS data in the Fabric
Questions – ask in the chat box at any time
If you hear a dog –
It’s mine and it’s this one ---

3. Development of the PLSS Standard
Content Standard adopted by FGDC 1995 (one of the first FGDC Data Standards)
Need for standard physical format - WGA Cadastral Forum 2000
Implementation Templates and Guidelines – Cadastral Subcommittee
Geocommunicator
Business Need for seamless standardized PLSS – Cadastral Subcommittee
Standardized statewide PLSS from GCDB – started in 2006
BLM adoption of template and guideline – 2009
BLM and Cadastral Subcommittee Publication standard Version 2 adopted
The history of the standardized PLSS began with the FGDC data content standard in The content standard is a logical normalized definition of publication cadastral data but there was a need for a standardized physical format that reflected more optimum structure for implementation and use. Starting with Colorado, Montana and Arizona PLSS data the implementation standard evolved over a period of years with testing of use, maintenance, state publishing, data distribution and providing data as a service. In 2009 the formalization of the implementation standard accelerated with BLM adopting the standard in the fall of At each step in the process the Subcommittee solicited comments and evolved the standard with the help of customer testing and feedback.

4. Terms and Concepts
CADNSDI – This is the cadastral component of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure and it includes core parcel data and cadastral reference data, most commonly the PLSS.
PLSS CadNSDI – standardized PLSS data in the Cad NSDI Format
Production and Publication – Publication data are the operation and maintenance data sets, such as GMM, and include operations like adding new survey control and incorporating new field observations. Publication data are distribution and dissemination data sets that are made available for customers and business applications.

5. Data Publisher, Web Hosting
Production
Publication
Source
Authoritative Source
Trusted Source
Role
Data Steward
Data Publisher, Web Hosting
Tools
Coordinate Geometry computations, Measurement Adjustments, datum conversions
Web Publishing, Browser, GIS , query, reporting tools, mapping output
Authoritative Source - is an entity authorized by a legal authority to develop or manage data for a specific business purpose.
Data Stewards – (more on this later) The authoritative source and providers of cadastral data. Perform the data production operations. PLSS data stewardship is defined at the Township or smaller area. Corners on stewardship boundaries will identify the two stewards and each side of the boundary.
Trusted Source – A service provider or agency that publishes data from a number of authoritative sources. Data Steward agrees to and provides data for publication by the Trusted Source. These publications are often compilations and subsets of the data from more than one authoritative source.
Background documents on all these concepts – look under the PLSS Work Group on the Projects List.

6. Public Land Survey System (PLSS) covers 30 States.
It is a more or less rectangular system that is used to support land descriptions.
The PLSS is the predominate but is only one of several Cadastral Reference Systems in use in the US.
Parcel data are the individual units of either landownership or land taxation in the US.
The PLSS is used to divide public domain lands, which are lands owned by the Federal government for the benefit of the citizens of the United States. The original public domain included the land ceded to the Federal Government by the thirteen original States, supplemented with acquisitions from native Indians and foreign powers. It encompasses major portions of the land area of 30 southern and western States.
A brief history and basic concepts and terms describing the components of the PLSS can be found in the national atlas

7. PLSS Development
Ideally – All of the land would have been surveyed first, and then settled.
Actually – There are many situations where settlement, land title, or claims pre-dated the surveys.
So …PLSS States are not really simpler than non-PLSS States, they just have an added survey system in addition to all of the other settlement and survey patterns found in the US.
The PLSS may appear to be a relatively simple system of hierarchical squares but in fact it is a very complex and highly variable system. For every rule there are a myriad of exceptions.
One of the most common misconceptions about the PLSS is that it covers all thirty states with a continuous and uniform grid of six-mile squares that are then further divided into one-mile squares. This couldn’t be further from reality. The PLSS is NOT a mathematical system

8. PLSS Lotting
There are two cases that create lotting in the PLSS – Segregation and Survey Correction.
Survey Correction means to define areas that are not “nominally” regular aliquot parts, typically due to survey and geometry corrections (the Earth is round issues).
Segregation means to separate out a special survey from the Rectangular Survey and to account for all of the irregular lands.

9. Rectangular versus non Rectangular

10. Typical Survey Correction Government Lots

11. Segregation Government Lots

12. CadNSDI Standard Version 2

13. Metadata at a Glance
This feature Class illustrates the data Steward for the Cadastral Reference Data.
It also tracks Currency (Vintage) last update.
It starts with the Townships as the unit of measure but this will evolve as data stewards assume responsibility for the Cadastral Reference

14. Data Stewards
Data Stewards provide the most current Cadastral Reference Data in a standardized form.
Data Stewards contribute their updates to a statewide “Community Data Set” that can be publicly consumed.
Data Stewards work with each other to define and maintain seamless boundaries among data stewardship areas.
On federally managed lands, regardless of location, the BLM is responsible for the PLSS and mapping and description of the rights and interests in the land.
Onshore, the BLM administers all mineral lands as well.
On non-Federal Lands the Data Steward may be a county or the state or other identified entity.
The extent of Federal Lands is described by a national data set called Surface Management Agency (SMA).

15. Arc Map Demo

17. Where to get the Data
The most authoritative data PLSS CadNSDI data will be available thru either state or BLM Office portals since these portals have a “gate keeper” and are not crowd sourced. Some of this data is available now others will be soon. The web links may change and there will be more but these are a start. Organized by NCAA Football Communities the links are:
Big Ten
Ohio -
Michigan -
Indiana -
Wisconsin -
Minnesota -
SEC and ACC
Arkansas -
Mississippi -
Alabama -
Florida -
Pac 12 and Mountain West
Utah - Montana -
BLM State Offices