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Minnesota DNR -Land and Minerals Division

Control Point Generated PLS

This page last update: 07/23/2001 3:35:42 PM
metadata created using Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines .

Go to Section:
1. Identification Information
2. Data Quality Information
3. Spatial Data Organization Information
4. Spatial Reference Information
5. Entity and Attribute Information
6. Distribution Information
7. Metadata Reference Information

Section 1 | Identification Information - - - - - - top
Originator | Minnesota DNR -Land and Minerals Division
Title | Control Point Generated PLS
System Name | pls40ne3
Abstract | The Control Point Generated PLS layer contains line and polygon features to the 1/4 of 1/4 PLS section (approximately 40 acres) and government lot level. The layer was created using the most accurate information available at the time, including Government Land Office plat drawings and survey notes, official resurveys, and PLS control points from the DNR’s Control Point Inventory database.
Purpose | Detailed PLS forty level mapping at a 1:24,000 scale of any information georeferenced to the Public Land Survey System, especially land ownership and management. It can also be used as a general PLS reference map for any other data projected into UTM - meters, extended zone 15, NAD83.
Time Period of Content Date | 1991
Currentness Reference | Data is derived from sources dating continuously from mid-nineteenth century survey notes to results from current modern surveys.
Progress | in work
Maintenance and Update Frequency | Eventually
Spatial Extent of Data | Minnesota
Bounding Coordinates | E = -89 W = -97.5 N = 49.5 S = 43
Place Keywords | Minnesota
Theme Keywords | PLS, Public Land Survey, Townships, Sections, Forties, Government Lots
Theme Keyword Thesaurus | None
Access Constraints | None
Use Constraints | Use of the data are constrained only by the DNR GIS Data License Agreement
Contact Person Information | Jill Bornes, GIS Specialist DNR-Lands and Minerals 500 Lafayette Road St. Paul, MN 55155 Phone: (651) 296-1879 FAX: E-mail: jill.bornes@dnr.state.mn.us
Browse Graphic File Name | pls40ne3_sam.gif
Browse Graphic File Description |
Associated Data Sets | Two important data sets are closely allied with the Control Point Generated PLS layer. The first is the PLS Control Point layer (named cornrpt3) which was created concurrently with the PLS coverage. The positions of features within this point coverage correspond precisely to the section corners within the coverage being described here. The other important data set associated within this coverage is the Control Point Inventory, which is a tabular file of "best available" section corner locations that serves as the basis for all section corner locations within both PLS coverages. All of these data are explicitly linked.
Section 2 | Data Quality Information - - - - - - top
Attribute Accuracy | Not specifically assesed
Logical Consistency | Data are topolocially correct using ARC/INFO 7.0.3. All polygons are closed and lines intersect where intended.
Completeness | All available Government Land Office Land Survey notes, plats and resurvey information was used in the creation of this data set. Since the meander line data is being derived from the Government Land Office PLS survey notes, margins around meandered water bodies tend to have a coarse representation and may not accurately reflect the current shape of these features on the ground. Meander lines are NOT land ownership boundaries. The Public Land Survey process was conducted, in part, to inventory the rough acreage of land for the purposes of selling it for agriculture, timber, railroads, etc. Meander lines were used to determine how many acres of land were available for sale at the time, whereas the beds of navigable water bodies are held in ownership by the state. Depending upon when the survey was conducted, surveyors followed different guidelines for what was to be meandered. 'In subdividing any one township, you are to meander as hereinafter directed, any lake or lakes, pond or ponds, lying entirely within the boundaries thereof, of the area of [twenty five to] forty acres and upwards, and which cannot be drained and are not likely to fill up, or from any cause to become dry.' (A Collection of Original Instructions to Surveyors of the Public Lands, 1815 - 1881, Roy Minnick, Landmark Enterprises)
Horizontal Positional Accuracy | Variable. At its least accurate, the data is based upon points derived from manual digitizing of PLS section corners from 1:24,000 scale paper media (GISMO and SECTIC-24K points). At its most accurate, the data is based upon points collected using GPS units operating at a sub-meter level of accuracy. Refer to the ACCURACY and METHOD fields in the related PLS Control Point layer (cornrpt3), for specific information.
Vertical Positional Accuracy | Not Applicable
Lineage | The Control Point Generated PLS and PLS Control Points are a subset of the Control Point Inventory (CPI), a database maintained by the DNR, Bureau of Engineering, Survey Section. A majority of the points in CPI came from the GISMO or SECTIC-24K control point data sets. Refer to the metadata for the PLS Control Point layer (cornrpt3) for further information. PLS corner data is extracted from CPI, one township at a time, in State Plane - feet and is used as a starting point for the Control Point Generated PLS layer. The data is then processed , in conjunction with bearings and distances captured from the Government Land Office plats and survey notes, in Cadastral Measurement Management (CMM) software from the Bureau of Land Management. The two procedures used in CMM are AUTOPROP and DXFLSA. ‘AUTOPROP is designed to automatically proportion and subdivide a township down to the level of center of quarter sections.’ (Cadastral Survey Measurement Management System-Version 1.0 Documentation, March 1991, U.S. Bureau of Land Management.) DXFLSA generates an Autocad DXF file that allows the points and lines to be processed using Arc/INFO and Arc/COGO (coordinate geometry). Data files are projected, using a UTM projection, units are meters, extended zone 15, NAD 83. Meander lines are added from the bearings and distances from the original survey notes using Arc/COGO. The township is then further processed to add the necessary PLS attribute information. Individual township coverages are combined into county coverages using the Arc/INFO command ‘mapjoin.’ The line and polygon attribute information is independently verified several times throughout the process.
Source Scale Denominator | 24000
Section 3 | Spatial Data Organization Information - - - - - - top
Native Data Set Environment | ARC/INFO 7.0.3
Geographic Reference for Tabular Data | Not Applicable
Spatial Object Type | Vector
Vendor Specific Object Types | Polygon, Line
Tiling Scheme | County
Section 4 | Spatial Reference Information - - - - - - top
Horizontal Coordinate Scheme | UTM
Ellipsoid | GRS1980
Horizontal Datum | NAD83
Horizontal Units | meters
Distance Resolution | meters
Altitude Datum | n/a
Altitude Units | n/a
Depth Datum | n/a
Depth Units | n/a
Cell Width | 0
Cell Height | 0
Latitude Resolution | 0
Longitude Resolution | 0
UTM Zone Number | 15
SPCS Zone Identifier | 0
County Coordinate Zone Identifier | 0
Coordinate Offsets or Adjustments | n/a
Map Projection Name | n/a
Map Projection Parameters | n/a
Other Coordinate System's Definition | n/a
Section 5 | Entity and Attribute Information - - - - - - top
Entity and Attribute Overview | The Public Land Survey System features described in this database are represented as attributed polygons, lines and label points. Lines have both a numeric code and a text field that indicate the PLS line type such as, township line, section line, meander line, etc. The following information is included for each polygon: county number, township number, range direction id, range number, section number, forty number, forty text (e.g. NENE), government lot number and geocode fields that contain composite identifiers that uniquely defines a portion of land to the range, section, forty or government lot. GEOGLOT is one of the commonly used geocode fields. It contains a 14 digit number consisting of county, township, range direction, range, section, forty and government lot. GEOGLOT is used to link to DNR Land Records data. Because different methods have been used over time to assign a forty value to government lots, often GEOGLOT is not the quickest field to link on because mismatches may occur (e.g., Government Lot 1 might cover part of the NENE (forty code = 11) and part of the NWNE (forty code = 12).) In the Control Point Generated PLS for Aitkin county (county code = 1), Township 46 N, Range 26 W, section 5, GEOGLOT will be 1046026051201. A forty value of 12 was assigned because most of the government lot covers the area of the NWNE of the section. In the DNR Land Records database, GEOGLOT will be 1046026051101. A forty value of 11 was assigned because forty 11 is the first forty (lowest forty value) the government lot covers. To get around this mismatch, the DNR has established a temporary standard, using a geocode field called GEOMATCH. For every Control Point Generated PLS and DNR Land Record that has a government lot value, the FORT part of the geocoded field is zeroed out. Using the example above, GEOMATCH for either the PLS record or the land record, would be 1046026050001. The last four digits of this field contain two digits for the zeroed out FORT code and a two digit GLOT code. It is a quick and dirty method for matching PLS geocoded information until the DNR gets all of it’s PLS related data into the same coding scheme. This method will be discontinued following completion of data cleansing and code matching on the DNR Land Records.
Entity and Attribute Detailed Citation HTML Table |
Section 6 | Distribution Information - - - - - - top
Publisher | Minnesota DNR - MIS Bureau
Publication Date | 11/1/1997
Contact Person Information | Robert Maki, GIS Database Coordinator Minnesota DNR 500 Lafayette Road, Box 11 St. Paul, MN 55155 Phone: (651) 297-2329 FAX: (651) 297-4946 E-mail: robert.maki@dnr.state.mn.us
Distributor's Data Set Identifier | pls40ne3
Distribution Liability | None stated
Transfer Format Name | 7.1.2
Transfer Format Version Number | ARC/INFO
Transfer Size | 900
Ordering Instructions | Contact above Person
Online Linkage | DNR Data Deli
Section 7 | Metadata Reference Information - - - - - - top
Metadata Date | 4/19/2000
Contact Person Information | Robert Maki, GIS Database Coordinator Minnesota DNR - MIS Bureau 500 Lafayette Road Saint Paul, MN 55155 Phone: (651) 297-2329 FAX: (651) 297-4946 E-mail: robert.maki@dnr.state.mn.us
Metadata Standard Name | Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines
Metadata Standard Version | 1.1
Metadata Standard Online Linkage | http://www.lmic.state.mn.us/gc/stds/metadata.htm