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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 
Cell Height 
Latitude Resolution 
Longitude Resolution 
UTM Zone Number  15 
SPCS Zone Identifier 
County Coordinate Zone Identifier 
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