These laws are, in effect, consumer protection laws that ensure property rights and public safety. Surveyors are required by law to meet standards for experience and to pass examinations in order to be licensed. Surveying is highly regulated and comes with legal requirements for the methods used to record property information. Legal disputes that arise over the precise location of property boundary lines need to be resolved based on the origination and use of legal boundary data documented over time by licensed surveyors. In addition, sometimes the source data is unknown, and the accompanying metadata is missing that would provide the user with an understanding of the currency and accuracy of the data. Therefore, overlaying a parcel database that may have an accuracy of +/- 10 feet onto aerial imagery with an accuracy of +/- 30 feet can lead to features ending up over 80 feet away from their true point. Overlaid together, the error found within each dataset is amplified. GIS data is pulled together from a variety of sources with varying degrees of accuracy and precision. This is what surveyors call “ground evidence,” or legal boundary data. Those lines are created through a network of reference points (usually markers or “monuments” buried underground) and surface measurements between those points. Property lines are not physical entities that are visible on aerial imagery or on base map data such as street networks. However, all of this geographic data can’t replace legal boundary data. The ability to access Google Maps or a local agency’s online mapping application to look up parcel lines and overlay them with aerial photography provides a good overview and can provide some answers to property questions. With all the readily available aerial and satellite imagery, it is a legitimate questions to ask if GIS can be used to replace surveyors to understand property issues and to resolve legal disputes involving parcel lines.
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