Implementation of date-forward location update in the digital cadastral database

This paper describes a prototype software application, modeling the locational relationships of cadastral objects as understood by a cadastral cartographer tasked with compiling and updating the land ownership parcel map. Cadastral cartographers have a practical problem: in implementing their conceptual model of the land parcel map, it is preferable that location updates be made in the same order in which they arrive to be recorded. However, current technology requires that more spatially accurate surveys are entered into the database before less accurate ones are fitted to them––and contemporary surveys are typically more accurate than ancient or moderately old ones. Hence, updating a cadastral database for location entails reconstructing it a section at a time, entering surveys (in general) in reverse date order. A strategy is presented that allows updating of location in date-forward order. The strategy is based on capturing locational relationships and measurements extracted from plats and deed descriptions, so that when an object's location is updated, it sends a message to objects for which it is a spatial reference to update their own locations.