GIS Based Cadastral Survey of CST campus

Dawa Dendup
1
, Mukas Subba
2
, Sangay Choda
3
, Sanjit Kumar
4
, Shyam Kumar Thapa
5,
Tashi Dorji
6

College of Science and Technology
Royal University of Bhutan
Rinchending, Chukha

edc2011008@cst.edu.bt
1
,

edc2011024@cst.edu.bt
2
,

ede2011024@cst.edu.bt
3
, edc2011041@cst.edu.bt
4
edc2012042@cst.edu.bt
5
, edc2011050@cst.edu.bt
6



Abstract

It is very much necessary for anyone to be guided to reach required destination and to complete any task
on time as modern challenges demand. The absence of proper land records may mislead people while
carrying out any planning, development activities and management activities. Therefore the updated
information through cadastral survey is necessary to inform visitors about location of every features and
direction of their destination within the area of their interest. Moreover it is important in enhancing the
intellect of focal person to proceed further with modification and development of an area under his
control efficiently. The above mentioned difficulties and limitations have called for an urgent
development of desired cadastral survey of the area of interest. The accurate cadastral survey map will
prevent dispute due to over taking of land or property between neighbors. The cadastral map can aid in
planning developmental activities and in prediction of changes taking place. It will serve as a reference
and inform the changes taking place in the land system and related features to the generations to come.
This paper describes in detail, all the tools applied and procedures followed up to generate GIS based
digitized cadastral map of College of Science and Technology (CST) campus.


Background
A GIS is a computer system capable of
assembling, storing, manipulating, analyzing and
displaying geographically referenced
information i.e. data referenced according to
their locations. A GIS also includes operating
personnel and the data that go into the system.
Real world geographic information is
represented with the computer through satellite.
Its the representation of geographic reality
without actually touching it.
Raster layer is a layer that references a raster as
its data source and a raster renderer that defines
how the raster data should be rendered and any
additional display properties (GIS dictionary).
QGIS (previously known as "Quantum GIS")
open source desktop geographic information
systems (GIS) application that provides data
viewing, editing, and analysis capabilities.
QGIS allows users to create maps with many
layers using different map projections. Maps can
be assembled in different formats and for
different uses. QGIS allows maps to be
composed of raster or Vector layers. Typical for
this kind of software the vector data is stored as
point, line, or polygon-feature. Different kinds
of raster images are supported and the software
can perform georeferencing of images.
ERDAS IMAGINE is a remote sensing
application with raster graphics editor abilities
designed by ERDAS for geospatial applications.
By manipulating imagery data values and
positions, it is possible to see features that would
not normally be visible and to locate geo-
positions of features that would otherwise be
graphical. The level of brightness or reflectance
of light from the surfaces in the image can be
helpful with vegetation analysis, prospecting for
minerals etc. Other usage examples include
linear feature extraction, generation of
processing work flows ("spatial models" in
ERDAS IMAGINE), import/export of data for a
wide variety of formats, orthorectification,
mosaicking of imagery, stereo and automatic
feature extraction of map data from imagery.

1. Introduction.
The land information details will serve as the
tool for legal, economic and administrative
decision making as well as enhance planning
and developmental progress (Zahir, 2012). The
details of land or area of interest can be achieved
through cadastral survey. Cadastral surveying is
the discipline of land surveying that relates to
the laws of land ownership and the definition of
property boundaries including details of its
features within the focal area. The land
information system (LIS) will inform us about
the developmental state of our area of interest,
which will further elevate us with manipulation
and analysis. The achievement of accuracy and
efficiency of land information system depends
upon the uniformity in referencing system of
different data sets with respect to other existing
data. This involves efficiency in the procedures
and techniques in systematic collection,
updating, analyzing, processing and distribution
of the database containing spatially referenced
land related data in an appropriate manner.
It is felt throughout the world, the necessity of
developing fully digitized cadastral map as the
complexity of land related system demanded.
The integrated approach used to develop
digitized cadastral map would rectify many of
drawbacks and limitations that were encountered
while using old system of cadastral mapping.
The traditional or existing cadastral map in
many developing countries is totally based on
maps and records on paper format with quite
outdated information and on top of that the data
were not compatible with the modern
technologies for further updates and analysis of
map. The traditional method applied in
producing cadastral map were tedious, time
consuming and required more man power
whereas in modern integrated approach, it make
use of modern technologies such as GIS system
and remote sensing techniques, which eases and
reduce the workload. The data collected through
modern approach will be compatible with the
modern technologies for the analysis and
processing data in system. Therefore it is easier
to update the data whenever it is required. To
proceed with the project, we used Google image
for necessary digitization and classification
process with the help of QGIS software. We
used GPS for collecting ground control points
(GCPs) to verify the accuracy of our finding
through google map. Therefore the purpose of
this project is to provide clear information of the
college campus to the visitors and to facilitate
the college management system.
2. STUDY AREA
Our study was undertaken in College of Science
and Technology, Rinchending under Chukha
Dzongkhag. Total area of study was later found
to be 46 Acres.
The approximate coordinate of polygon
bounding study area is
89
0
2255.28 E ; 26
0
5052.37N (lower
right corner)
89
0
2322.35 E ; 26
0
516.23 N (upper
left corner)

3. DATA AND METHODOLOGY.
3.1 Introduction to the Basic Materials.
Managing spatial and non-spatial data of land
can be done in an integrated manner by the
application of Geographic Information System
(GIS). Spatial data of a land includes the satellite
image which is properly geo-referenced,
digitized and then classified. Non-spatial data
includes the basic information of the land and
parcel including other basic entity present for
example name of the land owner, type of parcel,
occupants and area. For integrated approach of
cadastral survey requires the professional
software such as Quantum GIS and ERDAS
Imagine and global positioning system (GPS).
GPS is the technique used to obtaining the exact
location of a point on earth in terms of the
coordinates i.e. Latitude and longitude and
hence to geo-reference the map. There are three
different types of GPS namely absolute GPS,
Relative GPS, and differential GPS available.
QGIS, quantum geographic information system,
is a database software which can be used to
view, analyze and analyze the geo-referenced
maps. ERDAS Imagine, is a remote sensing
application used for editing the raster data and
for classification of maps.
3.2 Methodology
The broad methodology adopted under this
project is as follows:
Acquisition of satellite image.
Geo-referencing image.
Digitization of image.
Accuracy checking.
Export QGIS project to a working
leaflet web map.
Building user platform for accessing
information.

Fig. 1 Methodology flow chart


Acquisition of satellite image
Satellite image was acquired form google earth
pro.
Geo-referencing image
Google earth image was geo-referenced in QGIS
platform through coordinates obtained from
google earth and further crossed checked with
ground coordinates obtained from DGPS.
Geographic coordinates values were based on
real world coordinate system i.e. UTM
projection with WGS84 spheroid and WGS84
datum.
Digitization of image
This is the process of conversion of raster layer
into vector layer in the form of point, line and
polygon. The geo-referenced google earth image
was digitized in QGIS platform. Non-spatial
attributes were also given to various vector
layers in the tabulated form as shown in the
figure below. For example, for parcel layer non-
spatial data includes name of building, type and
area. For obtaining vegetation cover and land
use, it was obtained through classification in
ERDAS software.


Fig. 2 Process of digitization and the attribute
table


Accuracy checking
Accuracy of data set was checked in two steps.
First step involves comparison of geo-
coordinates (of randomly selected points)
generated by computer with that of actually
observed with DGPS using Lica niva differential
GPS. Second step involves comparison of area
generated by digitized vector layer in the
computer with that of manually obtained area
through field measurement using meter-tape.

Export QGIS project to a working leaflet web
map
To make this cadastral map available to general
public for learning and retrieving information,
the geo-referenced and digitized including non-
spatial attributes was exported to web-map with
the help of QGIS to leaflet plug-ins in QGIS
software.






Standard/Format for map and GIS database
generation

Projection UTM
Datum for Geo-
referencing image
WGS84
Co-ordinates reference
system
Drukref 03 Bhutan
National Grid
Authority ID EPSG
5266
Map form size One sheet.

4. OUTCOME
The main outcome of our project is to provide a
basic cadastral map of CST campus which will
help people in exploring the campus of CST
College. And to help in reaching their
destination places in the campus for the new
comers by looking into the map which is linked
to college web site. The information related each
building or any structures are given like as
shown below.
Name Academic block
Size 100m
Characteristics 4 storied


Our map will also provide the information about
the percent of area covered by vegetation and
the land used percent. This information can help
in the future for the planning of developmental
activities.
Scope of HRSI for Cadastral mapping in
Bhutan
Bhutan being a landlocked developing country is
in desperate need for accurate
cadastral/topographic mapping for land
development, town planning, forestry,
agriculture, road engineering and even cadastral
surveying. The developmental are constrained
and made more difficult as a consequence of
there being very limited current medium scale
topographic map coverage; the majority of the
coverage being at least 30 years out of date and
thus of questionable quality in many areas
(Fraser C., 2008).
Thus Bhutan need to look for acquiring
information sources that is quick and low cost
yet without compromising the metric accuracy
of it. High Resolution Satellite Imagery is by far
the most relevant sources. Thought acquiring
HRSI can be expensive, it does not require any
supporting infrastructure, such as equipment,
mobilization, or complex processing abilities
and extensive man power (Fraser C., 2008).
Other advantage of using HRSI is that they
provide historical record of land in case of rural
and urban cadastral mapping that can be
revisited in future to see what changes has taken
place and also in case a conflict occurs in parcel
boundaries. The traditional approach of cadastral
survey is very time consuming and requires lot
of man power. Sometimes it is very difficult to
do cadastral survey in remote areas especially in
mountainous areas where the weather is harsh
(Zahir, 2012).

Acknowledge
We would like to acknowledge Mr.Arun PV
(NASA scientist) and Mr.Tshering (Dean
Research, College of Science and Technology)
for their guidance, monitoring and constant
encouragement throughout the course of this
project.
We also would like to thank the Information
Technology Department (college of Science and
Technology), for their support in providing
technical assistance and computing material.

References:
Fraser, C., Tshering, D., Gruen, A., (2008)
High-Resolution Satellite Imagery for
Spatial Information Generation in Bhutan.
The International Archives of the
Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and
Spatial Information Sciences. Vol. XXXVII.
Part B6a. Beijing 2008.

Zahir, Ali, (2012) Assessing Usefulness of
High-Resolution Satellite Imagery (HRSI) in
GIS based Cadastral Land Information
System, Journal of Settlements and Spatial
Planning, vol. 3, no.

http://svc.mt.gov/msl/mtcadastral/

Elfick, M., Hodson, T., Managing Cadastral
Data in GIS
Barnes, G., Chaplin, D., Moyer, D., GPS
methodology for Cadastral surveying and
mapping in Albania