The role of technology total stations, GPS and GIS in Land Information Systems (LIS)

The role of technology total stations, GPS and GIS in Land Information Systems (LIS)

Sanjeev Gandhi
Incharge Land record Segment,
Leica Geosystems India, Khasra No. 1206, PO Gadaipur,
Gadaipur Road New Delhi 110030
Telephone: 6802271/ 6802363, Fax: 6804171
Email: leica@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in

India having 26 States and 4 Union Territories and each state has been divided into Districts and then to Villages and Thesiles and so on. There is Land, which belongs to Government, land which is Private Property, land which is totally unused. As population grows, infrastructure tends to grow and property value starts increasing. India is also known for Family disputes where close knit family with members as big as 100 number has become PAST. The family disputes in villages make more and more divisions on the land. So keeping Land Records has become a necessity.

The function of Land Records can be described as follows:

To make Property Maps and to do settlement.
To do Topographic survey for Infrastructure development.
To keep database records related to property.
To evaluate the property value.
To divide the property in case of disputes.
To work in tandem with Board of Revenue, Public works departments, Utility companies etc.

Most of the land records in India are using Conventional Methods in their day to day work which are as follows:-

Chains to measure distances
Old Opto mechanical Theodolites
Vernier Theodolites
Paper maps etc.

(These maps or data is called " LADDER DIAGRAM" from Land records point of view)

Disadvantages of using Conventional Method:

Land Records have realized the following disadvantages.

Chains data can be taken only in perpendicular direction, while actually land/fields is of Zig Zag shape.
Chain data is always inaccurate. The land cost of today demands a more accurate method.
The maps generated by manual methods by draftsman can not be reproduced at user required scale. If scale has to be changed then whole map has to be redrawn.
Attribute data for a field can not be attached on a paper map.
For example The name of the owner, the area , the cost etc.has no relation with the map.
Decision making process using old paper maps becomes very cumbersome and some time it leads to wrong decision.

How Technology Can help Department of Land Records:

Today's technology like Computers, Total Stations, GPS, Mapping Software, GIS Software etc . can do the following for Land records.

Making a map using Coordinates rather than by Angles and distances. The advantage is just by press of a key you have the position on the ground.
Area computation can be done using Total Stations as well as GPS then and there itself.
This feature can be used for solving property disputes.
Using Total Stations and Mapping Software the maps can be created automatically. No need of manual data entry, manual line joining and manual creating a lot.
Map at any scale can be created because of availability of data in electronic format. In very short time user or specific maps can be generated.
Existing old data (Ladder Diagram) can be inputted into the same mapping software to bring years old data to the same level of today.
Using Total Stations, Mapping Software and Geographical Information Software a full-fledged GIS can be generated so that just be click of a key all the attributes corresponding to a land piece can be obtained. The decision making process becomes very simple and cost effective.

Leica 's Total Solution for Land Records

Total Stations are surveying instruments used for land surveying and Mapping. Since Total Stations are capable of measuring distances upto 2.5 Km to 3 Km these are most of the time used for Plot/Lot survey, Detail Mapping instruments which and establishing control points or temporary points over a small area. Global Positioning System (GPS) as the name stands can give position of a point anywhere on the globe with high accuracy. GPS can measure base lines for High accuracy control points without any line of sight requirement. Since Total Stations works on the principle of signal reflection line of sight must be there between Total Station and Prism reflector. This makes GPS more effective tool for control points establishment. However GPS can not be used in a area with lot of trees, High rise buildings because of satellite signal interference. The BEST way is to mix Total Stations and GPS together for effective survey of Land.

Following solutions are offered by Leica Geosystems, Ag Switzerland for Land Records:

Cadstral/land records mapping using Total Stations: ( TPS300 series, TPS700 Series, TPS1100 Series )
Differential GPS for control point establishment.
Real Time GPS for Cadstral mapping wherever obstructions are minimum and in open area.
Mapping Software for Land Records “ LISCAD”
Local Language software for customization of maps and database. (For eg. Tulika Software for Malayalam Language)

Possibilities of work:

Quick setting of the instrument on the tripod using laser plummet.
On Board Area Computation program will compute Area of the field.
Area computation is more accurate because of possibility of taking arcs in area computation.
Graphical View of plots and Land for quick visualization.
Coding to do automated mapping. As soon as field job is finished, after data transfer the map with area and dimensions is ready .
Lot plotting and area computation at any user required scale.
Automation of old maps (inputting Ladder diagrams)
Integration of data base ( Exporting Map to GIS Packages)
Full GIS Creation.(Using MapInfo)
Local Language Support possible.

Solution Based On Real Time GPS

GPS is recommended to be used for establishing Control points in the villages. Those control points should be used in Total Station Survey. So combination of Total Station and GPS will be the correct combination.

Use of GPS for Land Records:

The following are the major usage of GPS for Land Records:

To establish Control points to be used for Total Stations.
To do detail Mapping.
To do Land/Plot survey where there are no serious obstructions like Trees, Buildings etc.
To connect one Village with other using long Base lines.

Leica is the only Surveying company who provides the complete solution in Surveying. For example Leica Total Stations, Leica GPS and Leica Mapping Software. It is important to mention that Leica Total Station data is compatible with Leica GPS. Leica is the only surveying company which provides solution for integration of Total Stations with Geographical Information Systems. It is important to mention that Leica Geosystems, Ag. and ESRI Canada has technical collaboration for GIS Solutions. Leica Solutions has the capability of upgrading old data (Ladder Diagrams) into existing data base. The old data in terms of Chains and directions can be automated with Leica System.

Annex:

**List of Users of Leica Total Stations in Land Records**
S.No	Organisation /Address	Model No	Qty.	Year
1	Director of Survey&Land Records, Trivandrum	TC805 with Accessories Liscad Software	15	1998
2	Board of Revenue FC Office DC Complex Tankipurs,J&K Govt. Srinagar	TC1500 with Accessories AutoCivil Software	27	1998
3	Survey & Land Records Chennai TN	T1100 with DI1600 with accessories	1	1995
4	Land Records West Bengal	T1100 with Distomat	1	1996
5	Land Records Arunachal Pradesh	T2 and Distomat	1	1990
6	Land Records Guahati	Supply,Training and Commissioning of Total Station	2	1992
7	Land Records Mizoram	Supply,Training and Commissioning of Total Station and Digital Photogrammetric Equipment	2	1995
8	Director of Land Records Arunachal Pradesh	Supply,Training and Commissioning of Total Stations	2	1993
9	Director of Land Records Shillong Meghalaya	Supply of Theodolites,EDM's and Total Stations	3	1992
10	Director of Land Records MI Road Jaipur	Supply of Theodolites and EDM's	2	1994
11	Director of Land Records Mal Road Shimla	Supply of Theodolites and EDM's	1	1994
12	Commissioner of Land Records West Bengal	Supply of Theodolites,EDM's and Total Station	5	1991
13	Land Records Motimahal Gwalior	Supply,Training and Commissioning of GPS Equipment and Total Stations	10	1989-95