The essence of cadastral data integration is bringing together parcels, control, and GCDB.

Parcels
“A parcel is a single cadastral unit, which is the spatial extent of the past, present, and future rights and interests in real property” (from The Cadastral Data Content Standard , p. 36).  A parcel can also be described as a boundary derived from measured points, traverses, and/or legal descriptions.  In the West, a parcel can be referenced back to the PLSS land net.  Parcels may bisect or cross PLSS lines, or may be small units within subsections, but they can always be related back to the PLSS.

Control
Control ties points to the ground - i.e. adds geography to survey information.  Control data involves many considerations, including: horizontal and vertical datum, accuracy choices and standards, density of control points, monumentation, use of GPS, photogrammetry, digital orthophotography, COGO, field measurements from traditional surveying or GPS, secondary sources, parcel identifiers, and attributes.  Control involves a network of points of known position used to supply a required degree of accuracy – and can include elevation and reliability measurements.

Integration of parcel, GCDB, and control information unifies the critical elements of:

• spatial extent
• past, present, and future rights and interests
• survey records
• geographic reference
• accuracy