SPATIAL CADASTRAL BOUNDARY CONCEPTS AND UNCERTAINTY IN 
PARCEL-BASED INFORMATION SYSTEM 
A M Tuladhar 
Department of Geoinformatics 
ITC, PO Box 6 
7500AA Enschede, The Netherlands 
Email: Tuladhar@ITC.NL 
Commission Ill, Working Group No WG III/IV 
KEYWORDS: Surveying, Information, Spatial, Database, Land Registration, Mapping 
ABSTRACT: 
Parcel-based information system (PBIS) is a geo-information system based on land parcels as spatial units. These 
spatial units are spatially and uniquely referenced to a common geodetic reference system. It has capabilities to 
collect, store, analyze and supply reliable land information for decision makers. It also links many kinds of other land 
related geo-information through an appropriate infrastructure network environment depending upon responsibilities 
and needs for an organisation. 
This paper concerns mainly uncertainty issues related to land registration and cadastre in a parcel-based information 
system. Such system basically consists of spatial description based on a survey measurement including aerial 
photographs, containing the division into land parcels of an area, a descriptive component which record legal facts 
(deeds) or legal consequences (title) and other attributes such as use and economic value. The objective of this paper 
is to analyze definition of spatial boundary concepts of cadastral parcel data. Different spatial data capture 
approaches are briefly discussed to identify uncertainties in data and processes. Then the analysis are made on the 
basis of cadastral requirements to look at the approaches for the clients’ satisfication in relation with land management 
activities. The concepts of general and fixed boundaries are elaborated with particular reference to legality and quality 
aspects. Then they are further analyzed in view of applications. Finally the uncertainty issues are highlighted within 
the context of land management. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
There are several phases for execution of land 
registration and cadastral surveying in an 
organisation. They are usually adjudication, 
demarcation, surveying and recording. The primary 
goal of carefully designed procedures is to provide 
certainty on land ownership and boundaries for the 
land parcels. Before a land surveyor can survey and 
record cadastral boundaries, adjudication and 
demarcation are conducted for the definition of 
cadastral parcel boundaries. Then he or she performs 
the field measurements, and store them in spatial 
database as accepted by the land owners and 
neighbouring owners, and by the appropriate 
authorities as prescribed in the rules and the 
regulations. Although much time is spent on these 
phases, there are still many cases where reliable 
information could not be captured and supplied to the 
citizens with minimum uncertainty. This causes delays 
and backlogs in the development activities. 
There is still not a systematic way to handle 
uncertainty of cadastral boundaries in the 
conventional cadastral mapping system due to the 
constraints imposed by the map scale and the way 
the maps are prepared and stored. The precision with 
which boundaries must be determined depends not 
only upon the legislation, but upon local 
circumstances and the size and type of 
monumentation and data capture methods that are 
adopted. It is essential to understand and clarify the 
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International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B3. Vienna 1996 
relationship between 'de jure and the ‘de facto' 
positions of spatial referenced boundaries. The 
disputes could be in the whole parcels or at the 
boundaries of cadastral parcels. 
Many organizations in the developing countries are 
now adopting new information technology using 
computer, because this new tool is expected to help 
them to reduce the uncertainty and risk on land 
disputes beside other advantages of speed, cost and 
efficiency. 
2. DEFINITION OF SPATIAL OBJECTS 
The heart of a parcel based information system is 
cadastral parcel object. It is basically an continuous 
area object of land within which unique and 
homogeneous interests are recognized in a real world 
whether it is for legal, ecological or for use. For legal 
cadastral purposes such a parcel reflects a 
homogeneity in legal interest and on behalf of land 
use purposes such a parcel reflects a homogeneity in 
use (Henssen, 1995b). 
The size of such spatial object ranges from many 
square kilometres , in case of farms or estates, to a 
square meters in case of small area occupied by an 
electricity substation. In the case of cadastre, a bundle 
of rights are identified on each of cadastral parcel 
object owned by a person, persons or institution 
(private or government). Cadastral parcel also 
describes the public as well as private landed property