Development of an Xml Standard for Survey Data Interchange in Kenya

Abstract

The lack of a modern cadastral system since the establishment of surveying practice in 1903, has resulted to a lot of problems in land management and administration in Kenya. Most of the operations are carried out manually and records pertaining land are still stored in paper format. Currently, the National and County Governments have demonstrated the need to modernize the cadastre for it to enhance better land management and administration, support the establishment of an integrated NLIMS and a NSDI. The survey plan’s authoritative nature ought to be maintained in the absence of a paper document as we move towards submission of survey data in a digital form. It is for this reason that an XML standard for data encoding and interchange of a Fixed Boundary Survey Plan comes in handy to give rules and guidelines to aid in survey plan data lodging into the modern cadastral system. The study was guided by three specific objectives: identification of the key data elements of the Fixed Boundary Survey Plan, designing of an InfraGML standard for encoding the data elements and lastly writing a web application to demonstrate the interchange of cadastral data with established GIS programs such as ArcGIS. The methodology of the study encompassed analysis of ten (10) Fixed Boundary Cadastral Plans in identifying key data elements that were later encoded in the designed InfraGML standard to provide for the demonstration of survey data interchange with established programs such as ArcGIS. The study identified the key data elements of a Fixed Boundary Survey Plan to be the Survey Plan Number (Folio Register Number), Parcel Number, Parcel’s Coordinates, Road Reserve, Easement and abuttals. An InfraGML standard for encoding the data elements was developed and demonstration of the interchange of cadastral data with established GIS programs such as ArcGIS and QGIS done using a web application. The adoption and integration of this standard with the National Land Information Management System named Ardhisasa will provide for standardization in encoding of the cadastral plan data and interchange of the same. Interoperability in storage and transferring of data between systems will also be achieved.