Get It Surveyed (GIS)

Ed. note: I originally published this article in 2010. I occasionally re-run it as it generally receives interesting reader response.

Get It Surveyed (GIS) always brings out a small roar of laughter at the local RPLS chapter meeting. Hardee, har, har. The irony is that if you laugh at that joke, then you might as well wear a sign on your head that says “GIS Dummy.” GIS isn’t about accuracy. I’ve said it many times and I’m sure I’ll say it many more times. The fact is that the average land surveyor is only exposed to a small sliver of how GIS’s are used, namely parcel databases.

Do you think when McDonald’s is planning (not building) a new restaurant that they care if the parcel accuracy is +/-  a tenth? Of course not, accuracy of tens of feet (or even hundreds of feet) suffices in the strategic planning phase. What they care about is a demographic analysis of the area, local competition, traffic behavior, etc. The power of GIS is that it can handle this sort of data and answer questions such as “show me all of the 3+ acre commercial parcels for sale within 500 ft. of Main St. and within 2000 ft. of the nearest Burger King.” Read this article that describes how a company is using GIS to find new restaurant sites. Do you think they care about pinpoint accuracy?

Another GIS app that’s gaining momentum with the general public are predator GIS databases. You can check out Family Watchdog. Plug in your street address and have it perform a search. Do you think positional accuracy is important to users of this service? Having a correct address and other descriptive information is more important than +/- 10 feet positional accuracy.There are many thousands of GIS uses like the above that don’t require pinpoint accuracy. Would it be nice to have pinpoint accuracy in all GIS services? Of course, but financially speaking, it’s not realistic.

The purpose of writing the above is to paint a picture of the scope of GIS. It’s much, much larger than what the average land surveyor is exposed to. It’s not just the part-time GIS technician at the local government office whose life goal seems to be making things difficult for you.

As much as it may offend you (the typical land surveyor) to hear it, you can’t handle GIS. You can equate it to using Microsoft Word or Excel, you might use it daily and use some of its capabilities, but you really only use about 10 percent of what it’s capable of. So, the thought that a GIS professional should be “under the supervision” of an RPLS, from a broad perspective, is ridiculous. I know many RPLS’s and in trying to imagine some of them being in responsible charge of a GIS is an absolutely frightening thought.

Ok, I’m not here to go on an RPLS-bashing tirade. In fact, the properly educated RPLS is vitally important to a GIS. Last Fall, I wrote a column emphasizing the importance of the RPLS and GISP collaborating together. I just want to put it in perspective because I hear from and read about land surveyors who complain about a GIS and about the incompetence of those running it, how land surveyors should be in responsible charge, etc. The fact is that most RPLS aren’t qualified.

On the flip side, I’ve heard of a fair share of part-time (and full-time) GIS technicians who don’t understand the local statutes and who have no problem saying, with the utmost confidence, that “your survey is wrong.” These are the folks who “manage” the parcel database that the RPLS are used to dealing with. Not that this is always the case; in fact, there are many competent GISP, but those are primarily in the densely populated, metropolitan areas where there is a healthy tax base to support a full-time GIS team. Unfortunately, much of the U.S. is comprised of low-density (thus, low tax base) rural areas.

Follow the Money

As with trying to understand most processes in the U.S., the most effective way to find the answer is to follow the money trail. GIS is no different. Look at the Los Angeles County’s (California) Office of the Assessor’s GIS website. Pretty impressive. Now, look at the much less populated Modoc County (California) website with no GIS microsite.

A discussion has been around for many years that promotes the idea of a nationwide parcel database so that the disparity between the quality of the Los Angeles County and Modoc County parcel GIS data is not so large. There’s even a book on the subject called “National Land Parcel Data: A Vision for the Future.” From its description, the book summarizes that “nationally integrated land parcel data is necessary, feasible and affordable.” However, the author goes on to admit that little progress has been made since 1980 when a National Research Council book called for such a national system. Why is that?

Brent Jones (RPLS, PE) is the surveying/engineering/land administration industry manager at ESRI. He recently established a blog discussion on the website Spatialroundtable titled “National Parcel Land Data and Surveyors” and references the aforementioned book. There have been several comments on the blog from reputable industry people. It’s well worth reading the comments.

I contend that, counter to the book’s conclusions, a national parcel database is not affordable…and I’m not talking about funding (necessarily), but culturally unaffordable. Case in point:

Pat the RPLS files a plat with the county. Chris, the county GIS technician, reviews the plat and informs Pat that the boundary doesn’t match the county GIS so it will not be accepted as is. Of course, Pat blows a gasket, then re-checks the plat and verifies it’s correct. Pat then proceeds to educate Chris on the regional statute, thus establishing Pat’s authority. Chris bows and accepts the plat. Pat is fuming on the way back to the office because he doesn’t know who to charge the two hours of time spent educating Chris.

Why does the story end here? I contend that land surveyors have boxed themselves into being short-term minded, extremely short-term minded….not quarterly, like corporate America, but even worse…hourly. How many times have you heard “I billed 110 percent of my hours this week?” spoken like they’ve earned a Bronze Star. Yes, it’s impressive to the boss and he/she may get a nice bonus at the end of the year, but it’s a very short-term attitude and part of the reason that land surveyors are trying to grab the wagging tail of the big GIS dog instead of walking shoulder-to-shoulder down the sidewalk.

I’ve had several RPLS say to me “I’ve been actively looking for GIS work.” Translated: “I’m looking for someone to pay me to provide GIS services that I need to learn.” It’s not that easy. You didn’t get paid to go to school. The same is true here. The RPLS has to invest time into GIS. I’m not talking about just an online GIS course. It needs to be good ol’ OJT (on the job training). If I were Pat, I’d foster the relationship with Chris and have Chris show me how the GIS  works, what the procedures are, how the GIS data was created, how the GIS data is updated, what the plan is for updating, what Chris’s departments hot buttons are, how Chris’s budget is funded, etc. I’d even go the point of volunteering to enter some data to get a real feel for how the GIS works. This type of OJT is orders of magnitude more effective than reading a book or taking a class. During this OJT, Pat might also find out that he is weak in some areas important to GIS such as geodesy or database structure and needs to gear up in those areas.

Hmmm… Just think if every RPLS association chapter reached out to its local city or county GIS department and started a collaborative effort to teach each other about the challenges that each faces in their jobs, both as RPLS and GISP. They would educate each other, understand each other better, and ultimately serve each other’s needs more effectively. Too simple-minded? I don’t think so. Which relationship do you think would be more effective when discussing collaborating on a National Parcel Database — meeting the local GIS department manager for the first time or meeting with Chris, with whom you’ve worked on a number of small, local GIS projects and already have a solid understanding of the GIS department needs, processes, strengths, and limitations?
Thanks, and see you next week.

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