Fit -for -purpose cadastre: Development of a geospatial information software for digital land administration.

Abstract

This research seeks to develop a geospatial information software for the automatic generation, and easy administration of cadastral layout data for the Nigerian land registry using Rapid Application Development Model (RAD). The software was designed to handle and process both manually extracted cadastral layout data and automatic generation of cadastral layout data in shapefile format thereby creating a fit-for-purpose system for land administration in Nigeria. This approach gives room for storing data into a spatially enabled database, which facilitates easy data extraction, processing, querying, updating and distribution of cadastral layout data. The software was extended to process AutoCAD script files that can be used in layout plan production. Procedures were also added to the software for direct transformation of coordinates from one projection system to another. The developed software was tested by transforming the coordinates of 12 GCPs from Clarke 1880 (Minna Datum) to WGS 1984 (UTM Zone 32), and the experimental result was compared with those obtained from a commercial software using independent Student T-test. The statistical analysis reveals that there is no significant difference at 99% confidence level.