Quantifying the Overlap between Cadastral and Visual Boundaries: A Case Study from Vanuatu

Abstract

Cadastres are argued as an essential tool to support land tenure security. Low cadastral coverage in developing countries creates a driver for innovative methods to expedite the mapping processes. As a human construct, the morphology of parcel boundaries is a diverse and complex topic: there are limited generalized rules for identifying, describing, and classifying them. This paper studies both the institutional and spatial aspects of cadastral boundaries, in order to provide more contemporary knowledge about the morphology of cadastral boundaries. This study inspects the relationship between topographic objects and general boundaries in the case context of Port Vila, Vanuatu. Statistical analysis reveals that under a dialectical error tolerance, large percentages of cadastral boundaries coincide with topographic objects. Specifically, in dense urban regions, road edges and building walls coincide with the majority of cadastral boundaries, with proportions of 49% and 35%, respectively. In suburban regions, the fence (25%), instead of buildings, plays an important role in marking a parcel border. The landscape is observed to have significant impact on parcel morphology. Therefore, constructing a map based on automatic or semi-automatic identification and classification of these features could significantly contribute to cadastral mapping in developing countries.

Application of Deep Learning for Delineation of Visible Cadastral Boundaries from Remote Sensing Imagery

“…Automated cadastral boundary delineation based on remote sensing data has been rarely investigated, even though physical objects, which can be extracted using image analysis, often define visible cadastral boundaries [3]. Visible cadastral boundaries demarcated by physical objects such as hedges, fences, walls, bushes, roads, or rivers, can make up a large portion of all cadastral boundaries [4,5]. Indirect surveying relies on the delineation of such visible parcel boundaries from remote sensing imagery.…”

Extraction of Visible Boundaries for Cadastral Mapping Based on UAV Imagery

“…In developed countries, the extracted visible boundaries might be used for the revision of existing cadastral maps. However, in both cases, the extracted visible boundaries must be validated by landowners and other beneficiaries.(continuous recording of person-right-land relation attributes, in any land related event, as close as possible to real-time) also requires a flexible and dynamic cadastral system [2,7]. Proposed cadastral surveying techniques are mostly indirect ones rather than ground-based.…”

“…The term updating can be used as a synonym for a "revision" of existing cadastral maps [23]. However, in all case studies reported in [22], cadastral boundaries are manually delineated.It is argued that a large number of cadastral boundaries are visible and coincide with natural or manmade physical object boundaries [2,24,25]. In the land administration domain, automatic extractions of visible cadastral boundaries have been a recent topic of investigation.…”

“…(continuous recording of person-right-land relation attributes, in any land related event, as close as possible to real-time) also requires a flexible and dynamic cadastral system [2,7]. Proposed cadastral surveying techniques are mostly indirect ones rather than ground-based.…”

“…It is argued that a large number of cadastral boundaries are visible and coincide with natural or manmade physical object boundaries [2,24,25]. In the land administration domain, automatic extractions of visible cadastral boundaries have been a recent topic of investigation.…”