Translating Range/Township/Section Polygons to X,Y

RockWorks | Utilities | Coords | Public Land Survey -> XY

This program is used to generate X,Y coordinates for each corner of leases that are listed with Range, Township, Section descriptions (quarter/quarter or lots).

! In order to perform this type of polygon "spotting," you must have downloaded the RockWare "Landbase" collection of Public Land Survey (PLS) Township and Range data for most of the United States (from the US Bureau of Land Management Land Survey Information System and other sources). See the Landbase Overview for a discussion of this information and for coverage maps and tables.

Menu Options
Step-by-Step Summary


  1. Access the RockWorks Datasheet program tab.
  2. Create a new datasheet and enter or import the lease location descriptions. This file must list the Range, Township, and Section of the leases to be spotted, and a location description such as "W2" or "NE/NW" or "L4".
    Or, open one of the sample files and replace that data with your own. See Data Layout for datasheet examples.

    ! Click the Example button at the top of the window to load a sample file that is installed with the program.

  3. Download the RockWare Landbase for a library of reference coordinates for the translation.
  4. Select the Utilities | Coords | Public Land Survey -> XY menu option.
  5. Enter the requested program settings, described above.
  6. Click the Continue button to proceed.

The program will read the lease location descriptions, in quarter/quarter or lot format, and determine the X and Y coordinates of their corner points using the reference Land Grid Table. The coordinates will be recorded in the your output units in the requested datasheet columns.



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