Unit 5: Land Description Flashcards
(22 cards)
A measure of land equal to 43,560 square feet, 4,840 square yards, 4,047 square meters, 160 square rods, or 0.4047 hectares.
Acre
Designated airspace over a piece of land. An air lot, like surface property, may be transferred.
Air Lots
The main imaginary line running east and west and crossing a principal meridian at a definite point; used by surveyors for reference in locating and describing land under the rectangular (government) survey system of legal description.
Base Line
Permanent reference marks or points established for use by surveyors in measuring differences in elevation.
Benchmarks
A horizontal plane from which heights and depths are measured.
Datum
A description of a specific parcel of real estate complete enough for an independent surveyor to locate and identify it.
Legal Description
A method of describing real property that identifies a parcel of land by reference to lot and block numbers within a subdivision, as specified on a recorded subdivision plat.
Lot-and-block (recorded plat) Method
One of a set of imaginary lines running north and south and crossing a base line at a definite point, used in the rectangular (government) survey system of property description.
Meridian
A method used to describe a parcel of land that begins at a well-marked point and follows the property’s boundaries, using directions and distances around the tract, back, to the place of beginning.
Metes-and-bounds Method
A fixed natural or artificial object used to establish real estate boundaries for a metes-and-bounds description.
Monument
A map of a town, section, or subdivision indicating the location and boundaries of individual properties.
Plat Map
In a metes-and-bounds legal description, the starting point of the survey, situated in one corner of the parcel; all metes-and-bounds descriptions must follow the boundaries of the parcel back to the point of beginning.
Point of Beginning (POB)
The main imaginary line running north and south and crossing a base line at a definite point; used by surveyors for reference in location and describing land under the rectangular (government) survey system of legal description.
Principal Meridian
A strip of land six miles wide, extending north and south and numbered east and west according to its distance from the principal meridian in the rectangular (government) survey system of legal description.
Range
A map of a subdivision filed as a public record showing the location and boundaries of the individual parcels.
Recorded Plat
A system established in 1785 by the federal government, providing for surveying and describing land by reference to principal meridian’s and base lines.
Rectangular (Government) Survey System
A portion of a township under the rectangular (government) survey system. A township is divided into 36 sections, numbered 1 through 36. A section is a square with mile-long sides and an area of one square mile, or 640 acres.
Section
A survey that shows the location, size, and shape of buildings on the lot, in addition to the lot’s legal description.
Spot Survey
The process by which boundaries are measured and land areas are determined; the on-site measurement of lot lines, dimensions, and position of a house on a lot, including the determination of any existing encroachments or easements.
Survey
Strips of land that are six miles wide, extending east and west and numbered north and south according to their distance from the base line in the rectangular (government) survey system of legal description.
Tiers
The principal unit of the rectangular (government) survey system. A township is a 6-mile square of 36 square miles.
Township
All the lines in a rectangular survey system that run east and west, parallel to the base line and six miles apart.
Township Lines
