A brief summary of what is involved when one wants to draft metes & bounds features in a GIS.

2.  Geographic Information System
 Computerized Mapping
 Hardware
 Software
 People
 Processes
 Data that has “Place”

3.  Mapping a Legal Description in a GIS
Environment
 Commonly
 Real or Mineral Property
 Political Boundaries
 Areas of Interest

4.  The official written words which delineate a
specific piece of property.
 Types
 Metes and Bounds
 Quartering / Aliquot

5.  A legal description where the boundaries are
described by working around the parcel of the land in
sequence, starting with a point of beginning, then
describing individual calls, and finally returning back
to the point of beginning.
 Format
 Beginning at ….
 Thence, thence, thence,
 …to the point of beginning.

6. Sec. 24, T16S, R24W: 3.33 acres, more or less,
described as beginning at the SW/c of the NW/4
of the SE/4 of said Section 3,thence East along
the Subdivision line 14 chains and 65 links,
thence South 50 Yards, thence West 14 chains
and 65 links, thence North 50 yards to the point
of beginning all located in Lamar County,
Alabama.

7.  Sec. 24, T16S, R24W: 3.33 acres, more or less,
described as
 beginning at the SW/c of the NW/4 of the SE/4 of said
Section 3,
 thence East along the Subdivision line 14 chains and 65
links,
 thence South 50 Yards, thence West 14 chains and 65
links,
 thence North 50 yards to the point of beginning
 all located in Lamar County, Alabama.

8.  BEING 160.0 acres of land, more or less out of BLOCK FIVE of the Laura Driscoll Thomson Estate Ranch as recorded in
Volume 3, Page 49 of the Map Records of Bee County, Texas, said 160.0 acres tract, as shown in the attached "EXHIBIT A",
being more particularly described as follows;
 COMMENCING at a found 5/8 inch iron rod in the south line of said BLOCK FIVE said iron rod being S 89°07'17" W 79.00
feet from the centerline of the Aransas River;
 THENCE, with said south line, S 89°07'17" W 1317.19 feet to a point;
 THENCE, leaving said south line, N 00°52'43" W 5413.85 feet to the POINT OF BEGINNING;
 THENCE, with the perimeter of this 160.0 acre tract,
 West 2350.89 feet to a point,
 North 3486.28 feet to a point,
 East 1133.40 feet to a point on the west bank of the Aransas River;
 THENCE, with the meanders of said bank,
 S 23°18'29" E 773.37 feet to a point,
 S 32°11'08" E 295.36 feet to a point,
 S 33°14'14" E 140.40 feet to a point,
 S 64°58'31" E 100.36 feet to a point,
 S 29°49'41" E 147.93 feet to a point,
 S 58°22'28" E 559.96 feet to a point,
 S 78°46'10" E 36.59 feet to a point;
 THENCE, leaving said west bank, South 1937.09 feet to the POINT OF BEGINNING, and containing 160.0 acres of land,
more or less.

9.  Feet  Chains  Meters
 Inches  Poles  Kilometers
 Yards  Rods
 Miles  Perches
 Varas  Arpents
 Links  Furlongs

10.  Direction / Bearing
 Direction: North / South
 Angle: Degrees, Minutes, Seconds
 Bearing: East / West
 Distance & Unit of Measure
 Curve
 Arc Length (May Have Tangent)
 Delta (May Have Tangent)
 Chord
 XY or Lat/Long

11. Thence along a curve to the right with a radius of
131.58 feet and a chord bearing south 43
degrees 30 minutes 8 seconds and east 110.78
feet

12.  XY or Lat/Long
 Reference Point
 Survey Corners
 Other Properties
 Landmarks
○ Rivers
○ Rocks
○ Trees
○ Roads

13.  Commencing at…
 Missing Calls
 Rivers
 Roads
 Northeasterly, Westward
 Closure Errors
 Acreage Discrepancies

14.  Change Individual Calls
 Mix Call Types / Drafting Methods for a Single
Feature
 Text-to-Polygon Conversion

15.  ArcMap
 Traverse Tool
 TractBuilder Metes & Bounds Tool
 Stand Alone
 Everest GIS

16. Multiple Features

17. Single Feature with Calls

18.  Tools for ArcGIS
 Metes & Bounds
 Aliquot/Quartering
 Integrated Attribute Entry
 Custom Web Portals
 Drafting Services
 ArcGIS Programming
 APIs & Web Services