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Is there a way to map out PLSS (Public Land Survey System) TWP (township),RNG (range) and Section based off a field in google docs? I was thinking if you had your first column with the PLSS area in it then it would be able to read the PLSS shapefile in ArcMap to adjust what section needs to be highlighted. I want to be able to track my company's projects on map. Right now they are all on a spreadsheet. Any ideas to go about doing this?

PolyGeo
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MjonesGEO
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    More information about the format of your data and what you are trying to do is needed. How is your PLSS grid attributed (are TRS values separate or together)? How does your spreadsheet store that information (same)? What do you mean by 'highlighted'? Are you trying to create geometry to represent the project on a map or modify the PLSS data to say there is a project in this section? – Chris W Apr 18 '14 at 18:16
  • The PLSS grid can be adjusted so that both of the names are the same (151N35W11). They could be in different fields if that would make it easier to get the end result. I want to create geometry based on what's entered in the excel table. – MjonesGEO Apr 18 '14 at 21:11
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    possible duplicate of How to assign geometry to records in a table that contain an ID of a geometry point? – Chris W Apr 18 '14 at 22:53
  • @joebob - What exactly do you mean by "I want to create geometry based on what's in the Excel table."? In your original question you say "...adjust what section needs to be highlighted". To me, that doesn't sound like creating geometry, but attributing what you have in your PLSS shapefile. Are you wanting to create partial geometries of the sections based on information in the Excel table? – Chad Cooper Apr 21 '14 at 13:48

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I used to do this quite a few years ago for lease mapping, first using Excel spreadsheets, then database data. You need to join your spreadsheet data onto your PLSS features, using a unique identifier for each section. So for a given section, its unique ID would be something like:

05-14N-32W-14

where the order is meridian-township-range-section. The actual format doesn't matter, so long as all the pieces are there and the same in both your spatial data and your spreadsheet. Meridian is very important, otherwise you could have issues with a TRS combo landing in multiple locations. They key is having good spatial data, which you will probably have to cleanup yourself, as in build the M-T-R-S string yourself and populate a field with it. Then do the same in your Excel sheet. Do the join, and you'll have your spreadsheet data joined onto your sections.

Chad Cooper
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  • Can you expand on your answer? I thought the same thing as you, but based on another question (which I am flagging this one as a duplicate of) I discovered it doesn't work. A straight join can't work in this situation because the project data does not have any geometry. You can join the PLSS to the project, but the result of the join is still a table with no geometry. In other words, you cannot create geometry with a join, only assign attributes. – Chris W Apr 18 '14 at 22:53