Guide toBest Practices
forGeoreferencing

Guide toBest Practices
forGeoreferencing

BioGeomancer Consortium
August 2006

Published by:
Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Copenhagen
http://www.gbif.org

Copyright © 2006 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

The information in this book represents the professional opinion of the authors, and does notnecessarily represent the views of the publisher or of the Regents of the University ofCalifornia. While the authors and the publisher have attempted to make this book as accurate
and as thorough as possible, the information contained herein is provided on an "As Is" basis,
and without any warranties with respect to its accuracy or completeness. The authors,
the publisher and the Regents of the University of California shall have no liability to any
person or entity for any loss or damage caused by using the information provided in thisbook.

Guide to Best Practices for Georeferencing
Includes Index
ISBN: 87-92020-00-3

Recommended Citation:

Chapman, A.D. and J. Wieczorek (eds). 2006. Guide to Best
Practices for Georeferencing. Copenhagen: Global Biodiversity
Information Facility.

Edited by: Arthur D. Chapman and John Wieczorek
Contributors: J.Wieczorek, R.Guralnick, A.Chapman, C.Frazier, N.Rios, R.Beaman, Q.Guo.

Contents
CONTENTS ..............................................................................................................................................IGLOSSARY ...........................................................................................................................................IIIINTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 1
1. DEFINITION ........................................................................................................................................ 1
2. PRINCIPLES OF BEST PRACTICE .......................................................................................................... 1
BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................................... 3
BIOGEOMANCER CLASSIC ..................................................................................................................... 3
MANIS .................................................................................................................................................. 3
MAPSTEDI ............................................................................................................................................ 3
INRAM ................................................................................................................................................. 3
GEOLOCATE ......................................................................................................................................... 4
ERIN ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
KEY DOCUMENTS AND LINKS ................................................................................................................ 4
COLLECTING AND RECORDING DATA IN THE FIELD ............................................................. 7
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD LOCALITY DATA RECORDING ................................................................ 7
2. RECORDING LOCALITIES .................................................................................................................... 7
3. RECORDING COORDINATES ................................................................................................................ 8
4. USING A GPS ..................................................................................................................................... 8
5. RECORDING DATUM ......................................................................................................................... 10
6. RECORDING ELEVATION .................................................................................................................. 10
7. RECORDING HEADINGS .................................................................................................................... 10
8. RECORDING EXTENT ........................................................................................................................ 11
9. RECORDING YEAR OF COLLECTION.................................................................................................. 11
10. DOCUMENTATION .......................................................................................................................... 11
11. RECORDING DATA FOR SMALL LABELS ......................................................................................... 12
12. NEW TECHNOLOGIES ..................................................................................................................... 12
BEGINNING THE GEOREFERENCING PROCESS ...................................................................... 13
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 13
2. THE RESOURCES NEEDED ................................................................................................................ 14
3. FIELDS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR DATABASE ......................................................................................... 14
a. Determine what fields you need ................................................................................................. 14
b. Locality fields ............................................................................................................................. 14
c. Georeferencing fields ................................................................................................................. 15
d. Ecological data .......................................................................................................................... 16
e. Applying constraints ................................................................................................................... 16
4. USER INTERFACES ............................................................................................................................ 17
5. USING STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES .............................................................................................. 17
6. CHOOSING A METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 18
a. Sorting records for batch georeferencing .................................................................................. 18
b. Using previously georeferenced records .................................................................................... 19
c. Using BioGeomancer ................................................................................................................. 19
7. DATA ENTRY OPERATORS................................................................................................................ 20
GEOREFERENCING LEGACY DATA............................................................................................. 21
1. CLASSIFYING THE LOCALITY DESCRIPTION ..................................................................................... 21
2. FINDING THE LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE ........................................................................................ 22
3. USING OFFSETS ................................................................................................................................ 22
4. FINDING THE EXTENT ....................................................................................................................... 22
5. CALCULATING UNCERTAINTIES ....................................................................................................... 23
a. Calculating uncertainties due to an unknown datum ................................................................. 23

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006ib. Calculating uncertainty from distance ....................................................................................... 24
c. Calculating uncertainties from extents of localities ................................................................... 25
d. Calculating uncertainty from direction ...................................................................................... 26
e. Calculating uncertainty from coordinate precision.................................................................... 27
f. Calculating uncertainty by reading off a map............................................................................. 28
g. Calculating combined uncertainties........................................................................................... 30
h. Using the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator ............................................................................ 30
6. DETERMINING SPATIAL FIT .............................................................................................................. 31
MAINTAINING DATA QUALITY ..................................................................................................... 33
1. FEEDBACK TO COLLECTORS ............................................................................................................. 33
2. ACCEPTING FEEDBACK FROM USERS ............................................................................................... 33
3. DATA CHECKING AND CLEANING .................................................................................................... 33
a. Data entry................................................................................................................................... 34
b. Data validation........................................................................................................................... 34
c. Making corrections..................................................................................................................... 35
d. Truth in labelling........................................................................................................................ 35
4. REPONSIBILITIES OF THE MANAGER ................................................................................................. 35
5. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SUPERVISOR ............................................................................................ 35
6. TRAINING ......................................................................................................................................... 36
7. PERFORMANCE CRITERIA ................................................................................................................. 36
8. INDEX OF SPATIAL UNCERTAINTY ................................................................................................... 36
9. DOCUMENTATION ............................................................................................................................ 37
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 39
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................... 41
FURTHER READING .............................................................................................................................. 43
SOFTWARE AND ON-LINE TOOLS .......................................................................................................... 44
GAZETTEER LOOK-UP SERVICES .......................................................................................................... 44
APPENDIX: GUIDELINES FOR GEOREFERENCING LOCALITY TYPES ............................. 45
FEATURE (NAMED PLACE) ........................................................................................................... 45
NEAR A FEATURE ........................................................................................................................... 48
BETWEEN TWO FEATURES........................................................................................................... 49
STREET ADDRESS ........................................................................................................................... 50
PATH .................................................................................................................................................. 51
BETWEEN TWO PATHS .................................................................................................................. 53
OFFSET DISTANCE.......................................................................................................................... 54
OFFSET DIRECTION ........................................................................................................................ 56
OFFSET AT A HEADING.................................................................................................................. 60
OFFSET ALONG A PATH................................................................................................................. 62
OFFSET IN ORTHOGONAL DIRECTIONS .................................................................................... 64
OFFSET FROM TWO DISTINCT PATHS ........................................................................................ 67
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES ........................................................................... 68
UTM COORDINATES....................................................................................................................... 70
TOWNSHIP, RANGE, SECTION ...................................................................................................... 71
DUBIOUS........................................................................................................................................... 73
CANNOT BE LOCATED................................................................................................................... 74
DEMONSTRABLY INACCURATE ................................................................................................. 75
CAPTIVE OR CULTIVATED ........................................................................................................... 76
INDEX .................................................................................................................................................... 77

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Glossary
Accuracy — a measure of how well data represent true values.
Cadastre — a register that defines boundaries of public and/or private land.
Cadastral map — a map showing cadastre (q.v.) boundaries
Coordinates — a sequence of numbers designating the position of a point in n-dimensional
space [ISO 19111]. Examples of two-dimensional coordinate systems are
Latitude/Longitude and Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM).
Coordinate reference system — a reference system that relates a sequence of numbers orcoordinates (q.v.) to the real world via a datum (q.v.).
Coordinate system — a system used to denote direct or relative positions by coordinates(q.v.).
Data Quality — described ‘fitness for use’ (Juran 1964, 1994, Chrisman 1991, Chapman
2005a) of data. As a collector, you may have an intended use for the data you collect but
data have the potential to be used in unforeseen ways; therefore, the value of your data is
directly related to the fitness of those data for a variety of uses. As data become moreaccessible, many more uses become apparent (Chapman 2005c).
Datum — a parameter or set of parameters that serve as a reference or basis for the calculationof other parameters [ISO 19111]. A datum defines the position of the origin, the scale, andthe orientation of the axes of a coordinate system. A datum may be a geodetic datum, avertical datum or an engineering datum. In this document, the term datum generally refers
to a geodetic datum (q.v.).
Decimal degrees — degrees expressed as a single real number (e.g., −22.343456) rather thanas a composite of degrees, minutes, seconds, and direction (e.g., 7º 54' 18.32" E). Note that
minus (−) signs are used to indicate southern and western hemispheres.
Decimal latitude — the latitude coordinate (in decimal degrees) at the center of a circle
encompassing the whole of a specific locality. Convention holds that decimal latitudes northof the equator are positive numbers less than or equal to 90, while those south are negative
numbers greater or equal to −90.
Example: −42.5100 degrees (which is roughly the same as 42º 30' 36" S).
Decimal longitude — the longitude coordinate (in decimal degrees) at the center of a circle
encompassing the whole of a specific locality. Decimal longitudes east of the Greenwich
Meridian are considered positive and less than or equal to 180, while western longitudes arenegative and greater than or equal to −180.
Example: −122.4900 degrees (which is roughly the same as 122º 29' 24" W).
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) — a digital representation of the elevation of locations on theland surface of the earth, usually represented in the form of a rectangular grid.
Easting and Northing — within a coordinate reference system (e.g., as provided by a GPS ora map grid reference system), Eastings are the vertical grid lines running from top to bottom(North to South) which divide a map from East to West and Northings are the horizontal
lines running from left to right (East to West) dividing the map from North to South. The
squares formed by intersecting eastings and northings are called grid squares. On 1:100,000
scale maps each square represents an area of 100 hectares or one kilometer square.
Elevation — the elevation of a geographic location is its height above mean sea level or someother fixed reference point (cf. vertical datum). Elevation may be a negative number inthose parts of the earth where the land surface is below mean sea level. Elevation may be

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recorded on maps in the form of contour lines linking points of uniform elevation, or as spot
heights at trig points (q.v.) – usually at the summits of mountains, and rarely at low points.
Elevation is used when referring to points on the earth, whereas altitude is used for points
above the surface of the earth, such as the altitude of an aircraft, and depth for positions
below the surface (of a lake, sea, etc.).
Extent — the geographic range, magnitude, or distance which a location may actually
represent. With a town, the extent is the polygon that encompasses the area inside thetown’s boundaries. In this document, we usually refer to the linear extent – the distancefrom the geographic center of the location to the furthest point in the representation of thelocation.
False Precision — occurs when data are recorded with a greater number of decimal places
than implied by the original data. This often occurs following transformations from one unit
or coordinate system to another, for example from feet to meters, or from degrees, minutes,
and seconds to decimal degrees. In general, precision cannot be conserved across metrictransformations; however, in practice it is often recorded as such. For example, a record of
10º 20’ stored in a database in decimal degrees is ~10.3º. When exported from somedatabases, however, it will result in a value of 10.3333333333 with a precision of 10
decimal places rather than 1, leading to a metric uncertainty of around 0.02 mm instead of
the real uncertainty of ~15 km. This is not a true precision as it relates to the original data,
but a false precision as reported from the database.
Feature — a natural or anthropogenic object or observation that can be represented spatially.
The term “feature” may refer to categories of objects or feature types (e.g., mountains,roads, or cities) or to specific feature instances (e.g., Mount Everest, Interstate 25, or San
Fransisco), which are also sometimes referred to as “named places.”
Feature Name — a proper name applied to a feature (q.v.); the name of a named place.
Footprint — a spatial representation of a feature (q.v.) as an area. The extent and shape of afootprint may comprise the actual boundaries of a feature, the uncertainty around a point
representation of a feature, or some combination of an estimate of the boundaries of afeature and the uncertainty associated with those boundaries.
Gazetteer — a geographic dictionary or index of feature names (q.v.)., usually also including
an indication of position on the earth’s surface using one of several geographic coordinate
systems (q.v.), but most generally latitude (q.v.) and longitude (q.v.).
Geocode — the process of determining the coordinates for a street address. It is also
sometimes used as a synonym for georeferencing (q.v.).
Geodetic datum — a model of the earth used for geodetic calculations. A geodetic datum
describes the size, shape, origin, and orientation of a coordinate system for mapping thesurface of the earth (NAD27, SAD69, WGS84, etc.). In this document, we use the term torefer to the horizontal datum (q.v.) and not the vertical datum (q.v.).
Geodetic datums are often recorded on maps and in gazetteers, and can be specifically set
for most GPS devices so the waypoints match the chosen datum. Use "not recorded" when
the datum is not known.
Geographic coordinate system — the net or graticule of lines of latitude (parallels) numbered
0° to 90° north and south of the equator, and lines of longitude (meridians) numbered 0°
to180° east and west of the international zero meridian of Greenwich, used to define
locations on the Earth's surface (disregarding elevation) with the aid of angular measure(degrees, minutes and seconds of arc) 1 .
1

Glossary of Terminology. <http://www.ngi.be/NL/glossary/glossang-inf.htm>

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This is the traditional global coordinate system based on latitude and longitude.
Geographic center — the geographic center of a shape is the mean of the extremes of latitude
and longitude of that shape. If the result is not within the shape itself, choose instead thepoint in the shape nearest to the calculated geographic center.
Georeference — to translate a locality description into a mappable representation of a feature(q.v.) (verb); or the product of such a translation (noun).
GPS (Global Positioning System) — a satellite-based navigation system that provides 24 hour
three-dimensional position, velocity and time information to suitably equipped users (i.e.,
users with a GPS receiver) anywhere on or near the surface of the Earth. See discussions on
accuracy elsewhere in this document.
Heading — the direction from a starting location, given in the form of points of the compass
such as E, NW, or N15ºW, etc. Usually used in conjunction with offset (q.v.) to give a
distance and direction from a named place. See discussion on true and magnetic north in the
Recording Headings section of this document.
Horizontal datum — that portion of a datum (q.v.) which refers to the horizontal positions ofmapped features with respect to parallels and meridians or northing and easting grid lines on
a map as opposed to the vertical datum (q.v.).
Latitude — describes the angular distance that a location is north or south of the equator,
measured along a line of longitude (q.v.).
Locality — a) the position of a feature in space; b) The verbal representation of this position(i.e., the locality description).
Location — a position on the earth’s surface or in geographic space definable by coordinates(q.v.) or some other geographic referencing system, such as a street address, offset, etc.
Longitude — describes the angular distance east or west of a prime meridian (q.v.) on theearth's surface along a line of latitude (q.v.).
Map projection — a method of representing the earth's three-dimensional surface as a flat
two-dimensional surface. This normally involves a mathematical model (of which there aremany) that transforms the locations of features on the earth's surface to locations on a twodimensional surface. Such representations distort one or more parameters of the earth's
surface such as distance, area, shape, or direction.
Maximum uncertainty estimate — the numerical value for the upper limit of the distancefrom the coordinates of a locality to the outer extremity of the area (often a circle) within
which the whole of the described locality must lie.
Maximum uncertainty units — the units of length in which the maximum uncertainty
estimate is recorded (e.g., mi, km, nm, m, ft). The maximum uncertainty distance should berecorded using the same units as the distance measurements in the locality description.
Meridian — the intersection in one hemisphere of the earth’s surface with a plane passing
through the poles, usually corresponding to a line of longitude (q.v.).
Named place — used to refer not only to traditional features (q.v.), but also to places that may
not have proper names, such as road junctions, stream confluences, highway mile pegs, andcells in grid systems (e.g., townships).
Northing — See Easting and Northing.
Offset — a displacement from a reference point, named place, or other feature. Used here as
the distance from a named place using the location of the named place as the starting point.
Usually used in conjunction with heading (q.v.) to give a distance and direction from a
named place.

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Precision — with measurements and values, it describes the finest unit of measurement used
to express that value (e.g., if a record is reported to the nearest minute, the precision is
1/3600th of a degree; if a decimal degree is reported to two decimal places, the precision is
0.01 of a degree). It is important to always calculate the precision from the original data andunits of measurement. See also false precision (q.v.).
Prime meridian — a meridian from which longitude east and west is reckoned, the mostrecent standard for which passes through Greenwich, England.
Spatial fit — a measure of how well the geometric representation matches the original spatial
representation. See discussion elsewhere in this document.
Trig point — a surveyed reference point, often on high points of elevation (mountain tops,etc.) and usually marked by a small pyramidal structure or a pillar. The exact location isdetermined by survey triangulation and hence the name trigonometrical point or
triangulation point.
Uncertainty —a “measure of the incompleteness of one’s knowledge or information about an
unknown quantity whose true value could be established if a perfect measuring device wereavailable” (Cullen & Frey 1999). Uncertainty is a property of the observer’s understandingof the data. Throughout this document we use Maximum uncertainty estimate (q.v.) as theway of recording and documenting uncertainty.
UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) — a standardized coordinate system based on a metricrectangular grid system and a division of the earth into sixty 6-degree longitudinal zones.
Zones are numbered consecutively with Zone 1 between 180 and 174 degrees west
longitude. UTM only covers from 84º N to 80º S. When citing UTM coordinates, it isessential that the UTM Zone also be recorded.
Vertical datum — that portion of a datum (q.v.) that refers to the vertical position of mappedfeatures with respect to a base measurement point (such as mean sea level at a location) andfrom which all elevations are determined (e.g., AHD – The Australian Height Datum;
NAVD88 – North American Vertical Datum). See comments on accuracy under the section
on GPS accuracy in this document.
WGS84 (World Geodetic System 1984) — a coordinate reference system (q.v.) in common
use globally to fit the shape of the entire Earth as accurately as possible using a single
ellipsoid. Other ellipsoids (datums) are commonly used locally to provide a better fit to the
Earth in a local region.

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Introduction
One of the outputs from the BioGeomancer project is a document on best practice forgeoreferencing biological species (specimen and observational) data. Several projects(MaNIS, MapSteDI, INRAM, GEOLocate, NatureServe, CRIA, ERIN, CONABIO, etc.) havepreviously developed guidelines and tools for georeferencing, and these provide a goodstarting point for such a document.
The document provides guidelines to the world’s best practice for georeferencing such data,
but it is important that organisations and institutions then produce their own internal documentthat incorporates the practices outlined in this document into their own working environment.
The document presents examples of how to georeference a range of different location types,
and provides information and examples on how to determine the extent and maximum
uncertainty distance for locations based on the information provided.

1. Definition“The term best practice generally refers to the best possible way of doing something;
it is commonly used in the fields of business management, software engineering, andmedicine, and increasingly in government. […] The [qualified] term, ‘best current
practice’, often represents the meaning in a more accurate way, showing thepossibility for future developments of ‘better practice’.” (Wikipedia: Best Practice 2 ).

2. Principles of Best Practice•

Accuracy – a measure of how well the data represent true values. It is good practice toquote a percentage area or an uncertainty in meters, or to draw an uncertainty polygon.
With georeferencing – this is currently mostly an uncertainty radius, however
uncertainty polygons are beginning to be used in some circumstances. Uncertainty
probability surfaces are also under consideration.

•

Effectiveness – the likelihood that a work program achieves its desired objectives.
With georeferencing – this is the percentage of records for which the latitude andlongitude can be accurately identified through use of BioGeomancer or in someother way.

•

Efficiency – the ratio of output to input.
With georeferencing – this is the amount of effort that is needed to produce anacceptable output. It also refers to the amount of input data the user has to obtainto produce an acceptable result (e.g., gazetteers, collectors’ itineraries, etc.).

•

Reliability – related to accuracy, and refers to the consistency with which results areproduced.
With georeferencing – it refers to the repeatability with which a georeference canbe produced by the user for the same locality.

•

Accessibilty – how accessible are the results to the users, public, etc.
With georeferencing – this is the ease with which users, other institutions, etc., canaccess the information for a particular locality that has already beengeoreferenced.

2

Wikipedia: Best Practice <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_practice>

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•Transparency – an annunciation of the procedures for collection, analysis, reporting andupdate.
With georeferencing – this refers to the quality of the metadata and methodology
by which a georeference was obtained for a particular locality.

•

Timeliness – relates to the frequency of data collection, its reporting and updates.
With georeferencing – it largely refers to how often gazetteers are updated, orwhen the records are georeferenced and made available to others.

•

Relevance – the data collected should meet the needs of the user – i.e., should fulfill theprinciple of “fitness for use”.
With georeferencing – it refers to the format of the output (i.e., does it include good
metadata on the above topics).

In addition, an effective best practices document should:• Align the vision, mission, and strategic plans in an institution to policies andprocedures and gain the support of sponsors and/or top management.
• Use a standard method of writing (writing format) to produce professional policies andprocedures within the institution.
• Satisfy industry standards.
• Satisfy the scrutiny of management and external/internal auditors.
This list is by no means exhaustive, but does cover most of the elements in identifying bestpractice.

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BackgroundA number of projects have been working for many years on the development of guidelines andtools for improving the georeferencing of primary biodiversity data. This document largely
draws on those initiatives and attempts to bring the results of all this previous work into one
comprehensive best practices document. Without this background work, such a document
would not be possible. For link locations see under ‘Key Documents and Links’ at the end of
this Chapter.

BioGeoMancer Classic
The original BioGeoMancer Classic was developed by Reed Beaman, now at Yale University.
This tool provides a georeferencing service for collectors, curators and users of natural history
specimens. BioGeoMancer Classic can parse English language place name descriptions andprovide a set of latitude/longitude coordinates associated with that description. It provides
offset calculations for when a collection is georeferenced a given distance and cardinal
direction from the nearest named place. For more details on how it works – see “What it does
… 3 ”.

MaNIS
With support from the National Science Foundation, seventeen North American institutions
and their collaborators developed the Mammal Networked Information System. The original
objectives of MaNIS were to 1) facilitate open access to combined specimen data from a web
browser, 2) enhance the value of specimen collections, 3) conserve curatorial resources, and 4)
use a design paradigm that could be easily adopted by other disciplines with similar needs.
The MaNIS network has developed a number of tools and guidelines for assisting thegeoreferencing of collections in the MaNIS network. These documents and tools have beenheavily drawn upon in this document.

MapSTeDI
The Mountains and Plains Spatio-Temporal Database Informatics Initiative (MaPSTeDI) was acollaborative effort between the University of Colorado Museum, Denver Museum of Natureand Science, and Denver Botanic Gardens to convert their separate collections into one
distributed biodiversity database and research toolkit for the southern and central Rockies andadjacent plains. Unlike MaNIS or other projects, which have strong taxonomic focus and a
distributed database federation outcome, MaPSTeDI had a regional focus and a distributed GIS
mapping system outcome. Like other projects listed here, georeferencing was the essential
first step in MaPSTeDI, providing the data that will be eventually analyzed spatially andtemporally on the MaPSTeDI online GIS. The MaPSTeDI project also developed detailed
guidelines and tools such as the MaPSTeDI Georeferencing Protocols and Guide toGeoreferencing, and these have been heavily relied upon in this document.

INRAM
The Institute of Resource Analysis and Management (INRAM) sought to increase the value of
New Mexico museum specimen data by supporting an effort to georeference New Mexico
specimen localities. Data that are georeferenced haphazardly are of little use to science, so thefirst goal of the INRAM Georeferencing Team was to develop a detailed, comprehensive
protocol describing how best to determine the coordinates and uncertainty estimate to apply to3

BioGeoMancer Classic – What it does … <http://130.132.27.130/yu/bgm-docs/what-it-does.html>

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a given locality. The INRAM team started by evaluating the protocol used by the Mammal
Networked Information System (MaNIS) in which the Museum of Southwestern Biology(MSB) mammal division was participating, and determined that there were many ways it could
be improved. In particular, INRAM created a more detailed list of locality types with a
specific rule set for each as to how to determine coordinates and uncertainty. INRAM alsosought to maximize the efficiency and accuracy of the georeferencing process. With help fromthe New Mexico Natural Heritage Program and the Museum of Southwestern Biology,
INRAM developed a combined GIS and database system that made implementing the protocol
much easier for the students doing the work. Together, the INRAM protocol andgeoreferencing software system allowed a semi-automated georeferencing process which
provided accurate, rapid data capture and which left a detailed record of the methods andassumptions used to georeference each specimen.

GEOLocate
In March of 1995, Dr. Henry L. Bart received funding from the U.S. National Science
Foundation to computerize and georeference the Tulane University Museum of Natural History
Fish Collection. Georeferencing was accomplished by manually plotting each locality
description on hardcopy USGS topographic maps and using a digitizing tablet to register themaps and determine coordinates. Where possible, hand-plotted, hardcopy maps werecompared to electronic versions of the same maps (USGS digital line graphs), allowing thetechnician to use a mouse to electronically capture the coordinates. Using this method, 15,000
locality descriptions for nearly 7 million specimens were georeferenced by one technician overa period of 18 months.
In Febuary of 2002, Dr. Bart and Nelson Rios received funding from the the U.S. National
Science foundation to develop a software package to facilitate georeferencing of natural
history collections data, using the Tulane Fish Collection as a testbed. The result was
GEOLocate, a tool for comprehensive automated georeferencing of North American locality
descriptions. Ongoing development involves expanding coverage to the entire world, multilingual support, user-defined pattern recognition, and collaborative georeferencing.
GEOLocate is also being developed as a webservice for integration into the current
development of BioGeomancer.

ERIN
The Environmental Resources Information Network (ERIN) was established in the Australian
Department of the Environment in 1989 and began funding the databasing and georeferencingof Australia’s museum and herbarium collections. It established methods for assistinggeoreferencing, including the linking of records to Digital Elevation Models to determine
elevation, and sophisticated methods for data checking and validation by searching for outliersin environmental space using niche modeling techniques. These have recently been upgradedin conjunction with the Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental (CRIA) and Robert
Hijmans, the author of the DIVA-GIS software.

Key Documents and Links
•
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•
•

4

Best Practices Guidelines for GPS Survey (NLWRA, Australia)
http://www.nlwra.gov.au/toolkit/10/10-2.html
BioGeoMancer Classic
http://classic.biogeomancer.org
Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental (CRIA)
http://www.cria.org.br
DIVA-GIS
http://www.diva-gis.org

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•
•
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•
•

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•
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Environmental Resources Information Network (ERIN)
http://www.deh.gov.au/erin/index.html
Examples of Good and Bad Localities
http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Locality_Field_Recording_examples.html
GEOLocate – University of Tulane
http://www.museum.tulane.edu/geolocate/
Institute of Resource Analysis and Management (INRAM)
http://biodiversity.inram.org/
INRAM Protocol for Georeferencing Biological Museum Specimen Records
http://www.inram.org/modules/UpDownload/store_folder/Documents/INRAM_Bio
diversity_Georeferencing_Project/Georeferencing_Guidelines_INRAMV1.3_2004-03-01.pdf
Mammal Networked Information System (MaNIS)
http://manisnet.org/
MaNIS Documents
http://manisnet.org/Documents.html
MaNIS/HerpNet/ORNIS Georereferencing Guidelines
http://manisnet.org/manis GeorefGuide.html
Manual de Procedimientos para Georeferenciar, CONABIO, 2004. An internal
georeferencing manual produced by the Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y
Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), Mexico.
The Mountains and Plains Spatio-Temporal Database Informatics Initiative MaPSTeDI
http://mapstedi.colorado.edu/index.html
MaPSTeDI Georeferencing Protocols
http://mapstedi.colorado.edu/georeferencing-protocols.html
MaPSTeDI Guide to Georeferencing
http://mapstedi.colorado.edu/georeferencing-howto.html
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology Informatics (MVZ) – University of California,
Berkeley
http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Informatics.html
MVZ Guide for Recording Localities in the Field:
http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Locality_Field_Recording_Notebooks.html
Reasons Why it is Important to Take Good Locality Data (MVZ)
http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Locality_Field_Recording_important.html
OGC Recommendations Document Pointerhttp://www.opengeospatial.org/specs/?page=recommendation

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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5

Collecting and Recording Data in the Field 4Collecting data in the field sets the stage for good georeferencing procedures. Many newtechniques now exist that can lead to quite accurately georeferenced locations; however it isimportant that the locations be recorded correctly in order to reduce the likelihood of error. We
recommend that all new collecting events use a GPS for recording coordinates wherever
possible, and that the GPS be set to a relevant datum (see below).

1. The Importance of Good Locality Data Recording
Good locality descriptions lead to more accurate georeferences with smaller uncertainty values
and provide users with much more accurate and high quality data. When recording data in thefield, whether from a map or when using a GPS, it is important to record locality information
as well as the georeferences, so that later validation can take place if necessary.
One purpose behind a specific locality description is to allow the validation of coordinates, inwhich errors are otherwise difficult to detect. The extent to which validation can occur depends
on how well the locality description and its spatial counterpart describe the same place. The
highest quality locality description is one with as few sources of uncertainty as possible. By
describing a place in terms of a distance along a path, or by two orthogonal distances from aplace, one removes uncertainty due to imprecise headings. Choosing a reference point withsmall extent reduces the uncertainty due to the size of the reference point, and by choosing anearby reference point, one reduces the potential for error in measuring the offset distances.
To make it easy to validate a locality, use reference points that are easy to find on maps or ingazetteers. At all costs, avoid using vague terms such as “near” and “center of” or providing
only an offset without a distance such as “West of Albuquerque”.
In any locality that contains a named place that can be confused with another named place of adifferent type, specify the feature type in parentheses following the feature name.
Examples:Locality example using distance and heading along a path:E shore of Bolinas Lagoon, 3.1 mi NW via Hwy. 1 from intersection of Hwy. 1 andCalle del Arroyo in Stinson Beach (town), Marin Co., Calif.
Locality example using two cardinal offset distances from a reference point:
ice field below Cerro El Plomo, 0.5 km S and 0.2 km W of summit, Region
Metropolitana, Chile.

2. Recording Localities
Provide a descriptive locality, even if you have geographic coordinates. The locality should be
as specific, succinct, unambiguous, complete, and as accurate as possible, leaving no room for
uncertainty in interpretation.
Localities used as reference points should be stable – i.e., places (towns, trig points, etc.) thatwill remain for a long time after the collection events. Do NOT use temporary locations or
waypoints as the key reference location. You may have made an accurate GPS recording forthe temporary location and then referenced future collections from that point (e.g., 200 m SEof the Land Rover), and that may make perfect sense for that series of collections. It is4

See also Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California (2006) MVZ Guide for Recording
Localities in Field Notes <http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Locality_Field_Recording_Notebooks.html>

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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7meaningless, however, when those collections are later broken up and placed in a museum
under a taxonomic arrangement, and no longer have a link to where the ‘Landrover’ was.
If recording locations along a path (road, river, etc.) it is important to also record whether the
distances were measured along the path (‘by road’) or as a direct line from the origin (‘by air’).
Hint: The most specific localities are those described by a) a distance and headingalong a path from a nearby and well-defined intersection, or b) two cardinal offset
distances from a single persistent nearby feature of small extent.

3. Recording Coordinates
Coordinates are a convenient way to define a locality that is not only more specific than isotherwise possible with a description, but that is also readily usable in GIS applications.
Always include as many decimals of precision as given by the coordinate source. A
measurement in decimal degrees given to five decimal places is more precise than ameasurement in degrees minutes seconds to the nearest second, and more precise than ameasurement in degrees decimal minutes given to three decimal places (see Table 4). Some
new GPS receivers now provide for recording data in decimal seconds and this (to two decimal
places) provides a precision comparable to that of decimal degrees.
Whenever practical, provide the coordinates of the location where collecting actually occurred(see Extent, below). If reading coordinates from a map, use the same coordinate system as themap. The datum is an essential part of a coordinate description; it provides the frame ofreference. When using both maps and GPS in the field, set the GPS datum to be the same as
the map datum so that your GPS coordinates will match those on the map. Be sure to record
the datum used.
Specific projects may require particular coordinate systems, but we find geographic
coordinates in decimal degrees to be the most convenient system for georeferencing. Since thisformat relies on just two attributes, one for latitude and the other for longitude, it provides a
succinct coordinate description with global applicability that is readily transformed to othercoordinate systems as well as from one datum to another. By keeping the number of recorded
attributes to a minimum, the chances for transcription errors are minimized (Wieczorek et al.
2004).
Hint: Decimal degrees are preferred when reading coordinates from a GPS, howeversee Note under Using a GPS, below.
Hint: If using UTM coordinates, always record the UTM Zone.

4. Using a GPS
GPS (Global Positioning System) technology uses triangulation to determine the location of aposition on the earth’s surface. The distance calculated is the range between the GPS receiverand the GPS Satellites (Van Sickle 1996). As the GPS satellites are at known locations inspace, the position on earth can be calculated. A minimum of four GPS satellites is required todetermine the location of a position on the earth’s surface (McElroy et al. 1998, Van Sickle
1996). This is not generally a limitation today, as one can often receive seven or more satellites
in most locations on earth, however, historically the number of satellites receivable was notalways sufficient. Prior to May 2000, most GPS units used by civilians were subject to“Selective Availability”. The removal of this signal degradation technique has greatly
improved the accuracy that can generally be expected from GPS receivers (NOAA 2002).
To obtain the best possible accuracy, the GPS receiver must be located in an area that is freefrom overhead obstructions and reflective surfaces and have a good field of view to the horizon(for example, they do not work very well under a heavy forest canopy). The GPS receiver must
be able to record signals from at least four GPS satellites in a suitable geometric arrangement.
The best arrangement is to have “one satellite directly overhead and the other three equally

8

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

spaced around the horizon” (McElroy et al. 1998). The GPS receiver must also be set to an
appropriate datum for the area, and the datum used recorded (Chapman et al. 2005a).
GPS accuracy: Most GPS devices are able to report a theoretical horizontal accuracy based on
local conditions at the time of reading. For highly specific localities, it may be possible for the
potential error in the GPS reading to be on the same order of magnitude as the extent of thelocality. In these cases, the GPS accuracy can make a non-trivial contribution to the overall
uncertainty in the position given by the coordinates.
Prior to the removal of Selective Availability, the accuracy of Hand-held GPS receivers as
used by most biologists and observers in the field was around 100 meters or worse (McElroy etal. 1998, Van Sickle, 1996, Leick 1995). Since then, however, the accuracy of GPS receivers
has improved and today, most manufacturers of hand-held GPS units promise errors of lessthan 10 meters in open areas when using four or more satellites. The accuracy can be improvedby averaging the results of multiple observations at a single location (McElroy et al. 1998), andsome modern GPS receivers that include averaging algorithms can bring the accuracy down toaround five meters or maybe even better. NOAA (2001) suggests that GPSs without
differential (see below) may be as accurate as 10-15 meters, depending on the receiver being
used, satellite configuration and atmospheric conditions, but that this is at the better end of thescale.
The use of Differential GPS (DGPS) can improve the accuracy considerably. DGPS uses
referencing to a GPS Base Station (usually a survey control point) at a known location to
calibrate the receiving GPS. This works through the Base Station and hand-held GPS
referencing the satellites’ positions at the same time and thus reduces error due to atmosphericconditions. In this way, the hand-held GPS applies the appropriate corrections to thedetermined position. Depending on the quality of the receivers used, one can expect anaccuracy of between 1 and 5 meters. This accuracy decreases as the distance of the receiverfrom the Base Station increases. Again, averaging can further improve on these values(McElroy et al. 1998). For example, the U.S. Coast Guard’s DGPS has a stated horizontal
accuracy of ± 10 meters (95%). In other words, 95 percent of the time a position determinedusing DGPS will be within 10 meters of its true position on the earth. Under certain conditions,mariners may observe better than 10-meter accuracy (NOAA 2001).
The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is a GPS-based navigation and landing systemdeveloped for precision guidance of aircraft (Federal Aviation Administration 2004). WAAS
uses ground-based antennae with precisely known locations to provide greater positional
accuracy for GPSs. Similar technologies such as Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS)
are also being developed to provide even finer precision.
Even greater accuracies can be achieved using either Real-time Differential GPS (McElroy etal. 1998) or Static GPS (McElroy et al. 1998, Van Sickle 1996). Static GPS uses highprecision instruments and specialist techniques and is generally employed only by surveyors.
Surveys conducted in Australia using these techniques reported accuracies in the centimeter
range. These techniques are unlikely to be extensively used with biological record collection
due to the cost and general lack of requirement for such precision.
Note! Set your GPS to report locations in decimal degrees rather than make aconversion from another coordinate system as it is usually more precise, better andeasier to store, and saves later transformations which may introduce error.
Note2! An alternative where reference to maps is important, and where the GPS
receiver allows it, is to set the recorder to report in degrees, minutes, and decimal
seconds.

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9

5. Recording Datum
Except under special circumstances (the poles, for example), coordinates without a datum do
not uniquely specify a location. Confusion about the datum can result in positional errors of
hundreds of meters.
When using a GPS, it is important to set and record the Datum being used. See discussion
below under Calculating Uncertainties.
Note! If you are not basing your locality description on a map, set your GPS to report
coordinates using the WGS84 datum. Record that fact in all your documentation.

6. Recording Elevation
Supplement the locality description with elevation information if this can easily be obtained. It
is preferable to use a barometric altimeter if available. Alternatively, obtain the elevation froma Digital Elevation Model (usually done retrospectively in the laboratory), or by using thecontours and spot height information from a suitable scale map of the area. Record the method
used in Remarks.
Note! “Elevation markings can narrow down the area in which you place a point. Moreoften than not, however, they seem to create inconsistency. While elevation should not
be ignored, it is important to realize that elevation was often measured inaccurately
and/or imprecisely, especially early in the 20th century. One of the best uses of
elevation in a locality description is to pinpoint a location along a road or river in a
topographically complex area, especially when the rest of the locality description isvague.”(MaPSTeDI 2004)

Under normal conditions, GPS devices are much less accurate for recording elevation thanhorizontal distances, and they do not report the altitudinal accuracy. It is important to note thatthe height displayed by a GPS receiver is actually the height in relation to an ellipsoid as amodel of the Earth’s surface, and not a height based on mean sea level, or to a standard heightdatum such as the Australian Height Datum. In Australia, for example, the difference between
altitudes reported from a GPS receiver and mean sea level can vary from –35 to +80 meters
and tends to vary in an unpredictable manner (Chapman et al. 2005, McElroy et al. 1998, Van
Sickle 1996).
If elevation is a defining part of the locality description, be sure to use a reliable source for thismeasurement (barometric altimeter, trustworthy map, or Digital Elevation Model at suitablescale), and specify the source under references. It is not recommended that elevation be
determined using a GPS.
Hint: A barometric altimeter, when properly calibrated, is much more reliable than a
GPS for obtaining accurate elevations. It is not recommended that elevation be
determined using a GPS. See remarks above under Using a GPS about the error
inherant in using a GPS to determine elevations.

7. Recording Headings
It is important when using a compass to record headings, that adjustments be made to record
True North and not Magnetic North. The differences between True North and Magnetic Northvary in different parts of the world, and in some places can vary greatly across a very small
distance. The differences also change over time. For example, in an area about 250 km NW of
Minneapolis in the United States, the anomolous declination changes from 16.6º E to 12.0º W
across a distance of just 6 km (Goulet 2001).

10Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

The National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) in the USA has an on-line calculator 5 that cancalculate the anomolous or magnetic declination for any place on earth and at any point intime. If you need to make adjustments, we suggest that you use this calculator to determine thedeclination for the area in question. Otherwise determine your heading using a reliable map.

8. Recording Extent
The extent is a measure of the size of the area within which collecting events or observations
occurred for a given locality. Assuming the locality is recorded as a coordinate, the extent isthe distance from that point to the furthest point where collecting or observations occurred inthat locality. Extent has not traditionally been recorded with collecting activities, but can beimportant where activities have taken place over a small range, along a transect, or over an
area (for example it is common to record bird observations over a 2 ha area).
Collecting events or observations often take place in an area described collectively by a single
locality (e.g., within 1 km of the place described in the recorded locality). Without a measureof the potential deviation from the point provided, a user of the data usually has no way ofknowing how specific the locality actually is. The extent is a simple way to alert the user that,for example, all of the specimens collected or observations made at the stated coordinates wereactually within an area of up to 0.5 miles from that point. It can be quite helpful at times toinclude in your field notes a large-scale map of the local vicinity for each locality, marking thearea in which the collecting and observations occurred.
Hint: A 1 km linear trap line for which the coordinates refer to the center has an extent
of 0.5 km. A 2ha area where the coordinates are given at the center of a circle has anextent of ~80 m.

9. Recording Year of Collection
The year a collection was made can often affect the georeferencing of a location. Towns,
roads, counties, and even countries can change names and boundaries over time. Rivers andcoastlines can change position, billabongs and ox-bow lakes can come and go, localities (suchas towns) can change size and shape, and areas of once pristine environment may become
farmland or urban areas. Dated maps may no longer represent the current situation. The date isan important characteristic of the collection and must be taken into account when determining
a georeference.

Example: “Collecting localities along the Alaska Highway are frequently given interms of milepost markers; however, the Alaska Highway is approximately 40 km
shorter than it was in 1942 and road improvements continue to re-route and shorten it
every year. Accurate location of a milepost, therefore, would require cross-referencing
to the collecting date. To further complicate matters, Alaska uses historical mileposts(calibrated to 1942 distance), the Yukon uses historical mileposts converted tokilometers, and British Columbia uses actual mileage (expressed in kilometers)”.

(From Wheeler et al. 2001).

10. Documentation
Record the sources of all measurements. Minimally, include map name and scale, GPS model,
the datum, the source for elevation data, the UTM Zone if using UTM coordinates, and theextent of the location or collecting event.

5

National Geophysical Data Center. 2004. Estimated Value of Magnetic Declination .

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11

Using a GPS. For the best accuracy of a location determined by GPS it is important todocument:• The coordinates obtained from the GPS• The datum• The accuracy reported by the GPS• Make of GPS receiver used
Note! Most GPS devices do not record accuracy with the waypoint data, but provide itin the interface showing current satellite conditions.
Note!: The accuracy reported by most GPS recorders is only a relative accuracy forthe instrument on which it is read and not real accuracy. For many GPS recorders, theaccuracy reported is almost always smaller than warranted.
Example:Locality: “Modoc National Wildlife Refuge, 2.8 mi S and 1.2 mi E junction of Hwy.
299 and Hwy. 395 in Alturas, Modoc Co., Calif.”
Lat/Long/Datum: 41.45063, −120.50763 (WGS84)
Elevation: 1330 ft
GPS Accuracy: 24 ft
Extent: 150 ft
References: Garmin Etrex Summit GPS for coordinates and accuracy, barometricaltimeter for elevation.
(From MVZ Guide for Recording Localities in Field Notes)

11. Recording Data for Small Labels
An issue that often arises with insect collections is the problem of recording locality
information on small labels. This should not be as big a problem as previously because newtechnologies allow for linking information on the label to a database (through bar codes, etc.)with the recording of basic information on the label. See Wheeler et al. (2001) on guidelines
for preparing labels for terrestrial arthropods, but bear in mind the principles laid out in thisdocument when preparing data for insect labels, especially the recording of datums, etc., which
are not covered in that document.

12. New Technologies
A number of new technologies are beginning to make data recording in the field a lot easier.
For example, a number of companies have recently released Personal Digital Assistants(PDAs) with built-in GPS receivers that can, depending on the type, record to a relatively highdegree of accuracy. While these are excellent for recoding locality information in the field forlater transfer to the database and for the preparation of labels, many do not include an exterior
aerial for receipt of the satellite data and this is likely to reduce the accuracy of the recorded
information. The lack of an exterior aerial makes the need for clear line of site for the satellites
more important.
The use of Globally Unique Identifiers (GUIDs) for uniquely identifying individual objects
and other classes of data (such as collections and observations) are under discussion. We
recommend that these be followed once a stable system is implemented. Further information
can be found on the TDWG 6 and GBIF 7 websites.

6
7

http://www.tdwg.org/TDWG_GUID.htm
http://www.gbif.org

12Best Practices for Georeferencing
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Beginning the Georeferencing Process
1. Introduction
A number of issues must be addressed before one begins to georeference. It may appear to bea daunting task at the beginning, however there are many ways the process can be simplifed
and made more practical.
Managers and curators are sure to ask many of the following questions and more:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

How hard is this going to be?
How long is it going to take?
What proportion of my collection is already digitized?
What is the current condition of the collection?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of georeferencing the collection?
How will the georeferenced data be used and by whom?
What kind of expertise am I going to need?
What supervision will be needed and who will do it?
To what extent will I have to, or want to change my data model?
How much is it going to cost and what resources are available for georeferencing?
What tools exist to help me?
Can I trust what comes out of these tools?
How many data entry staff will I need?
What training will I need to give my data entry staff?
How much of the established best practices do I really need to follow?

This document will not answer all these questions, as many are institution specific, however, it
should provide the answer to some, and provide the means of determining the others.
The first issue that will need to be addressed is the database management system:•••

Will my current database cope or do I need to have it modified?
How will I need to modify my user interface to make it easier for data entry operators
to georeference?
What is the most efficient way to go about data entry, including the georeferencing?

This document does not cover methods of general data entry. There are many ways that thismay be conducted. These include direct entry from the label with the specimen or ledger
brought to the computer; use of PDA’s where the computer is brought to the specimen; the useof scanning or photographic (still or video) equipment to capture the label information so thatthe data entry operator can enter the information from a screen; or use of handwriting and OCR
tools to capture the data, etc. Some of these methods are only just becoming practical, but you
should make an active decision on the method that best suits your institution.
The next section will help you decide if your database will need modifying or not, and to what
extent. It is often tempting to just include fields for the georeferenced coordinates and ignore
any additional fields; however, you (or those who follow after you) are sure to regret taking
such an option further down the line. The associated information on methods used todetermine the georeference, and on the extent and uncertainty associated with thegeoreference, are very important pieces of information for the end user. Additionally, these arevery important pieces of information for managing and improving the quality of yourinformation.
Good examples of production systems that are well documented are the Mountains and Plains
Spatio-Temporal Database Informatics Initiative (MaPSTeDI) program and the Mammal
Networked Information System (MaNIS). It is worth looking at the processes these projects go
through for georeferencing data.

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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13

2. The Resources Needed
Each institution will have needs for different resources in order to georeference theircollections. The basics, however, include:
•
•
•
•
•

A database and database software (we do not recommend the use of spreadsheets)
Topographic maps (electronic, paper or both)Access to a good gazetteer – (many are available free via the Internet, either for
downloading, or via on-line searching)
Preferably internet access (as there are many resources on the Internet that will help ingeoreferencing and locating places)
Suitable computer hardware

Further information on some of these requirements can be found on the MaPSTeDI site under“What you Need”.

3. Fields to Include in your Database
One of the key aspects to efficient georeferencing is setting up a database correctly.
Some georeferencing projects (e.g., MaPSTeDI) use a separate working database for data
entry operators so that the main data are not modified and day-to-day use of the database is nothindered. The data from the working database can be checked for quality, and then uploaded tothe main database from time to time. Such a way of operating is institution dependant, andmay be worth considering.

a. Determine what fields you need 8This step seems self-explanatory but it is surprising how often a database is created andfinalized before it is determined exactly what the database is supposed to hold. The supervisors
for the georeferencing process should be consulted before the database is created to ensure therequired georeferencing fields are included in the data model from the outset. Be sure not tolump together dissimilar data into one field. Always atomize the data into separate fields where
possible. For instance, if you are collecting latitude and longitude, your database should at least
have a separate field for each. Finally, it is also appropriate to use this discussion to decide
which fields the data entry operators should see when they are georeferencing. Fields such asdate of collection, collector, specimen ID, and taxonomy are very helpful for georeferencing
operators to see along with the more obvious locality data.
Note! When you are atomizing data on entry, always include a field or fields thatrecord verbatim the original data so that atomization and other transformations canlater be revealed and checked.

b. Locality fields
What are the fields you need in your database to best store georeferencing information? Thiscan perhaps best be divided into two parts, the first are those fields associated with the locality
description. Many institutions are currently breaking down locality descriptions into theircomponent parts, i.e., location name, distance and direction, etc., and include this informationin separate fields in their databases. With the development of the BioGeomancer toolkit,
however, and its automated parsing of natural language locality descriptions, this is now
becoming redundant and unnecessary (see further discussion, below). If this break-up of
locality information is done, it is important not to replace the free-text locality field (the data as
8Modified from the MaPSTeDI Guidelines<http://mapstedi.colorado.edu/GuideToGeoreferencing/Georeferencing13_SettingUpYourDatabase.html> .

14

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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written on the label or in the field notebook), but to add additional fields, as the written formatof the description is often important, and this original information should never be over-written
or deleted.
Other fields that may be important and useful to aid in georeferencing are:• date last modified• township/section/range/Local Government Area/county/state/country• elevation• date of collection• remarks.
A reference worth checking before developing your own data base system is the Herbarium
Information Standards and Protocols for Interchange of Data (Conn 1996, 2000), which
although set up for herbaria, is applicable to most natural history collection data.

c. Georeferencing fields
The second set of fields are those fields actually associated with the georeference, and thegeoreferencing process. It is recommended, for best practice in georeferencing, that thefollowing fields 9 be added to your database as a minimum. These are in additional to otherfields your database may already have, such as Latitude_Degrees, Latitude_Minutes,
Latitude_Seconds, etc. Some databases include a user interface to the database that allows data
to be entered as degrees, minutes, second, but then translates it to decimal degrees on entry into
the database. If this is the case, then both sets of georeferences should be stored, with thedecimal degrees used for data exchange. See also the Geospatial Element Definitions
Extension to Darwin Core (TDWG 2005).

Field

Comments

Decimal Latitude

See Glossary for definition. Positive numbers are north of the equatorand are less than or equal to 90, while negative values are South of theEquator and are greater or equal to −90.
Example: −42.5100 degrees (which is roughly the same as 42º 30' 36"S).
See Glossary for definition. Positive values are East of the Greenwich
Meridian and are less than or equal to 180, negative values are West of
the Greenwich Meridian and greater than or equal to −180.
Example: -122.4900 degrees (which is roughly the same as 122º 29' 24"W).
The geometric description of a geodetic surface model (e.g., NAD27,
NAD83, WGS84). Datums are often recorded on maps and ingazetteers, and can be specifically set for most GPS devices so the
waypoints match the chosen datum. Use "not recorded" when the datum
is not known. [See separate discussion on datums in this document].
The upper limit of the distance from the given latitude and longitude
describing a circle within which the whole of the described locality
must lie.
The unit of length in which the maximum uncertainty is recorded (e.g.,
mi, km, m, and ft). Express maximum uncertainty distance in the sameunits as the distance measurements in the locality description.
The original (verbatim) coordinates of the raw data before anytransformations were carried out.

Decimal Longitude

Geodetic Datum

Maximum
Uncertainty
Estimate
Maximum
Uncertainty Unit
Verbatim
Coordinates

9

From the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology Georeferencing Guidelines<http://manisnet.org/GeorefGuide.html>

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 200615

Verbatim
Coordinate System

Georeference
Verification Status

Georeference
Validation
Georeference
ProtocolGeoreference
Sources

Spatial Fit

Georeference
Determined By
Georeference
Determined Date
Georeference
Remarks

The coordinate system in which the raw data were recorded. If data arebeing entered into the database in Decimal Degrees, for example, thegeographic coordinates of the map or gazetteer used should be entered(e.g., decimal degrees, degrees-minutes-seconds, degrees-decimal
minutes, UTM coordinates).
A categorical description of the extent to which the georeference anduncertainty have been verified to represent the location and uncertainty
for where the specimen or observation was collected. This element
should be vocabulary-controlled. Examples: ‘requires verification’,‘verified by collector’, ‘verified by curator’, ‘not verified’, etc.
Shows what validation procedures have been conducted on thegeoreferences – for example various outlier detection procedures,
revisits to the location, etc. Relates to Verification Status.
A reference to the method(s) used for determining the coordinates anduncertainty estimates (e.g., “MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator”).
The reference source (e.g., the specific map, gazetteer, or software)used to determine the coordinates and uncertainties. Such information
should provide enough detail so that anyone can locate the actualreference used (e.g., name, edition or version, year). Map scales should
be recorded in the reference as well (e.g., USGS Gosford Quad map
1:24000, 1973).
A measure of how well the geometric representation matches theoriginal spatial representation and is reported as the ratio of the area ofthe presented geometry to the area of the original spatial representation.
A value of 1 is an exact match or 100% overlap. This is a new concept
for use with biodiversity data, but one that we are recommending here.
[See section on Spatial Fit later in this document].
The person or organization making the coordinate and uncertainty
determination.
The date on which the determination was made.
Comments on methods and assumptions used in determining
coordinates or uncertainties when those methods or assumptions differ
from, or expand upon, the methods referenced in the Georeference
Protocol field.

d. Ecological data
The georeferencing portion of an ecological data collection should be treated in a similar way
to specimen and observation data. Often ecological data are recorded using a grid, or transect,etc., and may have a starting locality and an ending locality as well as start time and end time.
Sometimes the center of the transect is used as the locality, and half of the length of thetransect used for the extent. The uncertainty is then calculated as for other data. If the data arerecorded in a grid, then the locality is recorded as the center of the grid, and the extent fromthat position to the furthest extremity (i.e., the corner) of the grid. These data should be inaddition to the recorded locality data, especially where many different fields are used to record
the original data. See comments in Appendix.

e. Applying constraints
One of the key ways of making sure that data are as clean and accurate as possible is to assurethat data cannot be put in the wrong field and that only data of a particular type can be put into
each field. This is done by applying constraints on the data fields – for example, only allowing
values between +90 and −90 in the decimal_latitude field. Many of the errors found when

16

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

checking databases are needless errors – errors that should not be allowed to occur if thedatabase had been set up correctly in the first instance.
With ecological or survey data etc., one could set boundary limits between the starting locality
and ending locality. For example, if your methodology always uses 1 km or shorter transects,
then the database could include a boundary limit that flagged whenever an attempt was madeto place these two points more than 1 km apart.

4. User Interfaces
Good user-friendly interfaces are essential to make georeferencing efficient and fast, and to cut
down on operator errors. The layout should be friendly, easy to use, and easy on the eyes.
Where possible (and the software allows it) a number of different views of the data should bepresented. These views can place emphasis on different aspects of the data and help the data
entry operator’s efficiency by allowing different ways of entering the data and by presenting achanging view for the operator, thus cutting down on boredom.
In the same way, macros and scripts can help with automated and semi-automated procedures,
reducing the need for tedious (and time-consuming) repetition. For example, if data are being
entered from a number of collections by one collector, taken at the same time from the same
location, the information that is repeated from record to record should be able to be enteredusing just one or two key strokes.

5. Using Standards and Guidelines
Standards, standard methodologies, and guidelines can help lead to consistency throughout the
database and cut down considerably on errors. A set of standards and guidelines should beestablished at the start of the process and before any georeferencing begins. They should
remain flexible enough to cater for new data and changes in processes over time. Standards
and guidelines in the following areas can improve the quality of the data and the efficiency ofdata entry. It is hoped that this document will provide guidelines for many of these. They
include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

•

Units of measure. Use a single unit of measure in interpreted fields. For example, do
not allow a mixture of feet and meters in elevation and depth fields. Irrespective of
this, the original units and measurements should be retained in a verbatim field.
Methods and formats for determining and recording uncertainty and extent.
Degree of accuracy in determining points where known. (For much legacy data, thiswill not be determinable).
Fields that must be filled in (i.e. required fields).
Format for recording coordinates (i.e., for lat/long, degrees/minutes/seconds,
degrees/decimal minutes, or decimal degrees).
Original source(s) of place names.
Dealing with typos and other errors in the existing database.
Number of decimal places to keep in decimal numbers.
How to deal with “null” values as opposed to zero values (some databases haveproblems with this).
How to deal with mandatory fields that cannot be filled in immediately (for example,
because a reference has to be found). There may be need for something that can be putin the field that can allow the database to be filed and closed, but that flags that the
information is still required.
What data validation is to be carried out before a record can be considered complete?

Determining these standards and documenting them can help you to maintain them as well as
assist you in training and data quality recording. They should form part of the institution’s own
georeferencing best practice manuals.

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17

6. Choosing a Methodology
Institutions and many experienced georeferencers develop their own preferences for the orderin which they georeference. This may be determined by the nature of the data, the way
specimens are stored or documented or on the general preference of the operator.
The MaPSTeDI project makes the following recommendations. Note that these will not suitevery institution, but may provide a guide:

Georeferencing Procedures
Step 1 - Locate and plot the locality point
The actions involved in this step are described in Finding Coordinates.
Step 2 - Assign a confidence value to the locality
The actions involved in this step are described in Assigning Confidence Values.
Step 3 - Record the georeferenced locality data
This is an important but often under-appreciated step. Most of the mistakes in georeferenced
data come from incorrectly recorded data. It is important that all required database fields befilled in as completely as possible in the correct format. The database administrator should
place constraints upon some fields to force correct format.
Step 4 - Document the georeferencing rationale for each record
This step is critical because it documents the decision making process for each georeferenced
record. For problem records, as well as confusing or detailed records, this information is very
important to permit quality checking personnel and museum database users to understand therationale behind the locality point and confidence value selection. This information also serves
as a daily log which permits georeferencing personnel to communicate ideas and reportproblems. This documentation should be databased with the georeferenced data. If databasing
this information is not possible due to database software limitations, it should be kept inelectronic documents.
Step 5 - Mark record for further review, if necessary
If the locality cannot be found or is confusing, it should be marked for review by quality
checking personnel. This can occur in the database itself or however it is most convenient, but
the georeferencer should attempt to complete the record if possible to expedite the quality
checking process. The georeferencer should also collect as much relevant locality data as
possible to aid the quality checker.

From MaPSTeDI (2004).

a. Sorting records for batch georeferencing
Another set of questions revolves around whether you are best georeferencing each record as
you enter the data into the database or if it is better to georeference in a batch after the
information on the label has been entered. There are arguments for each method, and again thecircumstances of your institution should dictate the best method for you. If your data are stored
taxonomically and not geographically (as is the case in the majority of instances) it is often
best to georeference in a batch mode by sorting the locality data electronically, and in this way
you can deal with many records on one map sheet or area at a time and not be jumping backand forth between map sheets. In other cases, there may be less wear and tear on collections,
you may wish to database collections as they are received and before distributing duplicates, orsending on loan, or there may be other good practical reasons to georeference as you go. One
advantage of georeferencing as you go is that you may be able to do all the collections of one
collector at a time, and virtually follow his/her path, thus reducing errors from not knowing
which of several localities may be correct.
Often there is value in georeferencing in batch (tools such as BioGeomancer, work better thisway) or in collaboration (MaNIS and MaPSTeDI found that collaborative georeferencing
resulted in great efficiency gains), but then reviewing the records using collector and date, or

18Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

looking at the records taxonomically to check for outliers, and other such data quality flags,
afterwards. It usually boils down to what is the best method for your institution, but first, you
should consider each of the alternatives before deciding which to use.
The data, once entered into the database, may be sorted using the locality field itself, or someother field such as region, state, nearest named place, etc. You may be able to sort the data
into:
•
•
•
•

map squares (C-squares 10 often used for marine data, map sheets, UTM zones, etc.)
geographic regions (country, state, local government area, etc.)named place (town, river)collector, collector number, and date of collection.
Note! Major efficiency gains can usually be made by georeferencing in batch mode.
Consider also, georeferencing collaboratively with other researchers or institutions withsimilar goals and complementary resources.

b. Using previously georeferenced records
It may be possible to use a look-up system that searches the database for similar localities that
may have already been georeferenced. For example, if you have a record with the locality “10km NW of Campinas”, you can search the database for all records with locality “Campinas”
and see if any records that mean the same thing as “10 km NW of Campinas” have beengeoreferenced previously.
An extension of this method could use the benefits of a distributed data system such as the
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Portal. A search could be conducted to see if
the locality had already been georeferenced by another institution. At present, we quite often
find that duplicates of the one collection have been given different georeferences by different
institutions. The problem is knowing which of the several georeferences may be the correctone, and one needs to put a lot of faith in another institution’s georeferencing methodologies
and accuracy determination. This gives strength to the arguments for good documentation withgeoreferencing, collaboration, and the recording of maximum uncertainty.
Care! This method can add error, if a mistake was made the first time, it will be
perpetuated through all later instances.

c. Using BioGeomancer
The BioGeomancer Consortium has developed an online workbench, web services, anddesktop applications that will provide georeferencing for collectors, curators and usersof natural history specimens, including software tools to allow natural language
processing of archival data records that were collected in many different formats andlanguages. The BioGeomancer Workbench will be launched in September 2006 and isfounded on the pioneering efforts of four existing applications, BioGeoMancer Classic,
GEOLocate, DIVA-GIS, and the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator, as well as anumber of innovations such as machine learning, spatial data editing, data validationand outlier detection.
BioGeomancer allows the submission of locality descriptions, either singly or in batch
mode, and reports back the georeference, along with information on uncertainty. It
also passes the data (and other data submitted by the user) through a number ofvalidation tests to check for possible errors in already georeferenced data and toprovide further information where several options exist from the locality information.
10

C-Squares <http://www.marine.csiro.au/csquares/about-csquares.htm>

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 200619

7. Data Entry Operators
The choice and training of data entry operators can make a big difference to the final quality of
the georeferenced data. As mentioned earlier, the provision of good guidelines and standards
can help in the training process and allow for data entry operators to reinforce their training
over time. One of the greatest sources of georeferencing error is the data entry process. It is
important that this process be made user-friendly, and be set up so that many errors cannot
occur (e.g., through the use of pick lists, field constraints, etc.).

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Georeferencing Legacy Data
By far the most difficult issue in georeferencing primary species occurrence data is the massive
amount of legacy data held in the world’s museums, herbaria, universities, etc. Most modern
collectors are now using GPSs or large scale maps to locate their collection events, and thus
most of the new data entering institutions already include georeferences. Most museums
beginning to database their collections, however, are faced with the massive task ofgeoreferencing the huge backlog of data in their collections, much of it with very little orvague location information. This document aims to assist these institutions with georeferencing
their legacy data.
Wieczorek et al. (2004) identified five key steps to georeferencing. These have been modified
slightly here to include:

Note! These steps should be considered in conjunction with the Appendix to thisdocument.

Refer to the original document for a detailed explanation. We have extracted key points andelaborated on those below.

1. Classifying the Locality Description
Locality descriptions of primary species occurrence data encompass a wide range of content ina vast array of formats, but mostly are cited as a free text description. There are a limited
number of categories that locality descriptions can be placed into for georeferencing purposes.
The locality type determines the best method of calculating coordinates and uncertainties (seeAppendix).
A locality description can contain multiple clauses and can match more than one category. If
any one of the parts falls into one of the four categories, ‘dubious’ ‘cannot be located’,‘demonstrably inaccurate’, or ‘captive or cultivated’ (see Appendix), then the locality should
not be georeferenced. Instead, an annotation should be made to the locality record giving thereason why it is not being georeferenced.
If the locality description does not fall into one of those four categories, the most specific partof the locality description should be used for georeferencing. For example, a locality written as‘bridge over the St. Croix River, 4 km N of Somerset’should be georeferenced based on the bridge rather than on Somerset as the named place with
an offset at a heading. The locality should be annotated to reflect that the bridge was the
locality that was georeferenced. If the more specific part of the locality cannot be
unambiguously identified, then the less specific part of the locality should be georeferenced
and annotated accordingly.

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21

2. Finding the Latitude and Longitude
As discussed elsewhere in this document, geographic coordinates can be expressed in a
number of different coordinate systems (decimal degrees, degrees minutes seconds, degrees
decimal minutes, UTM, etc.). Conversions can be made readily between coordinate systems,
but decimal degrees provide the most convenient coordinates to use for georeferencing for no
more profound a reason than a locality can be described with only two attributes - decimal
latitude and decimal longitude (Wieczorek 2001). Decimal Degrees are also the coordinate
system used in most Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
The first step in determining the coordinates for a locality description is to identify the most
specific named place within the description. Coordinates may be retrieved from gazetteers,
geographic name databases, maps, or from other locality descriptions that have coordinates.
We use the term ‘feature’ to refer to not only traditional features, but also to places that may
not have proper names, such as road junctions, stream confluences, highway mile pegs, andcells in grid systems (e.g., townships). The source and precision of the coordinates should berecorded so that the validity of the georeferenced locality can be checked. The original
coordinate system and the geodetic datum should also be recorded. This information helps todetermine sources and degree of maximum uncertainty, especially with respect to the original
coordinate precision.

3. Using Offsets
An offset is a displacement from a reference point, named place, or other feature, and isgenerally accompanied by a direction (or heading). Some locality descriptions give a methodfor determining the offset (‘by road’, ‘by river’, ‘by air’, ‘up the valley’, etc.). In such cases,
follow the path designated in the description using a map with the largest available scale tofind the coordinates of the offset from the named place. It is sometimes possible to infer theoffset path from additional supporting evidence in the locality description. For example, thelocality‘58 km NW of Haines Junction, Kluane Lake’suggests a measurement by road since the final coordinates by that path are nearer to the lake
than going 58 km NW in a straight line. At other times, you may have to consult detailed
supplementary sources, such as field notes, collectors’ itineraries, diaries, or sequential
collections made on the same day, to determine this information.

4. Finding the Extent
Every named place occupies a finite space, or ‘extent’. The extent is usually measured as the
distance from the geographic center of the shape that defines the feature, to the furthest
extremity of that shape.
If the locality described is an irregular shape (e.g., a winding road or river), there are two waysof calculating the coordinates and determining the extent. The first is to measure along thevector (line) and determine the mid point as the location of the ‘named place’. This is notalways easy, so the second method is to determine the geographic center (i.e., the midpoint of
the extremes of latitude and longitude) of the named place. This method describes a point
where the uncertainty due to the extent of the named place is minimized. The extent is thendetermined as the distance from the determined position to the furthest point at the extremes ofthe vector. If the geographic center of the shape is used and it does not lie within the locality
described (e.g., the geographic center of a segment of a river does not actually lie on the river),then the point nearest the geographic center that lies within the shape is the preferred reference
for the named place and represents the point from which the extent should be calculated.
Many localities are based on named places that have changed in size over time; current maps
might not reflect the extents of those places when specimens were collected. If possible,

22

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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extents should be determined using maps contemporary with the events. In most cases, thecurrent extent of a named place will be greater than its historical extent.

5. Calculating Uncertainties
Calculating uncertainties in georeferenced data provides a key provision in determining thedata’s fitness for use and thus their quality. There are many methods of determining maximum
uncertainty; however most of these are complicated, difficult to simply record in most current
natural history databases, and are often more sophisticated than necessary for the level of data
being used. Over time, it is likely that the recording of uncertainty will be by way ofgeographic polygons; however, at this stage we recommend the use of a simple point-radius
method (see Wieczorek et al. 2004) to record the error. The point-radius method is designed to
not underestimate the true error. The introduction of polygons will allow, for example,
clipping a circle where it overlaps the ocean for terrestrial data, and thereby provide a much
more accurate representation of the locality.
Whenever subjectivity is involved, it is preferable to overestimate the maximum error or
uncertainty. The following six sources of uncertainty are the most common encountered andthese are elaborated below and in the Appendix:
•
•
•
•
•
•

the extent of the locality
unknown datum
imprecision in distance measurements
imprecision in direction measurements
imprecision in coordinate measurements
map scale.

a. Calculating uncertainties due to an unknown datum
Seldom do natural history collections have geographic coordinates recorded together withgeodetic datum information. Even with modern collections using a GPS to record coordinates,
the geodetic datum is typically ignored. A missing datum reference, however, introduces
ambiguity, which varies geographically and adds greatly to the error inherent in thegeoreferencing.
It is important to record the datum used for the coordinate source (GPS, map sheet, gazetteer)
if it is known, or to record the fact that it is not known.
Differences between datums may cause an error in true location from a few centimeters toaround 1000 meters (US Navy n. dat.), or even, in some extreme instances, up to 3.552 km(Wieczorek et al. 2004). Some known average and/or maximum differences between datums
are cited in Table 1. Note that the difference between datums is not a linear relationship andthey do not always vary in the same direction. For example, the difference between NAD27
and WGS84 in the conterminous USA varies between 0 and 104 m (Wieczorek et al. 2004).

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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Datum from
AGD66
AGD66/84
AGD66/84
GDA94
NAD 1983
NAD27
NAD 27
NAD 27
NAD 27TOKYO
ED-50
ARC-50INDIAN 1975
INDIAN 1956
INDIAN 1956
HONG KONG 1973
LUZON
TOKYO-KOREAKERTAU 1948

Region or Location
Australia
Australia
Australia
Australia
North America
North America
Contiguous USA
Aleutian Islands, Alaska
HawaiiJapan
EuropeAfricaBangkok, Thailand
Delhi, India
Mumbai, India
Hong Kong
Manila, The Philippines
Seoul, South Korea
Singapore

Datum to
AGD84
GDA94
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS 84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84
WGS84

Difference
Max ± 0-5 m
Max ± 200 m
Max ± 200 m
Max ± <1 m
Max ± <1 m
Max ± 200 m
Max ± 105 m
Max ± 235 m~ 500 mMax ± 750 m
Max ± 175 m
Max ± 265 m~ 405 m~ 135 m~ 120 m
~ 320 m~ 225 m~380 m~190 mTable 1: Shows the maximum differences over total range, or approximate differences at alocation for a number of common datums. Data derived from US Navy (n. dat.), Srivastava andRamalingam (2006) and Wieczorek et al. (2004). All except the very small values have beenrounded to the nearest 5 m.

b. Calculating uncertainty from distance
Precision can be difficult to gauge from a locality description as it is seldom, if ever, explicitly
recorded. Further, a database record may not reflect, or may reflect incorrectly, the precision
inherent in the original measurements, especially if the locality description in the database has
undergone normalization, reformatting, or secondary interpretation of the original description.
There are a number of ways of calculating uncertainty from distances. In this document, wehave taken a conservative approach. The form in which a distance is written can often give an
indication of the precision and hence the uncertainty. One method is to use half of the precision(for example, 10.5 mi N of Bakersfield could reasonably be expected to mean 10½ mi and thus
be between 10.25 and 10.75 mi N, or 10.5 ±0.25 mi N of Bakersfield). The uncertainty in themeasurement is thus 0.25 mi.
A second method, and that recommended here, is one proposed by Wieczorek et al. (2004) andassumes that many records have undergone a certain amount of interpreptation ortransformation when being entered into the database, and thus a record of 10¼ mi may beentered into the database as 10.25 mi. The precision implied in the value 10.25 is thus a false
precision (see glossary) and should not be assumed to be between 10.24 and 10.26. The
method of Wieczorek et al. (2004) bases the estimate of uncertainty on the fractional part ofthe distance – i.e. calculated by dividing 1 by the fractional denominator. Thus:

•
•
•
•

24

for 9 km, the fraction is 1/1 and thus the uncertainty estimate is 1 km;
for 9.5 km, the fraction is ½ and the uncertainty estimate 0.5km;
for 9.25 km, the fraction is ¼ and the uncertainty estimate 0.25 km;
for 9.6 km, the fraction is 1/10 and the uncertainty estimate 0.1 km.

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For distance measurements which are positive integer powers of 10, the uncertainty estimate isbased on 0.5 times ten to that power (see Table 2).
A third method, suggested by Frazier et al. (2004), is for distances that are given as multiplesof 10, or fractions of 100 such as 25 and 75. This method recommends using 15% of the
distance as the uncertainty. Thus, for 10 km, the uncertainty would be 1.5 km; and for 75 km it
would be 11.25 km. This gives a smaller uncertainty than recommended by Wieczorek et al.
for distances between 10 and 30 km, and a greater value for distances between 40 and 90 km(Table 2).
ExampleUncertainty
Uncertainty(Wieczorek et(Frazier et al.
al. 2004)
2004)
10.6 km N of Bakersfield
0.1 km10.5 mi N of Bakersfield
0.5 mi
10 km N of Bakersfield
5 km
1.5 km
30 km N or Bakersfield
5 km
4.5 km
140 mi N of Bakersfield
5 mi
21 mi
200 mi N of Bakersfield
50 mi
30 mi
2000 m N of Bakersfield
500 m
300 m
Table 2. Calculating uncertainy using the precision in a distance recording.
Precision can also be masked or lost when measurements are converted, such as from feet tometers, or from miles to kilometers.
Care! Be careful that the value you are using for precision when calculating theuncertainty is a true precision and not a false precision. For example, converting acollector’s recording of 16 miles (with a precision of 1 mile) to 25.6 km (with a precisionof 0.1 km) leads to a level of precision that is more than 10 times as precise as theoriginal.
Note! Further details of calculations used to determine uncertainties from distance
precision can be found in Wieczorek (2001) and Wieczorek et al. (2004)

c. Calculating uncertainties from extents of localities
The extents of named places are an important source of uncertainty. Points of reference fornamed places may change over time – post offices and courthouses are relocated, towns
change in size, the courses of rivers change, etc. Moreover, there is no guarantee that thecollector paid attention to any particular convention when reporting a locality as an offset froma named place. For example,‘4 km E of Bariloche’

may have been measured from the post office, the civic plaza, or from the bus station on theeastern edge of town, or anywhere else in Bariloche. When calculating an offset, we generally
have no way of knowing where the collector started to measure the distance.
We recommend uncertainty be determined by measuring the distance from the point marked by
the coordinates to the point in the named place furthest from those coordinates. The magnitudeof the uncertainty will be smallest if the coordinates mark the geographic center of the named
place and the maximum uncertainty is then the distance from that point to the furthest point in
the locality. In most cases, the current extent of a named place will be greater than its historicalextent and the uncertainty may be somewhat overestimated if current maps are used. When
documenting the georeferencing process, it is recommended that the named place, its extent,
and the source of the information all be recorded.

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 200625

d. Calculating uncertainty from direction
The calculation of uncertainty from the precision in which a direction is recorded depends on
distance from the reference point. The uncertainty will increase as one moves further from thesource. For simple calculations of precision due to direction – see Table 3.
Note! The uncertainty due to directional imprecision increases with distance, so it can
only be calculated from the combination of distance and direction (see below).

Precision

Interpretation

N
NE
NNE

ExampleDirectional
Uncertainty
45º
22.5º
11.25ºBetween NW and NE
10.6 km N of Bakersfield
Between NNE and ENE
10.5 mi NE of Bakersfield
Between N of NNE and E
10 km NNE of Bakersfieldof NNE
Table 3. Calculating uncertainy using the precision of the recorded direction (derived fromWieczorek et al. 2004).

Fig. 1. A simple diagram showing directional precision wherex = d cos(θ), y = d sin(θ), x' = d cos(θ'), and y' = d sin(θ').
From Wieczorek et al. (2004).
Using the example‘10 km NE of Bakersfield’

if we ignore distance imprecision, the uncertainty due to the direction imprecision (Figure 1) is
encompassed by an arc centered 10 km (d) from the center of Bakersfield (at x,y) at a headingof 45 degrees (θ), extending 22.5 degrees in either direction from that point. At this scale thedistance (e) from the center of the arc to the furthest extent of the arc (at x',y') at a heading of
22.5 degrees (θ') from the center of Bakersfield can be approximated by the Pythagorean
Theorem.
e=sqrt( (x'-x)2 + (y'-y)2 ) the uncertainty in the above example is 3.90 km

This shows just one simple example. For details and formulae for calculating more
complicated uncertainties, see Wieczorek (2001) and Wieczorek et al. 2004. Because of thecomplicated nature of these calculations, it is often best to use the MaNIS Georeferencing
Calculator - see discussion below.

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e. Calculating uncertainty from coordinate precision
Geographic coordinates should always be recorded using as many digits as possible; theprecision of the coordinates should be captured separately from the coordinates themselves,preferably as a distance, which conserves its meaning regardless of location and coordinatetransformations. Recording coordinates with insufficient precision can result in unnecessary
uncertainties. The magnitude of the uncertainty is a function of not only the precision withwhich the data are recorded, but also of the datum and the coordinates themselves. This is adirect result of the fact that a degree does not correspond to the same distance everywhere on
the surface of the earth.
Table 4 shows examples of the contributions to uncertainty for different levels of precision inoriginal coordinates using the WGS84 reference ellipsoid. Calculations are based on the same
degree of imprecision in both coordinates and are given for several different latitudes.
Approximate calculations can be made based on this table, however, more accurate
calculations can be obtained using the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator (see further
discussion, below).
From Table 4, it can be seen that an observation recorded in degrees, minutes, and seconds(DMS) has a minimum uncertainty of between 32 and 44 meters.

Precision
1.0 degree
0.1 degree0.01 degree0.001 degree
0.0001 degree
0.00001 degree
1.0 minute
0.1 minute
0.01 minute
0.001 minute
1.0 second
0.1 second
0.01 second

0 degrees
Latitude156,904 m
15,691 m
1,570 m
157 m
16 m
2m
2,615 m
262 m
27 m
3m
44 m
5m
1m

30 degrees
Latitude146,962 m
14,697 m
1,470 m
147 m
15 m
2m
2,450 m
245 m
25 m
3m
41 m
5m
1m

60 degrees
Latitude124,605 m
12,461 m
1,246 m
125 m
13 m
2m
2,077 m
208 m
21 m
3m
35 m
4m
1m

85 degrees
Latitude112,109 m
11,211 m
1,121 m
112 m
12 m
2m
1,869 m
187 m
19 m
2m
32 m
4m
1m

Table 4. Table showing metric uncertainty due to precision of coordinates based on the
WGS84 datum at varying latitudes. Uncertainty values have been round up in all cases. From
Wieczorek (2001).
Care! False precision can arise when transformations from degrees minutes seconds
to decimal degrees are stored in a database (see Glossary for expanded discussion).
Never use precision in a database as a surrogate for the coordinate uncertainty;
instead, record the uncertainty explicitly, preferably as a distance.
Note! Details of calculations used to determine uncertainties in coordinate precisions
can be found in Wieczorek (2001) and Wieczorek et al. (2004).

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27

Example:
Lat: 10.27º Long: −123.6º Datum: WGS84
In this example, the lat/long precision is 0.01 degrees. Thus, latitude error =1.1061 km, longitude error = 1.0955 km, and the uncertainty resulting from the
combination of the two is 1.5568 km.

f. Calculating uncertainty by reading off a map
One of the most common methods of finding coordinates for a location is to estimate thelocation from a paper map. Using paper maps can be problematic and subject to varying
degrees of inaccuracy. Unfortunately, the accuracy of many maps, particularly old ones, isundocumented. Accuracy standards generally explain the physical error tolerance on a printed
map, so that the net uncertainty is dependent on the map scale. Map reading requires a certain
level of skill in order to determine coordinates accurately, and different types of maps requiredifferent skills. Challenges arise due to the coordinate system of the map (latitude andlongitude, UTM, etc.), the scale of the paper map, the line widths used to draw the features on
the maps, the frequency of grid lines, etc.
The accuracy of a map depends on the accuracy of the original data used to compile the map,
how accurately these source data have been transferred onto the map, and the resolution atwhich the map is printed or displayed. For example, USGS maps of 1:24,000 and 1:100,000
are different products. The accuracy is explicitly dependent on scale but is due to the different
methods of preparation. When using a map, the user must take into account the limitations
encounted by the map maker such as accuity of vision, lithographic processes, plotting
methodologies, and symbolization of features (e.g., line widths) (NOAA 2001).
With paper topographic maps, drawing constraints may restrict the accuracy with which lines
are placed on the map. A 0.5 mm wide line depicting a road on a 1:250,000 map represents 125
meters on the ground. To depict a railway running beside the road, a separation of 1-2 mm(250-500 meters) is needed, and then the line for the railway (another 0.5 mm or 125 meters)
makes a total of 500-750 m as a minimum representation. If one uses such features todetermine an occurrence locality, for example, then minimum uncertainty would be in theorder of 1 km. If thicker lines were used, then appropriate adjustments would need to be made
(Chapman et al. 2005).
Note! A digital map is never more accurate than the original from which it was derived,
nor is it more accurate when you zoom in on it. The accuracy is strictly a function of
the scale and digitizing errors of the original map.

Table 5 shows the inherent accuracy of a number of maps at different scales. The table gives
uncertainties for a line 0.5 mm wide at a number of different map scales. A value of 1 mm oferror can be used on maps for which the standards are not published. This corresponds to about
three times the detectable graphical error and should serve well as an uncertainty estimate formost maps.

28

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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Scale ofMap

1:1000
1:10,000
1:25,000
1:50,000
1:75,000
1:100,000
1:250,000
1:500,000
1:1 million

Map
Horizontal
Uncertainty(Geosciences
Australia 11 )0.5 m
5m
12.5 m25 m

Map
Horizontal
Uncertainty(USGS 12 )50 m
160-300 m

278 ft695 ft

500 m

2,777 ft

2.8 ft
28 ft
70 ft
139 ft

NIMA
Product

NIMA
Product
Accuracy (USNavy) 13

City Graphic
Topo
Nautical

>50 m
50 m
75 m

JOG
TPC
ONC

250 m
1,000 m
2,000 mTable 5. Horizontal uncertainty and accuracy associated with a 0.5 mm line onmaps of different scales.
The table uses data from several sources. The TOPO250K Map series is the finest resolution
mapping that covers the whole of the Australian continent. It is based on 1:250,000
topographic data, for which Geoscience Australia (2003) defines the accuracy as “not morethan 10% of well-defined points being in error by more than 160 meters; and in the worst case,a well defined point is out of position by 300 meters”. The USGS Map Horizontal Uncertainty
is calculated from US Bureau of Budget (1947) which states that “for maps on publication
scales larger than 1:20,000, not more than 10 percent of the points tested shall be in error bymore than 1/30 inch, measured on the publication scale; for maps on publication scales of
1:20,000 or smaller, 1/50 inch.” These values need to be taken into account when determining
the uncertainty of your georeference. The third set of values was obtained from the US Navy
with reference to various NIMA 14 (US National Image and Mapping Agency) products.
If you are using phenomena that do not have distinct boundaries in nature to determine a
locality (such as soils, vegetation, geology, timberlines, etc.) then err vastly on the side ofconservatism when determining an uncertainty value as such boundaries are seldom accurate,
often determined at a scale of 1:1 million or worse and would have a minimum uncertainty of
between 1 and 5 km. Also be aware that coastlines vary greatly at different scales (seeChapman et al. 2005) and rivers are often straightened on smaller scale maps, and can thus
include uncertainties far greater than are generally recorded on maps whose accuracies are
determined from “well-defined” points such as buildings, road intersections, etc. In addition,
coastlines and river paths can change greatly over time (Bannerman 1999) and thus the date of
the map needs to be taken into account when determining uncertainty.
For elevation where contours are drawn on a map, the vertical uncertainty is usually described
as being half of the contour interval.

11

Based on 0.5mm of accuracy per unit of scale, except for the 1:250,000 map series where the figure
supplied with the data has been used.
12
Derived from United States National Map Accuracy Standards (US Bureau of Budget 1947)
http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/nmpstds/acrodocs/nmas/NMAS647.PDF
13
Navigator of the Navy https://www.navigator.navy.mil/navigator/accuracy_0009.ppt
14
US National Image and Mapping Agency (NIMA) http://erg.usgs.gov/nimamaps/

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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29

Care! Care must be used when using a digital map that records the scale in the formof text (1:100,000, etc.) rather than by using a scale bar, as the resolution of thecomputer screen, and the level of zooming will change the apparent scale of the map
being viewed. (It does not change the scale at which the map was prepared). This also
applies to maps printed from a digital map. When preparing digital maps, always
include scale as a scale bar and do not just record scale in textual form (e.g.,
1:20,000).

g. Calculating combined uncertainties
When combining uncertainties from different sources, it is not as simple as taking the averageor adding them together. Uncertainties inherent in the location of the named place, in its extent,in the direction of the offset, and the distance of the offset, are just four sources that need to be
combined to get an overall uncertainty. A detailed discussion of the calculations involved canbe found in Wieczorek (2001) and Wieczorek et al. (2004), and for a practical way of
calculating uncertainties in locations, we recommend use of the MaNIS Georeferencing
Calculator. In the Appendix to this document, we provide a number of examples.

h. Using the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator
The MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator 15 (Figure 2), is a java applet created as a tool to aid in
the georeferencing of descriptive localities such as those found in museum-based natural
history collections. It was specifically designed for the Mammal Networked Information
System (MaNIS) Project and has been adopted as well by both HerpNet, ORNIS, and othercollaborative database initiatives.
The application makes calculations using the methods described in the Georeferencing
Guidelines (Wieczorek 2001). We recommend its use generally by all natural history
institutions to calculate uncertainty in location data without the need for a detailed
understanding of the complicated underlying algorithms. The more institutions that use thisone method, the more consistent will be the quality of data across and between institutions,making it easier for users to evaluate the quality of the data. We recommend reading both
Wieczorek (2001) and the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator Manual (Wieczorek 2002) for anunderstanding of the calculations involved and an understanding of how the calculator works.
The algorithms developed for the Georeferencing Calculator have also been incorporated in thethe uncertainty calculations used in the BioGeomancer georeferencing tools. This too willserve to standardize the determination of this important attribute of data quality documentation.

15

MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator <http://www.manisnet.org/gc.html>

30Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

Fig. 2. A snap shot of the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator showing maximum uncertainty
calculation for the locality: ‘10 mi E (by air) Bakersfield’. From Wieczorek (2002).

6. Determining Spatial Fit
Spatial fit is a new georeferencing concept designed to allow for a measure of how well agiven geometric representation matches the original spatial representation. This is useful when
spatial transformations change the way a locality is represented, either to mask its detail, or tomatch an agreed upon schema for data sharing (such as fitting locations to a grid cell).
A spatial fit with a value of 1 is an exact match or 100% overlap. If the geometry given does
not completely encompass the original spatial representation, then the spatial fit is zero (i.e.,some of the original is outside the transformed version, which we interpret as not being a fit).
If the transformed shape does completely encompass the original spatial representation, thenthe value of the spatial fit is the ratio of the area of the transformed geometry to the area of theoriginal spatial representation. Special case: If the original spatial representation is a point andthe geometry presented in not a point, then the spatial fit is undefined. The range of values ofspatial fit is 0, 1, greater than 1, or undefined.
An example of the applicability of the spatial fit is where a point representing a terrestrial
collection lies close to the coast, and the calculated uncertainty radius encompasses somemarine area. In this case the Spatial Fit would be greater than 1 as it represents an area greaterthan the real uncertainty.

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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31

Fig. 3. A diagram illustrating the spatial fit of a number oflocations that can be described by a polygon, a grid, or a point.
Figure 3 illustrates a few examples of the definition of spatial fit and these are elaborated
below:

1) Suppose the original spatial representation of a locality was given by the red polygon witharea A.

The spatial fit of the yellow circle would be
The spatial fit of the green bounding box would be
The spatial fit of the black circle (r1) would be
The spatial fit of the red polygon would be
The spatial fit of the point C would be(PI*r22)/A(2*r22)/A(PI*r12)/A1
02) Suppose the original spatial representation of a locality was given as the green boundingbox with area 2*r22.

The spatial fit of the yellow circle would be
The spatial fit of the green bounding box would be
The spatial fit of the black circle (r1) would be
The spatial fit of the red polygon would be
The spatial fit of the point C would be(PI*r22)/( 2*r22)
10003) Suppose the original spatial representation of a locality was given as the black circle witharea PI*r12.

The spatial fit of the yellow circle would be
The spatial fit of the green bounding box would be
The spatial fit of the black circle (r1) would be
The spatial fit of the red polygon would be
The spatial fit of the point C would ber22/r1201004) Suppose the original spatial representation of a locality was given as the point C.

The spatial fit of the yellow circle would be
The spatial fit of the green bounding box would be
The spatial fit of the black circle (r1) would be
The spatial fit of the red polygon would be
The spatial fit of the point C would be

32

Undefined
Undefined
Undefined
Undefined
1

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

Maintaining Data Quality
Data that have been incorporated into the database and georeferenced need to be maintained
and checked for quality. The quality checking process involves a number of steps, including
receiving feedback from users, providing feedback to collectors, and running various
validation tests. For more information on data quality and what it means for primary species
collection data see Chapman (2005b). Two major principles associated with data quality anddata cleaning are:••Error prevention is preferrable to error correction.
The earlier in the information chain that you can detect an error, the cheaper it will
be to correct it.

1. Feedback to Collectors
Maintaining the quality of the data may require giving feedback to others. For example, if you
find that a particular collector is not recording his collection information correctly (e.g., notrecording the datum with the georeference information), then you need to provide feed back to
him so that future records have a lower level of error and thus a higher quality. See the earlier
chapter on Collecting and Recording Data in the Field. Key issues that may require feedback
to collectors include:• Making sure the datum is recorded with all GPS readings• Encouraging consistent use of a standard coordinate system (e.g., encourage collectors
to use decimal degrees wherever possible)• Recording localities in a consistent and clear mannero Using nearest named place and offsetso Recording ‘by road’ or ‘by air’• Using a barometric altimeter for recording elevation.

2. Accepting Feedback from Users
Feedback from users can be one of the most valuable resources for maintaining the quality of
one’s collections. For this to work, however, the institution needs to set up a good feedback
mechanism. There needs to be a process whereby all feedback related to quality are checked
and the results documented (see Chapman 2005a, b). Feedback may be be from otherinstitutions holding duplicates of some of your collections, from users who are carrying out
analyses on large amounts of data and find records that are either wrongly georeferenced, or
wrongly identified, or from users who are carrying out data quality checking on related
records. All feedback is important, and should not be ignored. Checks carried out should also
always be documented so that the same ‘error’ is not checked over and over again.

3. Data Checking and Cleaning
An important but often overlooked aspect to any georeferencing project is the checking of thegeoreferenced data that goes into the database. This aspect is often ignored because of lack offunds or personnel. However, because the point of any georeferencing project is to produce
geographic coordinates linking a specimen to a place on a map or environmental data, it isimportant that the coordinates chosen are truly the best ones for the location. Not only does it
improve the quality of data, but it also identifies trends and habits in georeferencing that may
need to be corrected. Often a graduate assistant, intern, or someone with more experience will
do most of the quality checking.

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 200633

a. Data entry
One of the major sources of error in georeferencing is at the stage of data entry. Errors can be
reduced by the establishment of good data entry procedures – use of pick lists, field
constraints, etc., to reduce the possibility of error. However, once these are in place andworking, then regular checks need to be carried out on the data entry operators and on theprocess of data entry. Quality checking can take several forms, but we recommend that it use
the following two taken from the MapSTeDI Georeferencing Guidelines.
The first is to check the accuracy of the georeferencing. This process involves checking acertain number of each georeferencer's records. Based on various trials, it is recommended thatthe first 200 records that a new georeferencer completes be checked for accuracy. Not only is
this initial checking beneficial to the accuracy of the data, but also it is essential to allow thegeoreferencer to improve and learn from making mistakes. If significant problems still exist
after the initial 200 records, an additional batch of 100 records should be checked. After thequality checker, usually a highly experienced georeferencer, is satisfied with the newgeoreferencer's abilities, the quality checking is reduced to 10 randomly selected records out of
every 100 completed. If more than two records are found to be incorrect within that 10, an
additional 20 records should be checked. The quality checker may ask the georeferencer toredo the entire 100 if enough problems exist. After a period of few mistakes, the checking is
reduced to five records for every 100 or at the quality checker's discretion.
To summarize:• Initial 200 records should be checked. If problems remain, check groups of
100 until satisfied with georeferencer's abilities.
• Regular checks of 10 randomly selected records for every 100• If more than 2 incorrect records, quality checker should check 20 more records
and can ask georeferencer to redo entire 100.
• After awhile, the regular checks can be reduced to 5 records for every 100.
The second purpose of quality checking is to allow georeferencers to refer difficult or
confusing records to the quality checker for help or advice. The quality checker will thenresolve these ‘problem records’ as well as possible. Checking problem records can be like
detective work. Historical records often have locality descriptions with named places that do
not appear on modern maps or gazetteers. To find these localities, it is often necessary toconsult several different sources of information. These sources include, but are not limited tocatalog books, field notes, other records with similar localities, other collections, scientific andother publications, websites, online databases, specialty gazetteers, and historical maps. Bits of
information from several places can often be used to establish the correct coordinates for ahistorical locality. In addition, some problem records do not make sense because ofcontradictions or missing or garbled information (see locality type categories in Appendix).
These problem records may be the result of mistakes in data entry made in either the paper
catalog or the database. It may also be necessary to consult the curatorial staff or even theoriginal collector.

b. Data validation
Data validation (checking for errors) can be a time-consuming process, however, it is one of
the most important processes you can carry out with your data. It is not practical to checkevery record individually, so the use of batch processing techniques and outlier detection
procedures, etc. are essential. Fortunately, a number of these have been developed and areavailable in software products or on-line. Most of these are elaborated in the document
Principles and Methods of Data Cleaning. Primary Species and Species Occurrence Datapublished by GBIF (Chapman 2005b) and the information therein will not be repeated here.
We recommend that you download and use that document as an adjunct to this one.
There are many methods of checking for errors in georeferenced data. These can involve

34

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

•
•
•
•

•

using external databases (collector’s itineries, gazetteers, etc.),
checking against other fields in your own database (making sure the georeference falls
within the correct state, country, region, etc.),using a GIS to look for records that fall outside polygon boundaries such as bioregions,
local government areas,using statistical methods such as box plots, reverse jackknifing, cumulative frequency
curves, and cluster analysis to identify outliers in latitude or longitude,using modelling software in conjunction with statistical analysis to identify outliers inenvironmental (e.g., climate) space.

Some of these techniques will shortly be available on-line through the GBIF Portal, and the
BioGeomancer website, and yet others are available through the stand-alone GIS software
DIVA-GIS (Hijmans et al. 2005).

c. Making corrections
When making corrections to your database, we strongly recommend that you always add andnever replace or delete. For this to happen you will usually require additional fields in the
database. For example, you may have ‘original’ or ‘verbatim’ georeference fields in addition to
the main georeference fields. Additionally, the database may require a number of ‘Remarks’
fields. Fields that can be valuable are those that describe validation checking that has been
carried out – even (and often especially) if that checking has led to confirmation of thegeoreference. These fields may include information on what checks were carried out, bywhom, when and with what results.

d. Truth in labelling‘Truth in Labelling’ is an important consideration with respect to documenting data quality.
This is especially so where data are being made available to a wider audience, for example,
through the GBIF data nodes. We recommend that documentation of the data and their quality
be up-front and honest. Error is an inescapable character of any dataset, and it should berecognized as a fundamental attribute of those data. All databases have errors, and it is in noone’s interest to hide those errors. On the contrary, revealing data actually exposes them toediting, validation and correction through user feedback, while hiding information almost
guarantees that it remain dirty and of little long-term value.

4. Reponsibilities of the Manager
It is important that the manager maintain good sets of documentation (guidelines, best practice
documents, etc.), ensure that there are good feedback mechanisms in place, and ensure thatdata quality procedures are maintained, are up-to-date, and are being implemented. For further
responsibilities, we refer you to the document Principles of Data Quality (Chapman 2005a)
which should be read as an adjunct to this document.

5. Responsibilities of the Supervisor
The georeferencing supervisor has the principle responsibility for maintaining the quality ofthe data on a day-to-day basis. Perhaps their key responsibility is to supervise the data-entry
procedures (see Data Entry, above), and the data validation, checking and cleaning processes.
This role is the key role in any georeferencing process, along with that of the data entry
operators. It is important that the duties and responsibilities be documented in the institution’sbest practice manuals and guidelines.

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35

6. Training
Training is a major responsibility of any institution beginning or conducting the georeferencingof their collections. Good training can reduce the level of error, reduce costs and improve data
quality. A Georeferencing and Data Cleaning Training Kit is being planned, and hopefully will
be developed over the next couple of years. This will aid institutions in training their data entry
operators and supervisors in all aspects of the georeferncing and data quality control processes.

7. Performance Criteria
The development of performance criteria is a good way of ensuring a high level of
performance, accuracy and quality in the database. Performance criteria can relate to anindividual (data entry operator, supervisor, etc.) or to the process as a whole. It can relate to thenumber of records entered each week, but we would recommend that it relate more to thequality of entry. Where possible, performance criteria should be finite and numeric so that
performance against the criteria can be documented. Some examples may include••••

90% of records will undergo validation checking within 6 months of entry,
any suspect records identified during validation procedures will be checkedand corrected within 30 working days,
feedback from users on errors will be checked and the user notified of theresults within two weeks,
all documentation of validation checks will be completed and up-to-date.

8. Index of Spatial Uncertainty
An Index of Spatial Uncertainty may be developed and documented for the dataset as a whole
to allow for overall reporting of the quality of the dataset. This index would supplement asimilar index of other data in the database, such as an index of Taxonomic Uncertainty andwould generally be for internal use. Currently, no such universal index exists for primary
species occurrence data, but institutions may consider developing their own and testing its
usefulness. Such indexes should, wherever possible, be generated automatically and produced
as part of a data request from the database and packaged with the metadata as part of therequest. Such an index could form the basis for helping users determine the quality of thedatabase for their particular use. The authors of this document would be interested in any
feedback from institutions that develop such an index. The index should form an integral partof the metadata for the collection and may include for the georeferencing part of the database:
1. Completeness Index
•
•
•
•
•

36

percentage of records with georeference fields that have values
percentage of records with extent fields that have values
percentage of records with uncertainty fields that have values
percentage of records with coordinate-precision fields with a value
percentage of records with datum fields that have a known datum value

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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2. Uncertainty Index••

average and standard deviation of ‘uncertainty’ value for those records thathave a value
percentage of records with a maximum uncertainty value in each classa. <100 m
b. 100-1,000 m
c. 1,000-2,000 m
d. 2,000-5,000 m
e. 5,000-10,000 m
f. >10,000 m
g. not determined

3. Currency Index••

time since last data entry
time since last validation check

4. Validation Index••••

percentage of records that have undergone validation test x
percentage of records that have undergone validation test y, etc.
percentage of records identified as suspect using validation tests
percentage of suspect records found to be actual errors

9. Documentation
Documentation is one of the key aspects of any georeferencing process. Documentation
involves everything from record-level documentation such as• how the georeference was determined,• what method was used to determine the extent and error,• what modifications were made (for example, if an operator edits a point on the screen
and moves it from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’ it is best practice to document "why" the point
was moved and not just record that location was moved from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’ by
the operator),• any validation checks that were carried out, by whom and when,• flags that may indicate uncertainy, etc.
through to the metadata related to the collection as a whole which may include:• the overall level of data quality,• the general checks carried out on the whole data set,
• the units of measurement and other standards adopted,• the guidelines followed,• the Index of Uncertainty (see earlier discussion, this chapter).
A second set of documentation relates to• the institution’s ‘Best Practice’ document which we recommend should be derived
from this document and tailored to the specific needs of the institution,• training manuals,• standard database documentation,• guidelines and standards.
We recommend that documentation be made an integral part of any georeferencing process.

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 200637

Acknowledgements
Many people have contributed ideas to this document, either directly or indirectly throughdiscussions at meetings, publications, or in email correspondence. We would particularly liketo thank Larry Speers and Hannu Saarenmaa from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility(GBIF), members and participants in meetings of the Taxonomic Databases Working Group(TDWG) and the Environmental Resources Information Network, Canberra, Australia.
Individuals who have supplied suggestions and comments, including on earlier drafts, include
Rebecca Shapley, Lynn Kutner (NatureServe), Lee Belbin (TDWG) and Simon Bennett(ERIN).
We would particularly like to thank the members of the BioGeomancer Consortium
enumerated below, who, in the course of the project, have delved deep into some of thepressing issues of georeferencing and the use of georeferenced data. We would also like toacknowledge the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, whose sponsorship of the
BioGeomancer Project led directly to this document as one of the stated outputs.
•

Australian Biodiversity Information Services: Arthur Chapman.

•

Australian Museum: Paul Flemons, Ajay Ranipeta.

•

Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental: Renato de Giovanni, Alexandre
Marino, Sidnei de Souza.

•

Ecosystem Associates: Philip Dibner.

•

International Rice Research Institute: Robert Hijmans.

•

Tulane University: Hank Bart, Nelson Rios, Andy Tseng.

•

University of California, Berkeley: John Deck, Stephen Long, Michelle Koo, Craig
Moritz, Carol Spencer, Aaron Steele, John Wieczorek, Kristina Yamamoto.

•

University of California, Merced: Qinghua Guo, Yu Liu.

•

University of Colorado, Boulder: Robert Guralnick, Greg Hill, Dave Neufeld.

•

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: Eugene Chung, P. Bryan Heidorn,Wengsheng Wu, Hong Zhang.

•

University of New Mexico: Chris Frazier, Tomas Giermakowski, Teri Neville.

•

Yale University: Reed Beaman, Ashley Green, Youjun Guo.

BioGeomancer logo by Ruby Blessing.

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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39

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data. <http://www.DIVA-GIS.org> [Accessed 27 Jan. 2006].
Juran, J.M. 1964. Managerial Breakthrough. New York: McGraw-Hill. 396 pp.
Juran, J.M. 1994. Managerial Breakthrough. Rev. edn. New York: McGraw-Hill. 451 pp.
McElroy, S., Robins, I., Jones, G. and Kinlyside, D. 1998. Exploring GPS, A GPS Users
Guide: The Global Positioning System Consortium.
Morton, A. 2006. UTM Grid Zones of the World. Digital Mapping Software (DMAP).
<http://www.dmap.co.uk/utmworld.htm> [Accessed 31 Jan. 2006].
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. 2006. MVZ Guide for Recording Localities in Field Notes.
<http://mvz.berkeley.edu/Locality_Field_Recording_Notebooks.html> [Accessed 24 Jan.
2006].
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC). 2004. Estimated Value of Declination.
<http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/geomag/jsp/struts/calcDeclination>. [Accessed 7 Jun.
2006].
National Mapping Council of Australia. 1975. Standards of Map Accuracy. First Edition
February 1953. Second Edition December 1975.
NIMA, 2000. Department of Defense World Geodetic System 1984. Its Definition andrelationships with local geodetic systems. TR8350.2, Third Edition, 3 Jan 2000.
NOAA (2001). Nautical Charts and DGPS – A warning from NOAA.
http://www.boatwashington.org/nautical_charts_and_dgps.htm [Accessed 21 Jan. 2006].
Srivastava, B.K. and Ramalingam, K. 2006. Error Estimates for WGS-84 and Everest (India1956) Transformation. GIS Development<http://www.gisdevelopment.net/technology/ip/ma03037abs.htm> [Accessed 24 Jan.
2006].
Taylor, C. 2003. Geographic/UTM Coordinate Converter.
<http://home.hiwaay.net/~taylorc/toolbox/geography/geoutm.html> [Accessed 31 Jan.
2006].
TDWG. 2005). Geospatial Element Definitions v. 1.4. Taxonomic Databases Working Group –Extension to Darwin Core Version 2.
http://darwincore.calacademy.org/Extensions/GeopatialExtension/GeospatialElementDefs[Accessed 13 Feb. 2006].
US Bureau of Budget. 1947. United States National Map Accuracy Standards.
<http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/nmpstds/acrodocs/nmas/NMAS647.PDF> [Accessed 21 Jan.
2006].
US Navy. n. dat. Geographic Datums. PowerPoint from the Navigator of the Navy website.
<https://www.navigator.navy.mil/navigator/geographic_datums.ppt> [Accessed 24 Jan.
2006].
Van Sickle, J. 1996. GPS for Land Surveyors: Ann Arbor Press, Inc: New York.
Wheeler, T.A., Huber, J.T. and Currie, D.C. (2001). Label Data Standards for Terrestrial
Arthropods. Ottawa: Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods). Document
Series No. 8 <http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/briefs/brlabelstandards.htm> [Accessed
24 April 2006].
Wieczorek, J. 2001. MaNIS/HerpNet/ORNIS Georeferencing Guidelines. University ofCalifornia, Berkeley: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.
<http://manisnet.org/GeorefGuide.html> [Accessed 28 Jan. 2006].

42

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Wieczorek, J. 2002. Manual for Georeferencing Calculator. MaNIS/HerpNet/ORNIS.
University of California, Berkeley: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.
<http://manisnet.org/CoordCalcManual.html> [Accessed 28 Jan. 2006].
Wieczorek, J., Q. Guo, and R. Hijmans. 2004. The point-radius method for georeferencing
locality descriptions and calculating associated uncertainty. International Journal of
Geographical Information Science. 18: 745-767.

Further Reading
Beaman, R.S. and Conn, B.J. 2003. Automated geoparsing and georeferencing of Malesiancollection locality data. Telopea 10(1): 43-52.
Beaman, R.S., Wieczorek, J. and Blum, S. 2004. Determing Space from Place for Natural History
Collections. D-Lib Magazine 10: 5.
<http://dlib.anu.edu.au/dlib/may04/beaman/05beaman.html> [Accessed 9 Jun 2006].
Chapman, A.D. 1999. Quality control and validation of point-sourced environmental resource data
pp.409-418 in Lowell, K. and Jaton, A. (eds). Spatial Accuracy Assessment: Land Information
Uncertainty in Natural Resources. Chelsea, Michigan: Ann Arbor Press. 455pp
Chapman, A.D. 2002. Risk assessment and uncertainty in mapped and modelled distributionsof threatened species in Australia pp.31-40 in Hunter, G. & Lowell, K. (eds) Accuracy 2002
– Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Spatial Accuracy Assessment in
Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. Melbourne: Melbourne University 547 pp.
FGDC. 2005a. Proposal for Geospatial Positioning Accuracy Standards, Part 3: National
Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy. Washington, DC: Federal Geographic Data
Committee. <http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/FGDC-standardsprojects/accuracy/part3/progpas3> [Accessed 5 May 2006].
FGDC. 2005b. Proposal for Geospatial Positioning Accuracy Standards. Washington, DC:
Federal Geographic Data Committee. <http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/FGDCstandards-projects/accuracy/part1/progpas1> [Accessed 5 May 2006].
Foote, K.E. and Huebner, D.J. 2000. The Geographer's Craft Project. Department ofGeography, The University of Colorado at Boulder.
http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/manerror/manerror_f.html [Accessed 17
Jul. 2006].
Moritz, T. 1999. Geo-referencing the Natural and Cultural World, Past and Present: Towards
Building a Distributed, Peer-Reviewed Gazetteer System. Presented at the Digital Gazetteer
Information Exchange Workshop, Oct 13-14, 1999. Transcribed and edited from audiotape.
http://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/~lhill/dgie/DGIE_website/session1/moritz.htm [Accessed
21 Jan. 2006].
Stein, B. and Wieczorek, J. 2004. Mammals of the World: MANIS as an example of data
integration in a distributed network environment. Journal of Biodiversity Informatics 1: 14–
22.
USGS. 2005. National Mapping program Standards. Washington: USGS
<http://nationalmap.gov/gio/standards/> [Accessed 5 May 2006].

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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43

Software and on-line Tools
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

BioGeomancer
http://www.biogeomancer.org/
BioGeoMancer Classic
http://biogeomancer.org/
DIVA-GIS
http://www.DIVA-GIS.org/
GeoCalc
http://www.geocomp.com.au/geocalc/
GeoLoc – CRIA
http://splink.cria.org.br/geoloc?&setlang=en
GEOLocate
http://www.museum.tulane.edu/geolocate/
MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator
http://manisnet.org/gc.html
NGDC Magnetic Declination Calculator
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/geomag/jsp/struts/calcDeclination

Gazetteer Look-up Services
•
•
•
•

44

Alexander Digital LibraryGazetteer Server Client
http://middleware.alexandria.ucsb.edu/client/gaz/adl/index.jsp
Fuzzyg – Fuzzy Gazetteer
http://tomcat-dmaweb1.jrc.it/fuzzyg/query/
Global Gazetteer
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/
GEOnet Names Server
http://gnswww.nga.mil/geonames/GNS/index.jsp

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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Appendix: Guidelines for Georeferencing Locality Types
FEATURE (NAMED PLACE)
Definition:
The simplest locality descriptions consist of only a named place, which is often afeature listed in a standard gazetteer and can probably be located on a map of theappropriate scale. Feature categories include:• town, suburb, populated place, or homestead• spring, bore, tank, well, or waterhole• island, reef, or cay• port, bay, gulf, or harbor• airport, buoy, dock, or jetty• point, cape, or peninsula• cave• dam, or lock• hill, peak, pass, or mountain• trig point• park, reserve, or forestry zone
• junction of two paths (roads, rivers, contour lines, boundaries, etc.)
Despite how they might be presented in a gazetteer or on a map, features are notpoints; they are areas that have a spatial extent, though the extent may not always
be obvious. In a very few cases (such as a trig point), the extent is very small as it isan accurately surveyed point. The important thing is to try to capture the information
not only for where the feature is, but also how specific it is (i.e., how big is the extent
of the feature).
Some features (e.g., river and road junctions, bridges) may not have gazetteer
entries, while others (e.g., properties) may not appear on standard map series. Thesetypes of features can be a challenge to locate, and are therefore among the least
efficient georeferences to produce. Nevertheless, additional resources, such as
internet searches and field notes can often reveal these tricky places

Examples:Example 1: "Bakersfield”
Example 2: “Point Lookout”
Example 3: “Bennetts Waterhole”
Example 4: “Isla Tiburon”
Example 5: “Lorne Reef”
Example 5: “Yosemite National Park”
Example 6: “Mt Hypipamee”
Example 7: “Junction of Dwight Avenue and Derby Street”
Example 8: “State Forest Reserve 607”
Example 9: “Where Dalby Road crosses Bunya Mountains National Park Boundary”
Example 10: “confluence of Labarge Creek and South Labarge Creek”
Example 11: “At 100 m contour line on Black street”
Example 12: “junction of Rio Claro and Rio La Hondura”
Example 13: “Victoria River Station” [Northern Territory, Australia]

Georeferencing Procedure:
Features with an obvious spatial extent — use the geographic center (i.e., themidpoint of the extremes of latitude and longitude) for the coordinates. If thegeographic center does not fall inside the shape of the shaded area, then pick thenearest point to the center that lies within the shape (see Figure 4). Use the distanceBest Practices for Georeferencing
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from the coordinates to the furthest point within the named place as the extent. Somegazetteers give bounding boxes to describe the extents of large places and you can
use these to determine the extent by measuring them from a map or by using ageographic distance calculator such as the Perpendicular Distance Calculator 16 fromthe Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC).
Features without an obvious spatial extent — some features do not have a shadedboundary or a topographic symbol for buildings shown on the map (especially for
non-USA locales). Some of these features may have large, but indistinct extents(mountains, trap lines). Other features may be relatively small (springs, junctions),
with no apparent extent on a map. Use and document your judgment when placing
the coordinates and estimating the extent of large features, and use a standard
extent for small features based on the feature type. The extent of road junctions, forexample, cannot be measured on maps, so use the following extent
recommendations from Frazier et al. (2004):• For 2-lane city streets and 2-lane highways, the extent is 10 m.
• For 4-lane highways, the extent is 20 m.
• For large highways with medians, the extent is 30 m.
• If unknown, use 15 m.
It is worthwhile to create a feature type extent table as part of your institutional bestpractices document so that there is consistency in extents for features whose size
cannot be measured without ground-truthing.
‘Exact’ locations — if the locality appears to be ‘exactly at’ the locality cited (GPSreading) use the accuracy of the GPS as the extent.
In some cases – for example, an accurately recorded trig point – the extent and theuncertainty may be identical, however, collections are seldom made at the exact
locality cited (e.g., right on top of the trig point), so the extent is usually much larger
than a literal reading might suggest.
If you choose to use a gazetteer to obtain coordinates, keep in mind that they may
not be at the geographic center of the feature. For example, the coordinates of a
populated place may be at the main post office or the courthouse (if that place is acounty seat). Coordinates for rivers and streams are usually at the mouth. For thisreason, it is a good idea to use the gazetteer coordinates to find the feature on amap, and then use the map to find the geographic center of the feature.
When recording the method of determination of the coordinates and uncertainty inthe remarks, use "measured from the main post office" or "measured from thegeographic center of Bakersfield", etc.
Care! Some older gazetteers reference the bottom left hand corner of the position
where the name is to appear on a printed map rather than the actual location of thefeature. Most gazettteers have been fixed in recent years, but care should be taken
when using an unfamiliar gazetteer. Always check the map, which you will need to doin any case to calculate the extent.

Fig. 4. Calculation of the geographic center and extent for Norseman, Western
Australia. Background map from Geosciences Australia (2005).
16

Perdendicular Distance Calculator <http://geospatial.amnh.org/open_source/pdc/index.html>.

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Subdivisions of a feature — such as “N part of Mono Lake” calculate the extent
based only on the subdivision and proceed as you would with a location consisting ofa named place with a spatial extent.
Properties (ranches, farms, stations, etc.) — if you are unable to locate them ingazetteers or on regular maps, you may have to use a cadastral map, or carry out asearch to see if you can locate them in relation to nearby cities or other geographic
entities. If you are unable to find the boundaries, and thus determine the geographic
center, then use the coordinates of the homestead or major property buildings andestimate the size of the property from the location of other buildings not on thatproperty.
Caves — use the coordinates of the entry to the cave. This will usually be thelocation given in a gazetteer or on a regular map.

Uncertainty:
Use the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator (http://manisnet.org/gc.html) to
determine “Maximum Uncertainty Distance”.
•

For Calculation Type use:
“Error – enter Lat/Long for the actual locality”•

For Locality Type use:
“Named place only”.

See Example 1, below
Example 1.
Locality: “Bakersfield”
Suppose the coordinates for Bakersfield came from the GNIS database (agazetteer) and the distance from the center of Bakersfield to the furthest city limit
is 3 km.
Coordinate System: degrees minutes seconds
Latitude: 35º 22' 24" N
Longitude: 119 º 1' 4" W
Datum: not recorded; 79 m uncertainty
Coordinate Precision: nearest second; 40 m uncertainty
Coordinate Source: gazetteer
Extent of Named Place: 3 km
Distance Units: km
Decimal Latitude: 35.37333
Decimal Longitude: -119.01778
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 3.119 km

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47

NEAR A FEATURE
Definition:
A locality given without an exact position, but with “near”, “in the vicinity of”, “adjacentto”, or some similar relation to a feature cited.
These locality descriptions imply an offset from a named place without definitive
directions or distances.

Examples:Example 1: “Near Las Vegas“
Example 2: “vicinity of Tumbarumba“
Example 3: “Big Bay vicinity”
Example 4: “near MS 117 on Dalton Hwy”
Example 5: “near Bend 43 on Great Western Hwy”
Example 6: “vicinity of bridge over Condamine River on Warrego Highway“
Example 7: “adjacent to railway underpass on Smith Street”
Example 8: “area of confluence of Black and Oshetna Rivers”

Georeferencing Procedure:In these cases use the geographic center of the named place for the geographic
coordinates.
If you are unable to determine the exact coordinates of the locality, then use thecoordinates as near as possible to the referenced locality (and on the path if
appropriate).

Extent:
The extent should be calculated as the greater of 2km or 200% of the extent of thenamed place. Clearly there is a measure of subjectivity involved here and you should
use your judgement and evidence from other sources. Let common sense prevail anddocument the assumptions made.

Uncertainty:
Calculate the same as for ‘Feature’ but note the increase in extent.

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BETWEEN TWO FEATURES
Definition:
A locality cited as ‘between’ two features or named places.

Examples:Example 1: “between Point Reyes and Inverness“

Image

Fig. 5. The diagram above illustrates the general case of a
locality description of the type "Between A and B.

Georeferencing Procedure:
Find the coordinates of the midpoint between the centers of the two named places(the point e in Figure 5).

Extent:Use one-half the distance between the centers of A and B.

Uncertainty:
Calculate the same as for ‘Feature’.

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49

STREET ADDRESS
Definition:
Locality is a street address – usually with a number, a street name, and a feature
name.
In some places, street numbers in rural areas represent a metric distance from thestart of the road.

Examples:Example 1: “1 Orchard Lane, Berkeley, CA“
Example 2: “21054 Baldersleigh Road, Guyra, NSW“ (indicates that the locality is
21.054 km from the beginning of Baldersleigh Road).
Example 3: “Backyard of 593 West Street, Louisville, Boulder County, Colorado”
Example 4: “Greenhouse at 20th and Broadway, Boulder, Boulder County,
Colorado”

Georeferencing Procedure:
Addresses are sometimes given when specimens are collected in cities or towns.
When possible, plot the point at the indicated spot with the aid of a local road map or
a mapping product such as Google Maps®, Maporama® or Mapquest®, White or
Yellow Pages directory, or a GPS. If the exact address cannot be found, estimate thelocation as well as possible. Remember that many addresses reflect a grid system oflabeling addresses. For instance, addresses between 12th Street and 13th Street
would lie between 1200 and 1300. Be aware, however, that street names oftenchange over time. To your best ability, locate this area on the map or map software
you are using to get the coordinates, if the electronic gazetteer does not display them
automatically.
Building names are often given to clarify the location within a town or city. Rarely arethese buildings given coordinates in a gazetteer; however, they can sometimes belocated using a Yellow Pages directory, which may be available via the Internet.
Unlike natural features, most buildings change names or even disappear over time,
so verify that the building named in the record existed in that location at that time.

Extent:Use as the extent the smallest area that is identifiable and that cannot be any otheraddress. If you cannot determine the location and size of an address within a block,use half the length of the city block for the extent and make note of this in thegeoreferencing remarks.

Uncertainty:
Calculate the same as for ‘Feature’.

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PATH
Definition:
The locality is a linear feature such as a road, trail, boundary, river, or contour line.
The locality may also refer to part (or subdivision) of the path (see Examples 5-7).
Localities that are given without an exact position, but are cited as “near”, “in thevicinity of”, “adjacent to”, a path such as a road, river, etc. (see Examples 8 and 9)
are treated in the same manner as any other path, but with perhaps a wider footprint– see also under ‘Near a Feature’, above.
Note! A path clause in a locality description is often meant to be read in combination
with another clause. The relationship between the path clause and other clauses inthe same description is important, because the resulting shape will be affected. For
example, a description with a path followed by an offset from a feature at a heading(“Hwy 101, 2 mi N Santa Rosa) should actually be calculated as a clause of the type“offset from a feature at a heading along a path” rather than as the intersection of apath and a clause of the type “offset from a feature at a heading”

Examples:Example 1: “Hwy 1”
Example 2: “Nepean River”
Example 3: “along 100 m contour line”
Example 4: “N. Boulder Creek, 1.3 miles above Boulder Falls”
Example 5: “mouth of Goodpaster River”
Example 6: “head of Mooney Creek”
Example 7: “Eastern part of Logan Motorway”
Example 8: “vicinity of Uyamitquaq Ck.”
Example 9: “adjacent to eastern boundary of Foz do Iguaçu Park”

Georeferencing Procedure:
Roads — a path may be defined with reference to a named place (see Note above).
This may influence where one places the coordinates. If there is no further
refinement, then treat the road similarly to a river, as explained below. If there isreference to an offset or a position on the path, then treat the location as any otherfeature and refer to the appropriate sections, such as ‘Offset’, or ‘Feature’.
Rivers — if you are unable to traverse the length of the river to find the geographic
center, then make a straight line from the mouth of the river to the head of the river(or the extreme points within the county, state, etc. you are concerned with). Find thecenter of this line, and place your coordinate point closest to the center of the line on
the river itself (see Figure 6). This method may lead to large errors in rivers that havelarge changes in direction. Use your common sense to determine the mostappropriate point, bearing in mind the suggested methods above.
The mouth of a river is not always easy to determine, but is usually taken to beformed by a straight line across the river at the position where the river joins a larger
body of water (sea, bay, lake, another river, etc.). In some rare cases, it may refer tothe downstream end where the river changes its name. It is the position of lowest
elevation of the river.
Similarly, the head of a river (where the river begins) can also be difficult todetermine. Though the head is always the highest point on the part of the river
bearing the same name, it may begin in a mountain, canyon, or lake, and may need
to be estimated because it has become too fine or broken up into smaller streams toaccurately identify on a map.
Sometimes the terms ‘above’, ‘below’, ‘left bank’, or ‘right bank’ are used with rivers
instead of cardinal directions (see Example 4, above). ‘Above’ is used when referring
to upstream of the feature while ‘below’ refers to downstream. The direction a river

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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flows can be easily determined on a topographic map by looking at the contour lines
and elevation. The contour lines will always point upstream as they cross the river.
The terms left and right bank refer to the side of the river when facing downstream.
‘Mouth of River’ (Example 5) and ‘head of River’ (Example 6) are usually best treatedas you would a ‘Feature’.
Care! When using older maps, be aware that rivers may have changed course andmay have been in a different location at the time the collection was made, comparedwith the position drawn on the map at a different time. In addition, the apparent
position of the mouth of a river can be strongly influenced by the scale of the map
being used.
Note! Do not use the coordinates given by gazetteers, as these points usuallycorrespond to the mouth of the river, not the geographic center.
Contour Lines — If the contour line has ends within the area of interest, treat it thesame as you would a river. If the contour line is closed (i.e., forms a polygon arounda hill or mountain, etc.), then treat the enclosed area the same as you would a‘Feature‘ and use the geographic center of the polygon for the geographic
coordinates.
Subdivisions of a Path — where a subdivision of a path still describes a path,
continue to treat it as a road, river or contour line as above. In Example 7, forinstance, you may take the midway point on the Logan Motorway as the western limitof the subdivision meant by the ‘eastern part’. Use that limit as the basis to determine
both the coordinates and the extent.

Image:

Fig. 6. An example of determining coordinates and extent for a path (in thiscase the Darling River in New South Wales, Australia). Use of an uncertainty
polygon would give a more accurate representation for maximum uncertainty
than the point-radius method.

Extent:
The extent is the distance from the point nearest the geographic center of the path tothe point on the path furthest from that center point. Make sure to base the center
point on only that portion of the path within the boundaries of interest.

Uncertainty:
Calculate the same as for ‘Feature’.

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BETWEEN TWO PATHS
Definition:
A locality cited as being between two paths (two roads, two rivers, a road and a river,etc.).

Examples:Example 1: “between Tanama R. and Clearwater Ck.”
Example 2: “between Aldersley and Bridge Streets” (i.e., two streets that don’tintersect)
Example 3: “on Hwy 14, between highway and adjacent fence”

Georeferencing Procedure:
Create a polygon from the two paths and the end points of each of the paths – forexample, the state boundary, where the river joins another river or changes names, aroad intersection, etc. (see Figure 7.)
Once the polygon is drawn – then the coordinates are determined in the samemanner as for a ‘Feature’, above.

Image:

Fig. 7. An example of determining coordinates and extent for a location between
two paths (in this case “between the Bruce Highway and the Railway line, West of
Plain Creek and before the Railway crossing on the Highway”). Background map
from Geosciences Australia (2005).

Extent:Once the polygon has been drawn as above, then the extent is determined in thesame way as for a ‘Feature’.

Uncertainty:
Calculate the same as for ‘Feature’.

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53

OFFSET DISTANCE
Definition:
Locality consists of an offset from a named place without any direction specified.
Offsets without a direction are often the result of errors by the collector whenrecording the locality. Occasionally, these localities are data entry errors. Try to view
the original collection catalogs or labels, as there may be more information in them.

Examples:Example 1: “5 km outside Calgary“
Example 2: “15 km from Recife”

Image:

Fig. 8. An example of determining coordinates and extent for a location
with offset distance only (in this case “5 km from Lake Vättern, Sweden”).
The coordinates are 14.56º, 58.30º. Offset distance is 5 km, extent of thenamed place (Lake Vättern) is 61.2 km. These values are then used in
the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator to determine maximum uncertainty.

Georeferencing Procedure:
Record the geographic coordinates of the center of the named place, as you would
for a normal ‘Feature’.
Sometimes offset information is vague either in its direction or in its distance. If thedirection information is vague, record the geographic coordinates of the center of thenamed place and include the offset distance in the determination of the maximum
uncertainty (see figure 8).

Extent:
Use the extent of the named place.

Uncertainty:
Use the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator (http://manisnet.org/gc.html) to
determine “Maximum Uncertainty Distance”.
•

54

For Calculation Type use“Error – enter Lat/Long for the actual locality”

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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•For Locality Type use“Distance only (e.g., 5 mi from Bakersfield)”.

Example 1.
Locality: “5 mi from Bakersfield”
Suppose the coordinates for Bakersfield came from Topozone® with the map
coordinates reprojected in NAD27. Suppose also that the distance from thecenter of Bakersfield to the furthest city limit is 2 mi.
Coordinate System: decimal degrees
Latitude: 35.373
Longitude: -119.018
Datum: NAD27; no uncertainty
Coordinate Precision: 0.001 degrees; 0.089 mi uncertainty
Coordinate Source: gazetteer
Offset Distance: 5 mi
Extent of Named Place: 2 miDistance Units: mi
Decimal Latitude: 35.373
Decimal Longitude: -119.018
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 8.089 mi

Example 2.
Locality: “5 km from Lake Vättern, Sweden” (see Figure 8).
Coordinate System: decimal degrees
Latitude: 58.30
Longitude: 14.56
Datum: unknown
Coordinate Precision: 0.001 degrees, 1520 m uncertainty
Coordinate Source: gazetteer
Offset Distance: 5 km
Extent of Named Place: 61.2 km
Distance Units: km
Decimal Latitude: 58.30
Decimal Longitude: 14.56
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 68.559 km

NB! See discussion on “Estimating Uncertainty from Distance” earlier in thisdocument. The Georeferencing Calculator uses the method for estimating uncertainty
given in Wieczorek et al. (2004).

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55

OFFSET DIRECTION
Definition:
Locality consists of a direction from a named place without any distance specified.

Examples:Example 1: “N Palmetto“
Example 2: “W of Jondaryan"

Image:

Fig. 9. An example of a locality description of the type "At a heading from B". In
this diagram the specific example is "West of B". The area corresponding to"West of B" is encompassed by the bright yellow triangle connecting the threepoints b, i, and g. The orange triangle would be interpreted as "East of A" and thegreen triangle would be interpreted as "South of A”.
There are a number of ways one might calculate the coordinates, extent, anduncertainty for this complicated scenario, some of which are described below using
the values shown in Figure 9.

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Best Practices for Georeferencing
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Alternative 1:
Coordinates: Place the coordinates at the point f, which is at a distancer/cos(alpha) W from the center of B, where r is one half the distance
between the centers of A and B and alpha is the angle between west andthe direction from the center of B to the center of A.
Extent: The radius of f', which is r/cos(alpha).
Disadvantage: This alternative leaves out some of the triangle (big).
Advantages:
1. The center of the uncertainty radius is the point due W furthest fromthe center of B within the triangle (big).
2. This is the simplest of the three alternatives to calculate.
Alternative 2:
Coordinates: Place the coordinates at the point f, as in Alternative 1.
Extent: The radius of f", which is the extent of B plus
r*sqrt(2)/(2*cos(alpha)*sin(theta-alpha)), where the angle theta is basedon the direction uncertainty (45 degrees for West).
Disadvantage: The radius of uncertainty is larger than it needs to be to cover
the area that might reasonably be called ‘West of B’.
Advantage:
1. This alternative leaves out none of the triangle (big).
2. It has its center on the point furthest due W of the center of B within
the triangle (big).

Alternative 3:
Coordinates: Place the coordinates at the point j, which is half-way between
the points i and g. The coordinates for this point is beyond the ability of ageoreferencer to discern.
Extent: The radius of j', which is the extent of B plus r*(tan^2(thetaalpha)+1)/(2*tan(theta-alpha)), where theta is the direction uncertainty (45degrees for West).
Disadvantage:
1. This alternative leaves out none of the triangle (big).
2. The coordinates of the point j cannot be determined readily from amap; they have to be calculated.
3. The uncertainty for this alternative is the most complex to calculate.
4. The center of the uncertainty is not due W of the center of B.
Advantage:
1. This alternative leaves out none of the triangle (big).
2. The size of the uncertainty radius is as small as it can be and still
encompass the whole triangle (big).

Best Practices for Georeferencing
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Alternative 4:
NoGeorefBecause: "no offset distance given".
Disadvantage:
1. No georeference is produced.
Advantage:
1. This alternative avoids all of the subjectivity required to interpret
this vague description.
Georeferencing Procedure:
When only an offset is given with no distance, it is virtually impossible togeoreference with certainty without additional information. For example, if we have alocation ‘East of Albuquerque’ with no other information, there is no clear indication of
how far one should go ‘East’ to find the location – to the next nearest named place;the next nearest named place of equivalent size, or just keep going? In reality, sucha description could describe half of the Earth’s surface. It is for this reason that werecommend using Alternative 4 above.
Seldom is such information given alone; there is usually some supporting information.
For example, the locality may have higher-level geographic information such as ‘Eastof Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, New Mexico’. This gives you a stopping point (thecounty), and should allow you to georeference the locality.

Uncertainty:
The MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator (http://manisnet.org/gc.html) does not
explicitly calculate coordinates and uncertainty for this locality type. Nevertheless, theuncertainty can be calculated for any of the first three alternatives given above if one
first determines the coordinates and extent. The Georeferencing Calculator can beused in two steps to georeference using Alternative 1, above. For the first step,
determine the coordinates for the point f:•

For Calculation Type use“Coordinates and error”•

For Locality Type use“Distance at a heading”.

Fig. 10. Extract from TOPO250K digital map
showing Jondaryan, Queensland, Australia.
Map from Geosciences Australia (2005).

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Example 1. (see Figure 10)
Locality: “W of Jondaryan”
Suppose the coordinates for Jondaryan came from a gazetteer using theAustralian Geodetic Datum 1984 (AGD84). Malu is the next populated place in awesterly direction from Jondaryan at a distance of 3.65 and a heading of 305º.
The scale of the map is 1:250,000 and the metadata for the map indicates anuncertainty of ~160 m (see Table 5).
Coordinate System: degrees, minutes, seconds
Latitude: 27º 21’ 50” S (for Jondaryan)
Longitude: 151º 34’ 59” E (for Jondaryan)
Datum: AGD 84; no uncertainty
Coordinate Precision: 1 second
Offset distance: 4.46 km (r/cos(alpha) where r = 3.65 km and alpha is the difference
between the heading 305º and west 270º, or 35º).
Direction: W
Decimal Latitude: -27.36389 (for point f)
Decimal Longitude: 151.53797 (for point f)
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 1.592 km
For the second step, determine the maximum uncertainty distance from the point f:•

For Calculation Type use“Error – enter Lat/Long for the actual locality”•

For Locality Type use“Named place only”.

Example 1. Step 2.
Coordinate System: degrees, minutes, seconds
Latitude: 27º 21’ 50” S
Longitude: 151º 32’ 16.69” E (based on the Decimal Longitude from Step 1)
Datum: AGD 84; no uncertainty
Coordinate Precision: 1 second
Coordinate Source: non-USGS map: 1:250,000; 0.16 km uncertainty.
Extent of Named Place: 4.46 km (radius of f' in Figure 9)
Distance Units: km
Distance Precision: 1/100 km
Decimal Latitude: -27.36389
Decimal Longitude: 151.53797
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 4.751 km

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59

OFFSET AT A HEADING
Definition:
The locality contains a distance in a given direction from a feature or named place.
There are several variations on such localities.
Localities that have one linear offset measurement from a named place, but do not
specify how that measurement was taken (see Example 1, below), are open for caseby-case judgment. The judgment itself must be documented in the remarks for thedetermination (e.g., ‘Assumed “by air” – no roads E out of Yuma’, or ‘Assumed “byroad” on Hwy. 80’). In this case, the remark should be something like ‘Uncertainty
encompasses both distance by air and distance by road on Hwy. 80’).
In Example 2, the locality is on the east side of the river, in Illinois, rather than on thewest side, in Missouri. In this example, the 16 miles were assumed to be ‘by air’ – but
see similar example under in the next Locality Type: Offset along a Path.
The addition of an adverbial modifier to the distance part of a locality description,
while an honest observation, should not affect the determination of the geographic
coordinates or the maximum uncertainty. In Example 3, below, treat the locality as if it
read "25 km WNW of Campinas"

Examples:Example 1: “10.2 mi E of Yuma”
Example 2: “16 mi from St Louis on left bank of the Mississippi River – downstream“
Example 3: “about 25 km WNW of Campinas”
Example 4: “10 mi E (by air) Bakersfield“Georeferencing Procedure:
Use the geographic coordinates of the named place (see ‘Feature’, above) as astarting point. Sometimes the locality description gives a method for determining theoffset (e.g., ‘by road’, ‘by river’, ‘by air’, ‘up the valley’, etc.) For all cases except ‘byair’ (see Example 4), use the next Locality Type: ‘Offset along a Path’, below.
Where the method of determining the offset cannot be determined from the locality
description or additional information and there is no obvious major path that can befollowed in the rough direction and distance given, assume the collector measured
the distance by air.
If there is no clear best choice between ‘by road’ or ‘by air’, you may wish to use the
midpoint between the two possibilities as the geographic coordinate and assign anuncertainty large enough to encompass the coordinates and uncertainties of bothmethods.This choice is not recommended here for two reasons. First, the resulting
coordinates will not match either of the two possible interpretations. Second, it willtake about three times as long to calculate since the two interpretations have to be
made, followed by the determination that encompasses them both. Since the offset ata heading “by air” will usually encompass the alternative by road anyway, this is therecommended option. You can increase the maximum uncertainty to encompass theother possible choice. Once again, this recommendation applies if you don’t have acompelling reason to use the offset along a path.
To calculate the coordinates, use the geographic coordinates of the center of thenamed place as a starting point (in the Example 1 above, use the center of Yuma)
and enter its coordinates and extent in the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator using
the Calculation type: ‘Coordinates and Error’. Enter the distance and direction given– (make sure relevant parameters are filled in or selected, such as datum, direction,offset distance, distance units and precision, and coordinate source, system, andprecision,) and push “Calculate.” The new coordinates that appear at the bottom of
the calculator are the ones you can now enter in your database. They should be
different from the coordinates you entered in the ‘Latitude’ and ‘Longitude’ spaces – if

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they are not, check to make sure you have chosen the correct Calculation Type. You
should also check the resulting locality coordinates on a map (or for the USA, in
Topozone.com) to make sure they make sense. Be sure to choose the same datum
as the original coordinates when viewing the result.

Extent:
The extent is the extent of your starting point - usually a named place such as a city
or a junction.

Uncertainty:
Use the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator (http://manisnet.org/gc.html) to
determine “Maximum Uncertainty Distance”.
•

For Calculation Type use“Coordinates and error”•

For Locality Type use“Distance at a Heading”.

Example 1.
Locality: “10 mi E (by air) Bakersfield”
Suppose the coordinates for Bakersfield came from the GNIS database (agazetteer), the coordinates of the locality were calculated to the nearest second,
and the distance from the center of Bakersfield to the furthest city limit is 2 mi.
Coordinate System: degrees, minutes, seconds
Latitude: 35º 22' 24" N
Longitude: 118º 50' 56” W
Datum: not recorded; 0.049 mi uncertainty
Coordinate Precision: nearest second; 0.024 mi uncertainty
Coordinate Source: gazetteer (for which the datum is unknown)
Offset Distance: 10 mi
Extent of Named Place: 2 miDistance Units: mi
Distance Precision: 1 mi
Direction Precision: E (45 degrees precision – between NE and SE)
Decimal Latitude: 35.37333
Decimal Longitude: -118.67179
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 16.588 mi
Example 2.
Locality: “10 mi ENE (by air) Bakersfield”
Suppose the coordinates for the locality were interpolated to the nearest second
from the USGS Gosford 1:24,000 Quad map and the distance from the center ofBakersfield to the furthest city limit is 2 mi.
Coordinate System: degrees, minutes, seconds
Latitude: 35º 24' 21" NLongitude: 118º 51' 25” W
Datum: NAD27; no uncertainty
Coordinate Precision: nearest second; 0.024 mi uncertainty
Coordinate Source: USGS map: 1:24,000; 0.008 mi uncertainty
Offset Distance: 10 mi
Extent of Named Place: 2 miDistance Units: mi
Distance Precision: 10 mi
Direction Precision: ENE (11.25 degrees either side of ENE)
Decimal Latitude: 35.46134
Decimal Longitude: -118.69326
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 12.379 mi

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61

OFFSET ALONG A PATH
Definition:
Locality describes a route from a named place.
If the distance was along a linear feature such as a road or river, measure along thefeature for the distance and in the direction cited, rather than use a straight line.
There is no uncertainty due to direction imprecision.

Examples:Example 1: "7.9 mi N Beatty, on US 95”
Example 2: "13 mi E (by road) from Bakersfield”
Example 3: "18 km W of Guyra, on Baldersleigh Road"
Example 4: "2km downstream from Wallaman Falls”
Example 5: "3 km above Anita Grande on Rio Jimenez”
Example 6: "left bank of the Mississippi River, 16 mi downstream from St. Louis"

Georeferencing Procedure:If ‘by road’ is specified in the locality description, or if there is an obvious major roadthat can be followed that complies to the direction and distance exactly, you canassume that the collector traveled by road. If there is a choice between multiple roads
that fit the description, choose one of them as the basis for the georeference andincrease the error to encompass the other possible choices.
Use the center of the starting point (in the Example 1, above, use the center ofBeatty), and use the measuring tool found in Terrain Navigator® 17 (USA only), or
your own appropriate application, to follow the road until you have gone the distancecited. Take the coordinates from this ending point. Be sure to make a note of thename of the road you followed in the Remarks if it is not already in the locality
description.

Extent:
The extent is the extent of your starting point - usually a named place such as a city
or a junction.

Uncertainty:
Use the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator (http://manisnet.org/gc.html) to
determine “Maximum Uncertainty Distance”.

17•

For Calculation Type: use“Error – enter Lat/Long for the actual locality”•

For Locality Type: use“Distance along a Path”.

Terrain Navigator®, <http://www.maptech.com/land/index.cfm>.

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Example 1.
Locality: “13 mi E (by road) Bakersfield”
Suppose the coordinates for this locality were interpolated to the nearest 1/10th
minute from the USGS Taft 1:100,000 Quad map and the distance from thecenter of Bakersfield to the furthest city limit is 2 mi.
Coordinate System: degrees, decimal minutes
Latitude: 35º 26.1’ N
Longitude: 118º 48.1’ W
Datum: NAD27; no uncertainty
Coordinate Precision: 0.1 minutes; 0.148 mi uncertainty
Coordinate Source: USGS map: 1:100,000; 0.032 mi uncertainty
Extent of Named Place: 2 miDistance Units: mi
Distance Precision: 1 mi
Decimal Latitude: 35.43500
Decimal Longitude: -118.80167
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 3.180 miBest Practices for Georeferencing
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63

OFFSET IN ORTHOGONAL DIRECTIONSDefinition:
Locality consists of a linear distance in each of two orthogonal directions from a
named place (Figures 11 and 12).

Examples:Example 1: “2 mi E and 1.5 mi N of Bakersfield“
Example 2: “6 km N and 4 km W of Welna“
Example 3: “2 miles north, 1 mile east of Boulder Falls, Boulder County, Colorado“Georeferencing Procedure:
Where localities have two orthogonal measurements in them, it should always be
assumed that the measurements are ‘by air’ unless there is a reference that indicatesotherwise.
Use the center of the starting point (e.g., in the Example 2, above, use the center ofWelna), and enter its coordinates and extent in the MaNIS Georeferencing
Calculator using the Calculation Type: "Coordinates and Error" Enter the distancesand directions given, and push "Calculate." The new coordinates that appear at thebottom of the calculator are the ones you can now enter in your database. They
should be different from the coordinates you entered in the ‘Latitude’ and ‘Longitude’
spaces – if they are not, check to make sure you have chosen the correct Calculation
Type.

Figures:Fig. 11. Example of calculating maximum uncertainty using
distance imprecision for two orthogonal offsets from thecenter of a named place. From Wieczorek (2001).

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Fig. 12. Calculating maximum uncertainty from the combination of
distance imprecision and extent. From Wieczorek (2001).

Extent:Extent is the extent of your starting point - usually a city or a junction.

Uncertainty:
Use the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator (http://manisnet.org/gc.html) to
determine “Maximum Uncertainty Distance”.
•

For Calculation Type use“Coordinates and error”•

For Locality Type use“Distance along Orthogonal Directions”.

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65

Example 1.
Locality: “2 mi E and 3 mi N of Bakersfield”
Suppose the coordinates for Bakersfield (the named place) came from the GNIS
database (a gazetteer), the coordinates of the locality given to the nearest
second, and the distance from the center of Bakersfield to the furthest city limit is
2 mi.
Coordinate System: degrees, minutes, seconds
Latitude: 35º 25’ 4” N
Longitude: 118º 58’ 54” W
Datum: not recorded; 0.049 mi uncertainty
Coordinate Precision: nearest second; 0.024 mi uncertainty
Coordinate Source: gazetteer
North or South Offset Distance: 3 mi
North or South Offset Direction: N
East or West Offset Distance: 2 mi
East or West Offset Direction: E
Extent of Named Place: 2 miDistance Units: mi
Distance Precision: 1 mi
Decimal Latitude: 35.4621
Decimal Longitude: -118.94623
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 4.337 mi

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OFFSET FROM TWO DISTINCT PATHS
Definition:
Locality consists of orthogonal offset distances, one from each of two different paths.
This is a more unusual situation, but it does occur.

Examples:Example 1: “1.5 mi E of LA Hwy. 1026 and 2 mi S of U.S. 190”

Georeferencing Procedure:
Locating the coordinates of a position like this is tricky. To do so, you have to draw apath parallel to, and at the appropriate distance and heading from, each of thereference paths. The place where they intersect (hopefully there is only one) is thecoordinate.

Extent:
Use the extent of the wider of the two paths from which you are measuring. The
uncertainty from the width of the wider highway will completely encompass theuncertainty from the narrower one. In Example 1, above, Interstate 190 is a big fourlane highway and LA 1026 is a two-lane highway. Since the measurements are
orthogonal to each other and to the roads in this case, each extent would be half of
the width of the respective highways. Since I 190 is the larger of the two, its extent
would completely encompass the extent from LA 1026.
For standard extents of roads, use the values described under Locality Type:
Feature, above.

Uncertainty:
Use the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator (http://manisnet.org/gc.html) to
determine “Maximum Uncertainty Distance”.
•

For Calculation Type use“Error – enter Lat/Long for the actual locality”•

For Locality Type use“Distance along Path”. Note: this isn’t actually the locality type, but it
gives you all of the parameters you need to calculate the correct
uncertainty.

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67

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATESDefinition:
The locality consists of a point represented by coordinate information in the form of
latitude and longitude. Information may be in the form of• Degrees, Minutes and Seconds (DMS),• Degrees and Decimal Minutes (DDM), or• Decimal Degrees (DD).
Records should also contain a hemisphere (E or W and N or S) or, with Decimal
Degrees, minus (–) signs to indicate western and/or southern hemispheres.

Examples:Example 1: “36º 31' 21.4" N; 114º 09' 50.6" W“
Example 2: “36º 31.4566’N; 114º 09.8433’W”
Example 3: “36.524276º S; 114.164055º W”
Example 4: “−36.524276; −114.164055“

(DMS)
(DDM)
(DD)
(DD using minus signs to indicate
southern and western hemispheres)

Georeferencing Procedure:
If a location has associated coordinates that are consistent with the rest of the locality
description, there is generally little else to do except determine the maximum
uncertainty.

Extent:
The extent of a locality should never really be zero. If a GPS was used to determine
the coordinates, the accuracy of the GPS at the time (see the section Using a GPS,above) should be used as the extent (or see estimates under ‘UTM Coordinates’
below. If the coordinates were determined by some other or unknown means, use areasonable minimum extent for the location, perhaps based on the rest of the locality
description. For example, if the coordinates are associated with a point on a trap line,
use the distance from the coordinates to the furthest end of the trap line as theextent.

Uncertainty:
Use the MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator (http://manisnet.org/gc.html) to
determine “Maximum Uncertainty Distance”.
•

For Calculation Type use“Error – enter Lat/Long for the actual locality”•

For Locality Type use“Coordinates Only”.

Example 1.
Locality: “35º 22' 24" N, 119º1' 4" W”
Coordinate System: degrees, minutes, seconds
Latitude: 35º 22’ 24” N
Longitude: 119º 1’ 4” W
Datum: not recorded; 79 m uncertainty
Coordinate Precision: nearest second; 40 m uncertainty
Coordinate Source: locality description
Distance Units: km, m, mi, yds, or ft
Decimal Latitude: 35.37333
Decimal Longitude: -119.01778
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 0.119 km, 119 m, 0.074 mi, 130 yds, or 390 ft

68Best Practices for Georeferencing
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Example 2.
Locality: “35.37,-119.02, NAD27, USGS Gosford Quad 1:24000”
Coordinate System: degrees, minutes, seconds
Latitude: 35.27
Longitude: -119.02
Datum: NAD27; no uncertainty
Coordinate Precision: .01 degrees; 1434 m uncertainty
Coordinate Source: USGS map: 1:24,000; 12 m uncertainty
Distance Units: km, m, mi, yds, or ft
Decimal Latitude: 35.37
Decimal Longitude: -119.02
Maximum Uncertainty Distance: 1.446 km, 1446 m, 0.899 mi, 1582 yds, or

4745 ft

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69

UTM COORDINATESDefinition:
The locality consists of a point represented by coordinate information in the form of
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) or related coordinate system (see Note below).
When databasing using UTM or equivalent coordinates, a Zone should ALWAYS be
included; otherwise the data are of little value when used outside that zone, andcertainly of little use when combined with data from other zones. Zones are often notreported where a region (e.g., Tasmania) falls completely within one UTM zone. Be
aware that UTM zones are valid only between 84ºN and 80ºS.
Note! There are many national and local grids derived from UTM and work in thesame way – for example, the Australian Map Grid (AMG).

Examples:Example 1: “UTM N 4291492; E 456156“ (Note: no zone cited).
Example 2: “AMG Zone 56, x: 301545 y: 7011991”
Example 3: “56: 301545.2; 7011991.4”

Georeferencing Procedure:
In Example 1, where no zone is cited, first find the UTM zone by using UTM Grid
Zones of the World (Morton 2006) using any additional information in the locality
description, such as country, state/province, county, etc.
Then fill in UTM data at Geographic/UTM Coordinate Converter (Taylor 2003).
Remember that x is easting while y is northing.
Care! Care should be taken when determining UTM coordinates from a map as they
are read in the opposite order to Latitude and Longitude, i.e., easting and thennorthing.

Extent:See the recommendations under Latitude and Longitude Coordinates, above.

Uncertainty:
Calculate in the same way as for Latitude and Longitude Coordinates.
If unable to use the Georeferencing Calculator, a general rule of thumb is that the
Uncertainty is of the order of
•
•
•
•

70

30 meters if determined by a GPS after UTC 00:00 2 May 2000, and thedatum is recorded;
100 meters if determined by a GPS before UTC 00:00 2 May 2000 and thedatum is recorded;
200 meters plus (depending on the location) if determined by a GPS and thedatum is not recorded;
Variable, depending on map scale if determined from a map (see Table 5,
this document).

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TOWNSHIP, RANGE, SECTION
Definition:
Township, Range and Section (TRS) or Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is a wayof dividing land in the mid- and western USA. Sections are usually 1 mi on eachside. Similar subdivisions are used in other countries, and should be calculated in asimilar way, once the sizes of the rectangles have been determined. Map sheets are
sometimes used and can also be calculates in this way.
A Township Range Section (TRS) description is essentially no different from that ofany other named place. It is necessary to understand TRS descriptions and how theydescribe a place before trying to georeference. See the References at the end of thisLocality Type, below, for links to further information on Township, Range andSections and their meaning.
Note! Though TRS applies only to the USA, some countries may have equivalents
and the principles elaborated here should be followed.

Examples:Example 1: “T3S, R42E, SEC.2“
Example 2: “E of Bakersfield, T29S R29E Sec. 34 NE 1/4“Georeferencing Procedure:
If there is no other usable locality data, or if TRS is the most specific information
provided in the locality description, place the point at the center of the TRS or¼ section. Otherwise, TRS is best only used as one factor in determining the final
coordinates
To find the coordinates for the center of the TRS, use the TRS-data Website(Gustafson and Wefald 2003) and fill in the appropriate fields. Make sure to pick thecorrect state. The website will give you the geographic center of your section using
the WGS84 datum.
If your locality includes something like "SW .25 Sec 15", then your work is not yet
done. To georeference quarters of the section, use the coordinates from the TRSdata website and place them in the Topozone.com website, which shows section
boundaries. Put your new point in the appropriate portion of the section and read the
new coordinates from the top of the map. Be sure to record the datum used for thecoordinates on Topozone®, since these are configurable while looking at the maps
Alternatively, to find the center of a quarter section, first find the center of the Section,then calculate the coordinates of the quarter section by using offsets of 0.25 mi in theappropriate directions from these coordinates. For example, the center of the NW 1/4
of Section 13 would be 0.25 mi N and 0.25 mi W of the center of Section 13.
Note! Not all TRS townships and sections are square. It is best to use a map to findthe center of any subdivision of a section.

Extent:For sections, the extent is half of the hypotenuse of the section, or 0.707 mi (thesquare root of 2 divided by 2). For quarter sections, the extent is half of that, or 0.354
mi. (Table 6).

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71

Division

ExampleExtent(mi)

Extent(m)

Township

T6S R14E

4.243

6828

SectionT6S R14E Sec. 23

0.707

1138

¼ Section

T6N R14E Sec. 23 NE ¼

0.354

570

¼ of ¼ Section

T6N R14E Sec. 23 NE ¼ SW ¼

0.177

285

¼ of ¼ of ¼ Section

T6N R14E Sec. 23 NW ¼ NE ¼ SW ¼

0.089

143

Table 6. Extents of Divisions of Townships in miles and meters. From Wieczorek (2001),
Frazier et al. (2004).

Uncertainty:
Calculate the same as for ‘Feature’.
If unable to use the Georeferencing Calculator, see Table 6, above. The uncertainty
estimate will be the extent plus the uncertainty due to the precision in the coordinates
used – as long as the datum is recorded.

References:
Township, Range, Section Information:
http://www.esg.montana.edu/gl/trs-data.html
http://www.outfitters.com/genealogy/land/twprangemap.html
http://www.outfitters.com/genealogy/land/land.html

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DUBIOUS
Definition:
At times, locality descriptions are fraught with vagueness. This may be due to any
number of reasons, but in particular relates to historic collections in areas that at thetime may have had no named features with which to reference.
The most important type of vagueness in a locality description is one in which thelocality is in question. Such localities should not be georeferenced.
A cause of vagueness may be incorrect data entry and it is recommended thatchecking the original catalog books, field notes, specimen labels, etc. be the first stepin removing the vaguery of a locality so that it can be georeferenced.
In Examples 1-3, below, the locality descriptions explicitly state that the information
contained therein is in question. In Example 4, the location is not well enoughbounded to identify a meaningful location. In the latter case, additional information(for example collector and date) may lead to a more specific location from diaries orother published information.

Examples:Example 1: “possibly Isla Boca Brava“
Example 2: “presumably central Chile“
Example 3: “Bakersfield”
Example 4: “Nova Hollandia”

Georeferencing Procedure:
Do not georeference if the locality explicitly states that the information contained
therein is in question.
Document in Remarks the reason for not georeferencing, e.g. “locality too vague togeoreference”, “locality in question”, etc.
Note that subsidiary information may provide other information, which may help in
determining a less dubious location.

Extent:
N/A

Uncertainty:
N/ABest Practices for Georeferencing
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CANNOT BE LOCATED
Definition:
The cited locality cannot be located. This may be for any number of reasons,
including:• There is no locality information cited (Example 1),• The locality fields contain other than locality information (Example 2),• the locality cannot be distinguished from among multiple possible candidates(Examples 3 and 4), or• the locality cannot be found with available references.

Examples:Example 1: “locality not recorded“
Example 2: “Bob Jones“
Example 3: “"summit“
Example 4: “San Jose, Mexico“Georeferencing Procedure:
Do not georeference.
Document in Remarks the reason for not georeferencing, e.g. “locality cannot befound with available references”, etc. Do still fill in the Georeferencing Resources
field in your database so that the next researcher does not waste time using thesame resources to track down the locality.

Extent:
N/A

Uncertainty:
N/A

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DEMONSTRABLY INACCURATE
Definition:
The locality contains irreconcilable inconsistencies.
The worst type of locality description to georeference is one that is internallyinconsistent. There are numerous possible causes for inconsistencies. Rather thandetermine coordinates for such localities, annotate the locality with the nature of theinconsistency and refer the locality to the source institution or collector forreconciliation. One common source of inconsistency in locality descriptions comesfrom trying to match elevation information with the rest of the description. In thesecases (see Example 2), bear in mind that elevation data are notoriously inaccurate.
Another common source of inconsistency occurs when the locality description does
not match the geopolitical subdivision of which it is supposed to be a part. At times,
the locality can still be determined because the geopolitical subdivision is clearly at
fault (see Example 3). In this case, georeference the locality and annotate it todescribe the problem.
Often there is no way to know if the geopolitical subdivision or something in thelocality description itself is at fault. In Example 4, the county may be wrong, thedistance may be wrong, or the direction may be wrong. This locality cannot be
disambiguated without going back to the originating institution, collection books, or bycontacting the collector, etc.

Examples:Example 1: "Sonoma County side of the Gualala River, Mendocino County"
Example 2: “10 mi W of Bakersfield, 6000 ft” (There is no place anywhere near 10 mi
W of Bakersfield at an elevation of 6000 ft)
Example 3: "Delano, Tulare Co." (Delano is in Kern Co.)
Example 4: “5 mi N of Delano, Kern Co." (5 mi N would put the locality in Tulare Co.)

Georeferencing Procedure:
Do not georeference. Record in remarks “locality contains irreconcilable
inconsistencies”.

Extent:
N/A

Uncertainty:
N/ABest Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 200675

CAPTIVE OR CULTIVATED
Definition:
Locality records the collection was made from a captive animal or cultivated plant,
etc. The locality cited is often that of a zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, etc.

Examples:Example 1: "lab born"
Example 2: "bait shop"
Example 3: “Cultivated in Botanic Gardens from seed obtained from Bourke, NSW.”

Georeferencing Procedure:
Do not georeference captive animals in standard georeference fields.
Do not georeference cultivated plant records in general georeference fields. If you
must supply a georeference (for example for the location of the parent plant that
supplied the seed), record it in a separate field, not in the general georeference
fields.
Document in remarks “not georeferenced − captive/cultivated”, etc.

Extent:
N/A

Uncertainty:
N/A

76

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

Indexindex, 37Aaccuracy, iii
GPS, 9index, 37
of maps, 28
Alexander Digital Library Gazetteer Server Client,
44
Australian Biodiversity Information Services, 39
Australian Museum, 39

B
best practiceprinciples, 1
accessibility, 1
accuracy, 1
effectiveness, 1
efficiency, 1
relevance, 2reliability, 1
timeliness, 2transparency, 2Best Practices Guidelines for GPS Survey, 4
BioGeomancer, 1, 18, 19, 44
toolkit, 14
BioGeoMancer Classic, 3, 4, 19, 44
BioGeomancer Consortium, 39

Ccadastral map, iii
cadastre, iii
captive, 76
caves, 47Center for Biodiversity and Conservation(CBC), 46
Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental, 1,
4, 39
Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso dela Biodiversidad, 1, 5
completenessindex, 36
CONABIO. See Comisión Nacional para el
Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad
constraints, 16
contour line, 52
coordinate precisioncalculating uncertainty from, 27
coordinate reference system, iii, vi
coordinate system, iii
geographic, iv
verbatim, 16
coordinates, iii, v
geographic, 22
recording, 8verbatim, 15
CRIA. See Centro de Referência em Informação
Ambiental
C-squares, 19cultivated, 76
currency

Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

D
Darwin Core
Geospatial Element Definitions Extension, 15
data checking, 33
data cleaning, 33
data entry, 34data entry operators, 20
data quality, iii, 33
maintaining, 33
data validation, 34
database fields, 14
datum, iii
engineering, iii
geodetic, iii, iv, 15
horizontal, iv, v
recording, 10
unknown, 23
vertical, iii, iv, v, vi
datumsdifferences between, 23
decimal degrees, iii, 22
decimal latitude, iii, 15
decimal longitude, iii, 15
DEM. See Digital Elevation Model
Denver Botanic Gardens, 3
Denver Museum of Nature and Science, 3Differential GPS, 9
Digital Elevation Model, iii, 10
direction
calculating uncertainty from, 26
distance
calculating uncertainty from, 24
precision, 25
DIVA-GIS, 4, 19, 35, 44
documentation, 11, 37

Eeasting, iii
easting and northing, iii
ecological data, 16
Ecosystem Associates, 39
elevation, iii
recording, 10
Environmental Resources Information Network, 1,
4, 5, 39
ERIN. See Environmental Resources Information
Network
error, 33
examples of good and bad localities, 5extent, iv, 22
calculating uncertainty from, 25
recording, 11

F
false precision. See precision: falsefeature, iv, v, 22, 45
between two, 49
near, 4877

subdivisions of, 47
with extent, 45
without extent, 46
feature instances, iv
feature name, iv
feature types, iv
feedbackfrom users, 33
to collectors, 33
fitness for use, iii
footprint, iv
Fuzzyg - Fuzzy Gazetteer, 44Ggazetteer, iv
GBIF. See Global Biodiversity Information Facility
GeoCalc, 44
geocode, iv
geodetic datum. See datum: geodetic
geographic center, v
geographic coordinate system, iv
geographic coordinates, 22
Geographic Information System, 22
geographic regions, 19
GeoLoc - CRIA, 44
GEOLocate, 1, 4, 5, 19, 44
GEOnet Names Server, 44
georeference, v
determined by, 16
determined date, 16
protocol, 16
remarks, 16
sources, 16
validation, 16
verification status, 16
georeferencing
batch, 18
beginning, 13
fields, 15
legacy data, 21
methodology, 18
Geospatial Element Definitions Extension to
Darwin Core, 15
Global Biodiversity Information Facility, 12, 39
Portal, 19, 35
Global Gazetteer, 44
Global Positioning System, v, 7, 8
accuracy, 9Differential, 9Local Area Augmentation System, 9Real Time Differential, 9Static, 9
using, 8, 12
Wide Area Augmentation System, 9Globally Unique Identifier, 12
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, 39
GPS. See Global Positioning System
Greenwich Meridian, iii
GUID. See Globally Unique Identifier
Guide for Recording Localities in the Field, 5
guidelines, 17

recording, 10
Herbarium Information Standards and Protocols forInterchange of Data, 15
HerpNet, 30

I
index
accuracy, 37
completeness, 36
currency, 37
validation, 37
Index of Spatial Uncertainty, 36
INRAM. See Institute of Resource Analysis andManagement
Institute of Resource Analysis and Management, 1,
3, 5International Rice Research Institute, 39

Jjunctionroad, 46

L
latitude, iv, v, 22
decimal, iii, 15
legacy data
georeferencing, 21
Local Area Augmentation System, 9
locality
database fields, 14
recording, 7
locality description
classifying, 21
Locality Type
Between Two Features, 49
Between Two Paths, 53
Cannot be Located, 74
Captive or Cultivated, 76
Demonstrably Inaccurate, 75
Dubious, 73
Feature, 22, 45
Latitude and Longitude Coordinates, 68
Named Place. See Locality Type: Feature
Near a Feature, 48
Offset Along a Path, 62
Offset at a Heading, 60
Offset Direction, 56
Offset Distance, 54
Offset from Two Distinct Paths, 67
Offset in Orthogonal Directions, 64
Path, 8, 51
Street Address, 50
Township, Range, Section, 71
UTM Coordinates, 70
location, v
longitude, iv, v, 22
decimal, iii, 15MH
heading, v

78

magnetic declination
calculating, 11Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

Magnetic North, 10
making corrections, 35
Mammal Networked Information System, 1, 3, 4, 5,
13, 18, 30
manager
responsibilities of, 35
MaNIS. See Mammal Networked Information
System
MaNIS Georeferencing Calculator, 19, 27, 30, 44
Manual, 30
MaNIS/HerpNet/ORNIS Georereferencing
Guidelines, 5, 30
map
accuracy of, 28
calculating uncertainty from, 28
map projection, v
map squares, 19
MaPSTeDI. See Mountains and Plains SpatioTemporal Database Informatics Initiative
MapSTeDI Georeferencing Guidelines, 34
MaPSTeDI Georeferencing Protocols, 3, 5
MaPSTeDI Guide to Georeferencing, 3, 5
maximum uncertainty
estimate, v, vi, 15
unit, v, 15
meridian, v
Greenwich, iii
prime, vi
Mountains and Plains Spatio-Temporal Database
Informatics Initiative, 1, 3, 5, 13, 14, 18, 34
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 5
MVZ Guide for Recording Localities in the Field, 5precision, vi
distance, 25
false, iv, vi, 27
prime meridian, vi
properties, 47
Public Land Survey System, 71

Rrecordingcoordinates, 8data for small labels, 12
datum, 10
elevation, 10
extent, 11
headings, 10
localities, 7
year of collection, 11
rivers, 51
roads, 51

S
Selective Availability, 8, 9
small labels
recording data, 12
spatial fit, vi, 16, 31
standards, 17
supervisor
responsibilities of, 35

TN
named place, v, 45
National Geophysical Data Center, 11
NatureServe, 1, 39
NGDC Magnetic Declination Calculator, 11, 44
North
Magnetic, 10
True, 10northing, iii, vO
offset, v, 22
along a path, 62
at a heading, 60
from two distict paths, 67
in orthogonal directions, 64
offset direction, 56
offset distance, 54
OGC Recommendations, 5
ORNIS. See ORNithological Information System
ORNithological Information System, 30

P
path, 8, 51
between two, 53
subdivision of, 52
PDA. See Personal Digital Assistantperformance criteria, 36
Perpendicular Distance Calculator, 46
Personal Digital Assistant, 12Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006

Taxonomic Databases Working Group, 12, 39
TDWG. See Taxonomic Databases Working Group
Township, Range and Section, 71
training, 36
trig point, iv, vi
True North, 10
Truth in Labelling, 35
Tulane University, 39
Museum of Natural History Fish Collection, 4U
uncertainty, v, vi
calculating, 23
calculating combined, 30
calculating due to unknown datum, 23
calculating from a map, 28
calculating from coordinate precision, 27
calculating from direction, 26
calculating from distance, 24
calculating from extents, 25
Universal Transverse Mercator, vi, 70
University of California
Berkeley, 39
Merced, 39
University of Colorado Museum, 3
University of Colorado, Boulder, 39
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 39
University of New Mexico, 39
University of Tulane, 5
unknown datum
uncertainty due to, 23

79

user interfaces, 17
UTM. See Universal Transverse MercatorVvalidationindex, 37

W
WGS84. See World Geodetic System 1984
Wide Area Augmentation System, 9World Geodetic System 1984, vi

YYale University, 39
year of collection
recording, 1180Best Practices for Georeferencing
Aug. 2006