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Introduction to COGO Editing

In this Chapter you will learn
How to edit parcels and boundaries based on commonly used direction-distance legal
descriptions

1. COGO Editing
COGO is short for Coordinate Geometry and it is method where you can create lines and polygons
by typing in distances and directions from the legal descriptions of parcels, annexation subdivisions
and other boundaries, as opposed to creating lines and polygons by click on the map to add
vertices.
Legal descriptions contain directions and distances to describe lines that together form a parcel or
other land unit. In Idaho distances are nearly always given in feet and directions as quadrant
bearings. For example, the bearing S 25
o
45 36 W denotes a south-westerly direction. For those of
you unfamiliar with this format picture yourself in the center of a circle looking towards the south.
Then move your gaze 25 degrees, 45 minutes and 36 seconds to the west and you are looking in the
direction of this line.
When entering COGO coordinates we use the quadrant shown
on the right to denote the major direction of a line. In the
example above you were looking in a south-westerly direction,
which corresponds to quadrant 3.
In what quadrant does the direction N 89
o
45 25 E fall? The
answer is quadrant number 1. Instead of type N and E we
will simply include the quadrant number in the COGO
description.

Exercise 1: Using COGO to create parcels
1. Start ArcMap and open a new map document. Add the T01NR01E shapefile
from the Topic7_15 folder. Also add the Lines and Polygons shapefiles.
2. Add the COGO toolbar to your map (Hint: click on Customize > Toolbars)



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3. Before you start editing you need to set up the format for the directions (are those in angles or
in bearings) and the units used for your distances. Use the directions below to set the editing
options that we will use for the legal descriptions in this tutorial.

Note: the directions above recalculate the units we will be entering in feet to meters. The Distance
Factor of 0.304801 is necessary in our map because the units of the coordinate system we use in
our map are in meters. When you do work in your own office you may not need to perform this
conversion. This is what you should do: try to COGO a parcel in your office with a Distance Factor of
1.0. After you create the new parcel you can use your measurement tool to verify that the new
parcel is the right size. If you find that your parcel is much larger than it should be then go ahead
and implement the Distance Factor of 0.304801.

4. Click on Editor (on the Editor Toolbar) > Start Editing
5. We will start with COGO-ing Parcel 1whose legal description is shown below.

6. First we need to COGO a temporary line from the NE corner of section 22 to the point of
beginning. Then we can use the remainder of the legal description to COGO the actual parcel.
Parcel 1:
A parcel of land in township T01N R01E, Boise Meridian, more particularly described
as follows. Commencing at NE corner of section 22, S25
o
45 36 W for a distance of
327.21 feet, thence S 90
o
00 00 W 401.64 feet to the point of beginning.
Thence S 0
o
00 00 W 213.42 feet, thence S 01
o
45 30 E 305.75 feet. Thence N 89
o
45
25 E 405.56 feet, then N 01
o
28 21 W 517.48 feet, then N 90
o
00 00 W 401.64 to
point of beginning.



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7. Click on the Traverse Tool on the COGO Toolbar.
8. Use the directions below to COGO a line from the NW corner of Section 22 to the point of
beginning.

9. Now that we have identified the point of beginning we can COGO the actual parcel. Use the
directions below along with the legal description for parcel 1 on the previous page to create the
parcel and check the closing error.













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10. If you wanted to, you can reduce your closing error by clicking on Adjust just above the finish
button. Choose the compass method and click Accept.
11. For practice (and a challenge) COGO Parcel 2 which has its point of beginning at the NE corner
of Section 10. Note that the point of beginning is at the section corner, so this time you can edit
the parcel right away without having to COGO a line to determine the point of beginning.


12. When you are done your parcel should
look like the figure on the right.
13. Save your edits and stop editing.







Exercise 2: Using COGO to split a parcel
1. Start ArcMap and open a new map document (if not already left open from the previous
exercise). Make sure your map contains the Lines.shp and Parcel.shp shapefiles.
2. In this exercise we will COGO a line along which a parcel needs to be split, and then use this line
to split the actual parcel.
3. Start an Edit session and click on the Traverse tool. Set your template to Lines. Set the starting
point to the SW corner of the parcel and COGO the following line:
Parcel 2:
A parcel of land in township T01N R01E, Boise Meridian, more particularly described as
follows: Beginning at the NE corner of Section 10. Thence S 01
o
25 39 E 500.00 feet,
then N 90
o
00 00 W 750 feet, then S 00
o
00 00 E 542.02 feet, thence S 75
o
30 20 E
400 feet, thence N 89
o
05 10 E 360 feet, thence N 30
o
45 20 E 200 feet, thence N 75
o

00 50 E 360.75 feet, thence N 01
o
43 37 E 627.29 feet, thence N 83
o
25 42 W 278.36
feet, thence N 00
o
00 05 E 200 feet, thence N 35
o
00 15E 501.55 feet, thence S 89
o
30
36 E 120.27 feet, thence N 00
o
26 27 E 80.45 feet, thence N 89
o
30 36 W 275 feet,
thence S 35
o
00 15 W 286.46 feet to the point of beginning.



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a. N 90
o
00 00 E, Distance 250 feet
b. N 45
o
00 00 E Distance 150 feet
c. N 90
o
00 00 E Distance 15 feet
d. N 00
o
00 00 E Distance 160 feet
4. Click Finish. Save your edits. Click Edit > Stop
Editing.
5. The line you just created will now be used to split the
parcel.
6. Right-click on the Parcel layer and click Edit Features
> Start Editing. Click the Edit Tool on your Editor
Toolbar and click on the parcel.
7. Click on the Cut Polygons tool and follow the directions below to split the parcel while tracing
the line you created earlier in this exercise.
8. Save your edits and stop editing.





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Exercise 3: Entering curves using ArcGIS COGO Tools
You can enter curves in ArcGIS Standard or
Advanced using the same COGO tools you used in
the previous exercises.
The figure on the right shows you the main
parameters used to describe a curve. We will use
the chord distance and direction, as well as the
radius length and the central angle to enter
curves. Also note that we also need to specify
whether a curve curves to the left or the right.
1. Start ArcMap and open COGO_Exercise3.mxd.
2. Start an edit session to edit the Lines layer
3. Open the Traverse tool from your COGO
toolbar
4. Here is the information for the 3 calls that you will enter, starting at the NE corner of section 20.
Call 1:
Call 2:
Type: Bearing-Distance

Type: Curve
Bearing: S 45
o
47 01 W

Chord: 114.81 Feet
Distance: 100 Feet

Chord Direction: S 57
o
17 01 W


Angle: 45

degrees


Turn Direction: Left



Call 3:

Call 4:
Type: Tangent Curve

Type: Bearing-distance
Radius: 200 feet

Bearing: S 45
o
47 01 W
Angle: 67 degrees

Distance: 200 Feet
Turn Direction: Right



5. Use the instructions on the following page to COGO the parcel described by the calls above.





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6. Save your edits and close your map