 Based out of the Alberta/Saskatchewan border city of Lloydminster,
the brains behind the Rocanda company have a great deal of hands-on experience with the Canadian oilfield. They have created some software options to help navigate the Western Canada LSD
(Legal Sub-division) grid system.
Of the two available software options, one is a free iPhone app, Rocanda Landtracker, which converts LSD or BCNTS (British Columbia National Topographic System) to latitude/longitude coordinates. Workers in the oilfield or
agriculture sector and delivery service personnel have found this
software to be indispensable.
The LSD coordinates, used primarily in AB and SK, are broken down
into six values: Quarter, LSD, Section, Township, Range, and Meridian. BCNTS data is similar to the LSD coordinates. The
fields include: Quarter, Centizone, Zone Block, Map Unit, Map Unit Sub,
and Map Sheet.
Once these values are entered into the LandTracker App, they are able to be
converted into latitude and longitude coordinates. These
latitude/longitude numbers can be used with a handheld GPS, vehicle GPS
or paper map.
Rocanda also offers their Western Canada Gridmap on microSD card with SD adapter. This product is used with Garmin's nuvi models and their handheld series that will accept data cards. This software lists the LSD locations, and will route the user to their destination via a built-in road navigation program.
When writing out LSD coordinates (technically called ATS locations),
there are six factors to consider. Position; sometimes described with a
direction (ie. NE) or a number from 1-16. The Section and Range; which
have numbers between 1 and 36. Township numbers from 1- 126 and
Meridians have the digits 1 thru 6. The LSDs are numbered from 1-16.
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