(Data West Research Agency definition: see
GIS glossary.) An integrated land information system containing legal (e.g., property ownership or cadastre), physical (e.g., topography, man-made features), and cultural (e.g., land use, demographics) information in a common and accurate reference framework. The reference framework typically is established with rigorous geodetic and survey control standards, such as the state plane and latitude/longitude coordinate systems. The Cadastre is made up of multiple independent, interrelated layers commonly used to describe the graphic component of a GIS database. Each layer contains a set of homogeneous map features registered positionally to other database layers through a common coordinate system. Data are separated into layers based on logical relationships and the graphic portrayal of sets of features.