Cadastral surveying data is based on the planimetric and height coordinate systems of the Swiss national land survey. Permanent, accurately surveyed points on the ground provide the reference framework for all surveying projects in Switzerland.
LV95 national survey
Precision thanks to coordinate and heigth systems of the Swiss national survey
Since 1903 the coordinates of cadastral surveying have been determined in relation to an oblique cylindrical projection with which the three-dimensional globe can be represented on a plane. The globe is first projected onto a cylinder, which is then "unrolled" to obtain a rectangular coordinate system representing the lines of latitude and longitude.
Under the banner of the national geodetic survey of 1995 (LV95), the Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, has established a new high-accuracy satellite-based survey datum.
This new reference framework fully exploits the advantages of GNSS technology and guarantees a secure connection with the European geodetic reference system, and thus also improves the exchange of geographic data across national boundaries. Because coordinates within the existing and new survey frameworks are explicitly different, the coordinate axes have been renamed in the new system as E (eastings) and N (northings) instead of y and x respectively. The origin of the new national coordinate system in Berne corresponds to the values E0 = 2 600 000.000 m and N0 = 1200 000.000 m; the concept of the false origin of the former system is being retained and the coordinates of the new origin are shifted by two million and one million metres in easting and northing respectively.
Cadastral surveying data will be converted into the new LV95 coordinate system by 2016 at the latest. However it can already be supplied in the new reference system on request.
