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NSCAF Technical Design

Within the Nova Scotia Civic Address File (referred to as NSCAF) - civic points (or buildings), the road centreline network, and community boundary layers are managed as geographic objects that can be displayed on a map and integrated with other map data.

Most civic address databases are range based systems (that allow the user to geo-code the location of an address). The power of the NSCAF is that it contains both range and point layers - the point component identifies the location of a civic address to within 2.5 metres on the ground. This particular feature adds value to an already robust database.

Civic Points

This layer includes the location of buildings, sports fields, trailheads, and other locations that may require 911 services. Civic points are normally adjacent to a road, but occasionally are associated with other features such as the shoreline of a lake. In the case of buildings, it shows the exact location of the building, rather than an estimation based on the length of the road.

Road Centreline

This layer shows the roads you can drive on that have official names assigned. A road segment is a piece of road between two intersections, with additional breaks for locations such as community boundaries.

Community Boundaries

NSCAF uses only official names (assigned to the community by its respective municipality) to populate the database. In this layer the entire province is divided into areas representing communities, parks, reserves and other defined areas. Unpopulated areas are also divided into "communities".