the present invention is a method and system for defining surrogate addresses that translate land descriptions used in the subdivision of public domain lands , including descriptions more recently extended into non - public domain areas , as set forth in the u . s . public land survey system , commonly known as the system of townships and ranges . this system of local coordinate addresses translates existing township and range quarter section declarations to a pair of positive integers , thereby eliminating cardinal point references while , substituting the lengthy legal descriptions of the existing system , with a more versatile , useful , and more commonly understood grid coordinate identification system of location identifiers . the advantages of the system are numerous , including ease of visualization and ease of locating places on coordinated maps as well as , the enhanced capability relating to the automated processing of geospatial data .