Land Surveying and GPS

· 2 min read
Land Surveying and GPS

Land surveyors once used tape measures and transits to measure distances and positions. Since the 1980s, electronic distance measurement, or EDM, devices have allowed for much more efficient and accurate measurements. These use a wave of energy that is shot between the EDM instrument and a reflector. The time the beam takes to return is then calculated as distance. Today, such calculations can be done using sophisticated GPS systems.


The Global Positioning System runs on the network of satellites to precisely pinpoint the device's location on the planet at at any time. GPS uses the principle of trilateration, utilizing the location of several satellites to pinpoint an exact location. A receiver can determine the latitude, longitude, and elevation of a point using four or more satellites; there are always a total of 24 Global Positioning System satellites currently used. First developed by the U.S. Department of Defense as a navigational aid in 1994, today it is used in many devices, tracking from cell phones and delivery vehicles to the movement of the tectonic plates of Earth's crust.

Land surveyors use Global Position Systems to notice the precise coordinates of spatial locations. Exact measurement of the positions is among the fundamental elements of land surveying. The benefit of is that it's a lot more accurate than hand-measuring these locations. There is some degree of error in all land surveying measurements, due to human errors, environmental characteristics like variations in magnetic fields, temperature, and gravity, and instrument errors. GPS permits much more precise measurements than previously open to land surveyors using measuring tape and an angle sight.

Another benefit of the usage of its use as a land surveyor is that the coordinates can be located precisely, while other ways of land surveying rely on measurements from other known locations, including the edge of the house line, the corner of a house, or another landmark. These locations could change as time passes, such as in case a house is torn down or another obstacle is made between the structure and the measured point; a good surveyor's stake could be removed before the land is re-surveyed. The coordinate of confirmed location on Earth, however, remains the same. Therefore, using  https://anotepad.com/notes/qiftax6p  as a land surveyor produces measurements that will be accurate no matter what happens to the surrounding land.

Although Global Position System receivers allow for very precise measurements, there's still a degree of error involved. A receiver on a tripod will record the location slightly differently each and every time; when many measurements are taken, these data points will form a cluster around the actual location. Better-quality receivers, of course, reduce this amount of error. Survey-grade receivers, rather than those designed for non-surveying uses, may create a band of measurements clustered in a matter of one centimeter of the specific location.  https://diigo.com/0vcx1n  are steadily gaining in use, but is probably not as accurate because the surveyor want, especially in areas which are heavily wooded or which have other large obstructions. However, the technology is rapidly advancing and gaining a foothold in the available equipment for land surveyors. Since 1994, the accuracy available when using GPS units has improved steadily.