Surveying Basics
This is the term for the science of determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them.
What is surveying?
This type of survey maps the elevation and contours of the land.
What is a topographic survey?
This licensed professional is legally authorized to establish property boundaries.
What is a Professional Land Surveyor (PLS)?
This is the difference in elevation between two points.
What is vertical distance or elevation change?
This satellite-based system allows surveyors to determine precise locations.
What is GPS or GNSS?
This common type of survey defines the boundaries of a parcel of land.
What is a boundary survey?
This type of survey supports engineers during infrastructure construction and staking.
What is a construction survey?
This type of document must often be filed or recorded after a boundary line adjustment.
What is a Record of Survey or Plat Map?
You must balance a closed traverse to ensure this mathematical property.
What is closure or loop closure?
This part of the total station collects and processes the reflected signal.
What is the EDM (Electronic Distance Measurement unit)?
This is the instrument most commonly used today to measure angles and distances in the field.
What is a total station?
This survey determines whether a property is located in a flood hazard zone.
What is a FEMA Elevation Certificate or Flood Elevation Survey?
Surveyors must avoid this ethical violation, which involves accepting gifts in return for favorable outcomes.
What is a conflict of interest or bribery?
This type of error accumulates with each additional measurement.
What is a systematic error?
This free federal system provides precise GPS corrections in the U.S.
What is OPUS (Online Positioning User Service)?
This document, often prepared during a real estate transaction, shows improvements and easements on a property.
What is an ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey?
This type of survey is conducted to determine the exact area of land taken for highways, pipelines, or other public use projects.
What is a right-of-way survey?
This legal principle allows landowners to claim a portion of a neighbor’s land after openly using it for a statutory period.
What is adverse possession?
This term describes a retracement survey that follows the footsteps of the original surveyor.
What is a resurvey?
This method processes drone imagery into 3D models and maps.
What is photogrammetry?
This 3-word phrase refers to the established system of lines based on principal meridians and baselines used in much of the U.S.
What is the Public Land Survey System?
This specialized survey uses photogrammetry or LiDAR from aircraft or drones.
What is an aerial survey?
In most states, this minimum number of years of experience is required before taking the PLS exam.
What is four years?
This ancient civilization used rope stretchers for surveying land along the Nile.
What is ancient Egypt?
This type of scanning captures detailed 3D geometry of surfaces and structures.
What is LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)?