Surveying: Tools of the Trade

What does a surveyor do?

If you were to ask a group of people what a surveyor does, most (if not all) would describe a worker on the side of the road looking through a short telescope and taking pictures. It’s a greatly misunderstood profession, but the surveyor plays an important role in many aspects of infrastructure development.

According to the International Federation of Surveyors:

“A surveyor is a professional person with the academic qualifications and technical expertise to practice the science of measurement; to assemble and assess land and geographic-related information; to use that information for the purpose and planning and implementing the efficient administration of the land, sea, and structures thereon; and to instigate the advancement and development of such practices.”

History of surveying

Over the centuries, the surveyor (aka “land surveyor”) has been widely regarded for their work in establishing property boundaries. Possession of real property (or real estate as it’s now called) has always been an important part of society, with the earliest recorded instances of land surveying being found during the Roman Empire. For many European and Middle Eastern cultures, the local surveyor was a highly regarded member of the community and was relied upon to establish homesteads for growing towns and cities.

According to the Bureau of Land Management, surveyors were utilized in the early 1800s, during the westward expansion of the United States, to establish a public land survey system (PLSS) based on orders from President Thomas Jefferseon. A surveyor’s duty has continued to modern times, but their duties have also increased significantly. 

Modern surveying isn’t simply establishing boundaries. Topographic surveys, construction layouts, and infrastructure mapping are also within the scope of the surveyor’s duties.

Early Surveying Tools

For many years, the surveyor relied on a compass and link chain for performing their surveys. But like many aspects of our lives, technology has revolutionized the surveying profession.

The electronic distance meter (EDM) was introduced in the 1960s, and it allowed longer yet more accurate distance measurements. The electronic version of the “transit” (also known as a theolodite), a a telescopic device used to measure angles, was introduced in the 1970s. CAD Software was finally introduced in the 1980s and streamlined office tasks significantly, while electronic data collectors moved recorded information from pencil and paper to an electronic medium for easy transfer.

GPS surveying tools

The 1990s brought a true revolution in surveying and measurement: the global positioning system (GPS) receiver. Originally developed for the military, several firms that helped develop GPS for the federal government also created civilian versions for positioning applications. 

Early GPS devices were cumbersome and time-consuming, but well worth the accurate results for measuring over long distances. 

Real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning was created in the 2000s. It was an advanced form of GPS data collection that increased measurement reliability and greatly sped up the information gathering process. 

Other nations soon jumped on the navigational satellite bandwagon and developed their own constellations, and now multiple GNSS systems are available worldwide.

Remote surveying and sensing equipment

Another big development from in use today is the robotic total station. This instrument is comprised of an electronic theodolite upgraded with motorized servos, and a radio system mounted on the prism pole. This allows the operator to control the instrument remotely at the location of the desired survey point.

Remote surveying instruments also continued with the development of remote sensing equipment. Early versions of laser scanners were bulky, slow, and costly, so it took this technology longer to take hold. Over time, surveying equipment became smaller, more efficient, and more cost-effective. Scanners have also moved from the traditional static setup to being able to operate on mobile platforms–including vehicles and UAVs. 

Photogrammetry

While photogrammetry has been around for over a century, surveyors have only begun to embrace the method in the past few decades. The two factors for this rapid embrace of a previously expensive data collection method: the unmanned aerial system (UAS) and photogrammetry software applications.

While the implementation of the UAS has been given most of the credit, equal billing needs to go to this sophisticated software than can produce phenomenal results. 

Together, this service market has exploded to provide crisp aerial photos (both georeferenced orthometric and oblique images) and enhances the current survey products being produced with a high-resolution visual background.

Big Data & Surveying

While the measuring instruments seem to take center stage, the ability to process and manipulate big data (millions of data points) wouldn’t have been possible the advances in computing power and storage.

Early storage standards were measured in bytes and megabytes; current storage capacities are measured in terabytes. Multi-coore processors, 4K video cards, and large monitors dominate the computer technician’s desk for dealing with the complex datasets of today’s survey files. 

The software that processes this data is just as cutting edge, with automated programming to increase user efficiency. Three-dimensional modeling, including building information modeling (BIM), has become the standard format for topographical mapping and engineering design. By using real-world data in 3D, proposed designs of building sites are integrated into the survey data to allow the development of virtual-reality landscapes. Most of these computing enhancements, while in the minds of designers years ago, are not possible because of the computing technology available today.

Surveying is no longer just finding property corners to establish the line for installing a fence; it’s now a fast-pased, cutting-edge profession that our expanding world relies upon for accurate data.