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 a lot more efficient and accurate measurements. These work with 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. click here , such calculations can be achieved using sophisticated GPS systems.
The Global Positioning System uses a network of satellites to precisely pinpoint the device's location on Earth 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 in use. First created by the U.S. Department of Defense as a navigational aid in 1994, today it is used in many devices, tracking everything from cell phones and delivery vehicles to the movement of the tectonic plates of Earth's crust.
Land surveyors use Global Position Systems to note 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 is much more accurate than hand-measuring these locations. There's some extent of error in every land surveying measurements, due to human errors, environmental characteristics like variations in magnetic fields, temperature, and gravity, and instrument errors. GPS permits a lot more precise measurements than previously available 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 could be located precisely, while other ways of land surveying rely on measurements from other known locations, such as the edge of the property line, the corner of a residence, or another landmark. These locations could change as time passes, such as if a house is torn down or another obstacle is made between your structure and the measured point; even a surveyor's stake could be removed prior to the land is re-surveyed. The coordinate of confirmed location on the planet, however, remains exactly the same. Therefore, using GPS as a land surveyor produces measurements which will be accurate regardless of what happens to the encompassing land.
Although Global Position System receivers allow for very precise measurements, there is still a qualification of error involved. A receiver on a tripod will record the positioning slightly differently each and every time; when many measurements are taken, these data points will form a cluster round the actual location. Better-quality receivers, needless to say, reduce this quantity of error. Survey-grade receivers, rather than those meant for non-surveying uses, may produce a band of measurements clustered in a matter of one centimeter of the specific location. Today's receivers are steadily gaining used, but may not be as accurate because the surveyor want, especially in areas that 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 working with GPS units has improved steadily.