What Is Geodetic Surveying In Civil Engineering?
What Is Geodetic Surveying In Civil Engineering?
Geodetic surveying in civil engineering is the science of accurately measuring and representing the three-dimensional positions of points on or near the surface of the earth.
It involves precise measurement techniques such as GPS surveying, geodetic leveling and gravity survey methods, combined with mathematical calculations to determine accurate coordinates for a given point on Earth’s surface.
With these highly precise measurements, geodetic surveying can be used to measure distances between locations both in 2D form (or planar) and 3D form (or spacial), map natural and manmade structures, create digital terrain models for use in city planning projects and construction projects, as well as determining areas of land ownership.
What Are The Types Of Geodetic Survey?
Geodetic survey is the process of accurately measuring and recording locations on the earth’s surface.
There are several types of geodetic survey available, including celestial surveys, terrestrial data collection surveys, remote sensing surveys, and satellite surveys. Celestial surveys use stars and constellations to triangulate positions on the earth’s surface with excellent accuracy.
- Terrestrial data collections involve measurements taken from the ground using various tools such as prisms, levels and total stations.
- Remote sensing uses electromagnetic radiation to collect data from satellites in orbit around the Earth and can be used to create detailed maps of any given area.
- Satellite surveys involve gathering data from GPS satellites orbiting over an area for a more comprehensive picture of terrain features; this method is particularly useful for navigating large bodies of water or other areas where traditional survey methods may not yield accurate results.
What Is The Difference Between Plane And Geodetic Surveying?
Plane surveying is a type of surveying that deals with the survey of smaller areas, generally not more than two to three miles in diameter, using the principles of geometry and trigonometry.
Geodetic surveying is a branch of surveying that uses precise mathematical and geometric computations using ellipsoidal geometries for clarifying large areas.
In plane surveying, the flattening earth’s surface can be assumed as a plane surface, whereas in geodetic surveying curvature of the earth has to be taken into account which requires more complex calculations.
Plane surveying is useful for mapping small-scale features such as buildings or roads while geodetic surveys are used when measuring large-scale features such as coastlines or long distances between points on the globe.
What Are The Applications Of Geodetic Surveying?
Geodetic surveying is used in mapping and navigation to accurately determine the earth’s size, shape, and orientation in space.
It also has a range of applications including locating points of interest for land surveys, defining property boundaries, accurate positioning of antennas for wireless networks and antennas for earth observation satellites.
Geodetic surveying can also be used to measure distances between two or more points.
In addition, this type of surveying plays an important role in engineering projects such as determining the elevation profile during road construction or determining exact locations of infrastructure components such as bridges, dams and tunnels.
Furthermore, geodetic surveying can also be used to detect deformations that occur due to natural disasters like earthquakes or human activities such as excavation or tunnel construction.
What Instruments Are Used For Geodetic Surveying?
Geodetic surveying is the science of accurately measuring and recording the location and orientation of points on or near the surface of the Earth.
It utilizes specialized instruments such as total stations, digital levels, GNSS receivers, drones and image processing software to measure angles, distances and heights.
The main geodetic survey instruments used are Total Stations, GPS Receivers, Digital Levels and Drones.
Total Stations are handheld devices which use reflectors to measure angles and distances between survey points.
GPS Receivers also measure angular positions but typically at a much larger scale with centimeter-scale accuracy.
Digital Levels measure height differences from a fixed reference plane by utilizing an automatic level in conjunction with an electronic distance meter (EDM) or a laser scanner.
Finally, drones are equipped with multi-spectral cameras that can take aerial images which can be processed through image processing software to create accurate 3D maps of large areas in a much shorter time than traditional ground surveys.
What Are The Characteristics Of Geodetic Survey?
Geodetic surveys are used to accurately measure large-scale land areas, often covering entire states or countries.
They use specialized instruments and techniques such as global positioning systems (GPS), aerial photography and ground surveys to create a record of the area’s topography in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional format.
These surveys provide highly accurate measurements of points on the earth’s surface like latitude, longitude and elevation.
Geodetic surveys can also be used for mapping out areas for urban development projects or infrastructure construction projects.
The characteristics of geodetic survey systems include accuracy, reliability, adaptability and affordability.
Due to the high accuracy of these systems, their results are widely recognized by federal agencies for boundary demarcations, title transfers and grant applications.
Furthermore, they allow users to easily keep track of changes that occur in an area over time as data is routinely collected using remote sensing technology such as satellite imagery, LiDAR and radar imagery.
Additionally, this technology is cost effective with results that have been proven reliable over time making it a popular choice for surveying needs worldwide.
