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 COASTAL CURRENTS |
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| May 2009 Update |
Engineering News and Information from
Coastal Engineering Company |
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GPS Technology: It's not just for cars
Figuring out your location while driving, getting directions to an unfamiliar destination, or even tracking the progress of a package delivery are all activities that we routinely perform. Over the years, efforts have been made to automate and simplify these everyday tasks, but it wasn't until the advent of the Global Positioning System (GPS) that a workable technology for navigational activities came into being.
Today, GPS devices are mounted on car, truck, and boat dashboards; handheld GPS units are used for outdoor hiking and adventures; and GPS tracking systems are employed by UPS, Federal Express, and the U.S. Postal Service to monitor and confirm package shipments.
It wasn't until the advent of the Global Positioning System (GPS) that a workable technology for navigational activities came into being.
But beyond these current navigational uses, the advance of the Global Positioning System has helped to revolutionize the field of land surveying. Originally developed to meet military needs, GPS is now extensively used for a variety of land surveying, mapping, and construction services. |
How GPS and land surveying work together
The Global Positioning System is a man-made "constellation" of 24 satellites, operated through the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center, that are powered by solar energy and continuously broadcast a coded radio signal. These satellites circle the earth and are arranged in orbit to provide continuous coverage by four to six satellites . Ground-based control stations track the GPS satellites and provide them with corrected orbital and clock time information.
GPS land surveying is the process by which highly accurate, three-dimensional point positions are determined from signals received from the GPS satellites. GPS-derived positions are then used as primary control locations for engineering and construction projects - from which detailed topographic mapping, boundary surveys, and construction stakeouts can be performed using conventional surveying instruments and procedures. The integration of real-time kinematic GPS equipment, connected to a central base station, allows for surveying of broad geographic areas (such as all of Cape Cod) efficiently and cost-effectively. | |
GPS and GIS
GPS land surveys are ideal for infrastructure location, FEMA flood certifications, shorefront protection projects, and beach monitoring programs. In addition, GPS surveying can be used to collect data for input to a Geographic Information Systems (GIS), especially for large-scale mapping projects. 
GIS is a mapping system that analyzes spatial information such as roads, building footprints, sidewalks, flood zones, or utility infrastructure, such as fire hydrants. The positional data received from GPS satellites provides points, lines, and area information that can be combined with the descriptive data in a GIS to form a "layered" map. A GPS device finds a point on the map (the "where"), while a GIS describes the point as a house or a roadway (the "what").
Advancements in GPS technology over the past decade have made survey instrumentation more accurate and reliable than ever before, while the advent of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has made up-to-date geographically referenced information available for in-depth data analysis and mapping. |
| Land surveying still happens on the "ground"
Though the tools used by surveyors have evolved tremendously over the years, the basic principles of land surveying have changed little. Engineering - especially civil engineering - depends heavily on ground survey methods. Whenever there are roads, railways, bridges, dams, shopping centers, or residential areas to be built, surveyors are involved. They establish the boundaries of legal descriptions and the  boundaries of various lines of political divisions. They can also provide input to GIS databases that contain data on land features and boundaries. Using historical land records, information from GPS and GIS technologies, and traditional ground surveying, a variety of topographic, marine, and hydrographic surveys can be performed. Whether surveying a single parcel of land, a large-scale construction site, or utility locations for an entire municipality, state-of-the-art GPS equipment combined with traditional ground survey techniques provide highly accurate land surveying in the most timely, efficient way.
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Some land surveying basics
As defined by the American Congress on Surveying & Mapping (ACSM), "land surveying" is the detailed  study or inspection and data analysis in support of the planning, designing, and establishing of property boundaries. It involves cadastral surveys and land boundaries based on documents of record and historical evidence, as well as certifying surveys (as required by statute or local ordinance) of subdivision plats/maps, registered land surveys, judicial surveys, and space delineation.
Land surveying has been an essential element in the development of the human environment since the beginning of recorded history, and it is a requirement in the planning and execution of nearly every form of construction. Its most familiar modern uses are in the fields of building, mapping, transportation, and the definition of legal boundaries for land ownership.
Read more ... |
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