Surveyor Apps and Community Updates

Education and Where to Go for More Information Take these valuable land surveying and geospatial related links to work with you.

SURVEYING SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND TRAINING

http://www.cinstate.cc.oh.us
Cincinnati State Technical & Community College - Engineering Technologies

http://www.etsu.edu/scitech/gggs
East Tennessee State University - Surveying and Mapping Science Program

http://www.tech.mtu.edu/
Michigan Technology University - Surveying Program

http://www-ec.njit.edu/surveying/surveying.html
New Jersey Institute of Technology - Surveying Engineering and Technology Program

http://www-ceg.eng.ohio-state.edu
The Ohio State University - Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Geodetic Science

http://www.oit.edu/eit/sur
Oregon Institute of Technology - Surveying Program

http://surveying.wb.psu.edu
Penn State Wilkes-Barre - College of Engineering and Surveying Program

http://www.purdue.edu/odos/srbank/sreng.htm
Purdue University - School of Civil Engineering

http://rangerschool.esf.edu
Suny - ESF Ranger School

http://www.sci.tamucc.edu/gis
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi - Dept. of Computers & Mathematics

http://ses.uwyo.edu/occc/degree.html
University of Wyoming - Civil and Architectural Engineering

http://www.sur.ufl.edu/gsa

SURVEYING EDUCATION SCHOOLS

• Alfred State College

• ASCE Distance Learning

• Asheville-Buncombe Technical College

• Auburn University Distance Learning

• Austin Community College

• Bates Technical College

• Bellingham Technical College

• California State Polytechnic University

• California State University - Fresno

• Central Piedmont Community College

• Cincinnati State Technical College

• College of the Canyons

• Columbus State Community College

• Community College of Baltimore County

• East Tennessee State University

• Essex County College

• Evergreen Valley College

• Ferris State University

• FIG Surveying Education Database

• Flathead Valley Community College

• Glenville State College

• Louisiana State University

• Macomb Community College

• Metropolitan State College of Denver

• MSCD Distance Learning

• Michigan Technological University

• Michigan Tech. Distance Learning

• Montgomery College

• Murray State University

• New Hampshire Community Technical College

• New Jersey Institute of Technology

• New Mexico State University

• Nicolet Area Technical College

• Ohio State University

• Oklahoma State University - Oklahoma City

• Old Dominion University

• Oregon Institute of Technology

• Oregon State University

• Palomar College

• Paul Smith's College

• Peninsula College

• Penn State University - Wilkes-Barre

• Pennsylvania College of Technology

• Phoenix College

• Purdue University

• Red Vector

• Renton Technical College

• Sacramento City College

• San Antonio College

• Sandhills Community College

• San Jacinto College

• Santa Rosa Junior College

• Santiago Canyon College

• Southern Illinois University

• Southern Polytechnic State University

• Southwest Missouri State University

• Stark State College

• Texas A&M - Corpus Christi

• Texas State Technical College (Waco)

• Thomas Edison State College

• Towson University

• Troy State University

• Tyler Junior College

• University of Alaska - Anchorage

• University of Arkansas - Little Rock

• University of Arkansas - Fayetteville

• University of Arkansas - Monticello

• University of California - Riverside

• University of Florida

• University of Houston

• University of Maine

• University of Texas at Tyler

• University of Wisconsin- Madison

• University of Wyoming Outreach

• Vincennes University

• Wake Technical Community College

• Westwood College of Technology

EDUCATION IN LAND SURVEYING

Education in Surveying: Why Go to College?
In the formal surveying area, it is important to have core mathematical skills such as algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus.
This article appeared in the November 2004 issue of Professional Surveyor.

Land Surveying Scholarships Available 

Colleges and Universities Offering Land Surveying Programs 

ABET Accredited Surveying/Geomatics Programs

ONLINE SCHOOLS FOR CERTIFICATION

Auburn University

• 2007 National Readjustment of the North American Datum 1983 
• ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey (V06E hrs changed 04-01-07)
• Colonial Land System and the Building of America
• Construction Surveying
• Geodesy for Engineers and Surveyors
• History of Surveying Instruments: Impact and Accuracy
• History of the Government Land Office 
• Improving Surveying Field Procedures using the Total Station
• Improving Surveying Field Procedures using the Total Station
• Land Surveying Ethics - Mississippi
• Professional Ethics for the Kentucky Land Surveyor
• Professional Ethics for the Land Surveyor
• Rectangular Land System: Subdivision of Public Lands
• Role of Engineers and Surveyors in Geographic Information Systems 
• Soils for Pavements 
• Standards of Practice for Surveying in Alabama
• State Plane Coordinates
• Surveying with GPS (V05D hrs changed 05-01-07)
• Understanding Boundary Law - Case Law and Principles of Surveying Law
• Vertical Datums and Leveling

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

http://www.cinstate.cc.oh.us
Cincinnati State Technical & Community College - Engineering Technologies

http://www.etsu.edu/scitech/gggs
East Tennessee State University - Surveying and Mapping Science Program

http://www.tech.mtu.edu/
Michigan Technology University - Surveying Program

http://www-ec.njit.edu/surveying/surveying.html
New Jersey Institute of Technology - Surveying Engineering and Technology Program

http://www-ceg.eng.ohio-state.edu
The Ohio State University - Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Geodetic Science

http://www.oit.edu/eit/sur
Oregon Institute of Technology - Surveying Program

http://surveying.wb.psu.edu
Penn State Wilkes-Barre - College of Engineering and Surveying Program

http://www.purdue.edu/odos/srbank/sreng.htm
Purdue University - School of Civil Engineering

http://rangerschool.esf.edu
Suny - ESF Ranger School

http://www.sci.tamucc.edu/gis
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi - Dept. of Computers & Mathematics

http://ses.uwyo.edu/occc/degree.html
University of Wyoming - Civil and Architectural Engineering

http://www.sur.ufl.edu/gsa
University of Folorida - Geomatica Student Association

LAND SURVEYING HISTORY

LEGAL RESEARCH

Vermont Statutes
http://www.leg.state.us/statutes/statutes2.html

VT Supreme Court Opinions
http://www.dol.state.vt.us/www_root/000000/html/supct.html(VT Reports 161-169)

US Supreme Court Opinions
http://www.supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html(1990 to Present)

Cornell Law Library
http://www.law.cornell.edu

Self Help Law
http://www.nolo.com

Self Help Law
http://www.lectlaw.com

VT Bar Association
http://www.vtbar.org

VT Law School
http://www.vermontlaw.edu

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

Padding are passed to p, h1 and h3.

• Occupational Outlook Surveyors, Technicians — Surveyors, Cartographers, Photogrammetrists, and Surveying Technicians
• World's Most Popular GPS Information Resource— Mostly for consumer grade gps users
• Surveying Units and Terms — list of units of measure, surveying terms, surveyors' slang and abbreviations
• CIA World Factbook — provides national-level information on countries, territories, and dependencies, but not subnational administrative units within a country.
• Global Positioning System (GPS) Resources — GPS Resources
• Make your own Graph Paper
• FEMA Elevation Certificate and Instructions (pdf format) — Download the revised FEMA Elevation Certificate - mandatory January 01, 2007
• FEMA Elevation Certificate (doc format) — Download the revised FEMA Elevation Certificate - mandatory January 01, 2007
• NGS Datasheet Page — Datasheets, ShapeFiles, Tidal Benchmarks, Recovery Sheets… The Source
• Partial Index to Articles Authored or Co-Authored by Knud E. Hermansen — Aticles by Knud hermansen covering a variety of subjects, all of value to the practicing Land Surveyor
• Set Up a Wireless Network in a Small Office — Microsoft's excellent tutorial on Wireless Network Setup
• NGS Manual- State Plane Coordinate System 1983 — The Official NGS Document in pdf format
• BLM 1973 Surveying Manual — If you don't have a hard copy of this manual, read or download a pdf copy here
• Restoration of Lost or Obliterated Corners and Subdivision of Sections — A retyped copy of the original document in pdf format.. see disclaimer
• Virtual Museum of Surveying — consists of exhibits which cover a variety of topics related to surveying history.
• Museum of Surveying — The Museum of Surveying is the only museum in North America dedicated solely to the surveying and mapping profession.
• Land Surveyor Rules & Regulations — Compiled by Land Surveyors Reference Page - very good reference
• MIT Free Online Courses — Free Surveying, Engineering, Math and Science Classes by MIT
• POB - rpls.com — The first and the best online forum for Professional Land Surveyors
• Surveying and Mediation: New Opportunities in an Old Role — Jerry D. Taylor, P.S., J.D.
• A collection of geodesy and related resources— Michael R. Craymer, Ph.D., Geodetic Survey Division, Geomatics Canada

UNITS OF MEASURE

• Acre - The (English) acre is a unit of area equal to 43,560 square feet, or 10 square chains, or 160 square poles. It derives from a plowing area that is 4 poles wide and a furlong (40 poles) long. A square mile is 640 acres. The Scottish acre is 1.27 English acres. The Irish acre is 1.6 English acres.
• Arpent - Unit of length and area used in France, Louisiana, and Canada. As a unit of length, approximately 191.8 feet (180 old French 'pied', or foot). The (square) arpent is a unit of area, approximately .845 acres, or 36,802 square feet.
• Chain - Unit of length usually understood to be Gunter's chain, but possibly variant by locale. See also Rathbone's chain. The name comes from the heavy metal chain of 100 links that was used by surveyors to measure property bounds.
• Colpa - Old Irish measure of land equal to that which can support a horse or cow for a year. Approximately an Irish acre of good land.
• Compass - One toise.
• Engineer's Chain - A 100 foot chaincontaining 100 links of one foot apiece.
• Furlong - Unit of length equal to 40 poles (220 yards). Its name derives from "furrow long", the length of a furrow that oxen can plow before they are rested and turned. See Gunter's chain.
• Ground - A unit of area equal to 2400 sq. ft., or 220 sq. meters, used in India.
• Gunter's Chain - Unit of length equal to 66 feet, or 4 poles. Developed by English polymath Edmund Gunter early in the 1600's, the standard measuring chain revolutionized surveying. Gunter's chain was 22 yards long, one tenth of a furlong, a common unit of length in the old days. An area one chain wide by ten chains long was exactly an acre. In 1595 Queen Elizabeth I had the mile redefined from the old Roman value of 5000 feet to 5280 feet in order for it to be an even number of furlongs. A mile is 80 chains.
• Hectare - Metric unit of area equal to 10,000 square meters, or 2.471 acres, or 107,639 square feet.
• Hide - A very old English unit of area, a hide was of variable size depending on locale and the quality of the land. It was the amount of land to support a family, and ranged from 60 to 180 acres. After the Norman conquest in 1066 it became standardized at around 120 acres.
• Hundred - An adminstrative area larger than a village and smaller than a county. In England it was 100 hides in size, and the term was used for early settlements in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware.
• Labor - The labor is a unit of area used in Mexico and Texas. In Texas it equals 177.14 acres (or 1 million square varas).
• League (legua) - Unit of area used in the southwest U.S., equal to 25 labors, or 4428 acres (Texas), or 4439 acres (California). Also, a unit of length-- approximately three miles.
• Link - Unit of length equal to 1/100 chain (7.92 inches).
• Morgen - Unit of area equal to about .6309 acres. It was used in Germany, Holland and South Africa, and was derived from the German word Morgen ("morning"). It represented the amount of land that could be plowed in a morning.
• Out - An 'out' was ten chains. When counting out long lines, the chain carriers would put a stake at the end of a chain, move the chain and put a stake at the end, and so on until they ran "out" of ten stakes.
• Perch - See pole .
• Point - A point of the compass. There are four cardinal points (North, South, East, West), and 28 others yielding 32 points of 11.25 degrees each. A survey line's direction could be described as a compass point, as in "NNE" (north northeast). To improve precision, the points would be further subdivided into halves or quarters as necessary, for example, "NE by North, one quarter point North". In some areas, "and by" meant one half point, as in "NE and by North".
• Pole - Unit of length and area. Also known as a perch or rod. As a unit of length, equal to 16.5 feet. A mile is 320 poles. As a unit of area, equal to a square with sides one pole long. An acre is 160 square poles. It was common to see an area referred to as "87 acres, 112 poles", meaning 87 and 112/160 acres.
• Pueblo - A Spanish grant of less than 1000 acres.
• Rancho - A Spanish grant of more than 1000 acres.
• Rathbone's Chain - A measuring chain two poles, or 33 feet, in length.
• Rod - See pole
• Rood - Unit of area usually equal to 1/4 acre.
• Toise - Traditional French unit of length equal to 6 old French 'pieds' or feet, or 6.4 English feet.
• Vara - Unit of length (the "Spanish yard") used in the U.S. southwest. The vara is used throughout the Spanish speaking world and has values around 33 inches, depending on locale. The legal value in Texas was set to 33 1/3 inches early in the 1900's.
• Virgate - An old English unit of area, equal to one quarter of a hide. The amount of land needed to support a person.

SURVEYORS' SLANG

• Balls - Slang for numeric .00, as in 4-balls (4.00)
• Beep - Verb. To use a magnetic detector to look for iron pipe, etc.
• Boot - To raise the levels rod some number of inches so as to be visible to the instrument man, e.g. "Boot 6!" means "raise it 6 inches."
• Blue topping - In road or grading work the surveyor sets stakes and paints their tops blue to represent the required elevation. Graders then work to just cover the blue tops of the stakes.
• Bug - To use a magnetic locator to search for an iron pipe.
• Bullseye - Zero degrees of inclination.
• Burn - See shoot
• Burn one - Measure from the one foot mark on the tape rather than from the end of the tape in order to increase the accuracy of the measurement.
• Cut line - To clear vegetation for a line of sight between two survey control points.
• Double nickel - Slang for .