Surveying and Land Information Science

Vol. 62, no. 2 [June 2002]

 

From High School to High Tide: University of New Brunswick’s Survey Camp II 2001

Peter Dare

 

This paper details changes made to the second Survey Camp for students studying for the BScE  (Geomatics Engineering) in the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. The paper shows how developments in technology and available opportunities enabled students to be introduced to topics not yet covered in their degree program and work on a real project rather than a made-up task. Unlike previously, students planned their fieldwork in advance. They were also exposed to aspects of tidal water delineation for the first time. The practical work brought together, and reinforced, different methods of surveying. The Survey Camp was an excellent learning experience for the students. Feedback from the students indicated the camp had clarified the different methods of surveying and showed clearly how they related to each other. The students were appreciative of having the opportunity to learn new concepts that will help them in later courses. They were also pleased that their work was an important part of a much larger project. How their work contributed to the larger project was announced at the end of the academic year.

 

FIG Academic Membership

Steven Frank

 

The International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) has created a new category of membership which allows academic institutions to become FIG Academic Members if they are in countries that are members of FIG. This paper highlights the advantages of FIG Academic Membership. An application for FIG Academic Membership is included.

 

Pennsylvania State Plane Coordinate System: Converting to a Single Zone

Preston Hartzell, Lewis Strunk, and Charles Ghilani

 

A single-zone map projection coordinate system for Pennsylvania will help meet the needs of state-wide surveying, mapping, and geospatial projects. Currently, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania uses a dual-zone state plane coordinate system (SPCS) based on the Lambert conformal conic map projection. The SPCS system was originally designed to maintain a 1:10,000 precision between geodetic and grid distances. Proper distance reductions are, however, often needed before acceptable surveying precisions can be obtained. Thus the minimum of a 1:10,000 distance precision requirement should no longer be considered a necessity in the development of a map projection coordinate system. Removal of this requirement allows for the development of a new SPCS single-zone system. This paper considers the options available for the development of a new map projection coordinate system and proposes a single-zone system based on the Lambert conformal conic map projection.

 

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College’s Civil Engineering Technology Program

Carol L. Morman, PE, PS

 

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College has a nationally recognized Civil Engineering Technology Program with an outstanding surveying major. The unique integration of coursework and cooperative education keeps this program among the largest two-year programs in the country. The strength of the program has led to some unusual articulation agreements with four-year institutions. Students in Civil Engineering Technology at Cincinnati State and the efforts to retain them are discussed.

 

Developing Land Survey Legislation to Support the Establishment of Geographic and Land Information Systems in Trinidad and Tobago

Charisse Griffith-Charles

 

A vital part of any Geographical Information System/Land Information System (GIS/LIS) development is the availability of a geospatial data infrastructure. Legislation may hinder or help the availability of this infrastructure by mandating and/or providing specifications for its establishment and maintenance. Land surveying is one of the means of obtaining the data required for the establishment and maintenance of the infrastructure. Developers and users of GIS in Trinidad and Tobago have experienced certain shortcomings with regard to the accuracy, currency, comprehensiveness, and accessibility of the land survey data available to them. A study of the existing legislation governing the regulation of land surveyors was conducted in 2000. This study was part of a larger project that had as its broad objectives the creation of land policy that was more “open, accessible, forward looking and market-oriented.”  The study therefore focussed inter alia on proposing revisions to the legislation to attain more proactive land survey legislation that would assist in the development of a national geospatial data infrastructure. This paper develops land survey legislation with particular emphasis on those areas of the legislation that have an impact on the establishment of geographic and land information systems in Trinidad and Tobago. It then discusses the current constraints to the adoption and implementation of the revised legislation. 

 

Principal Component Analysis for Hyperspectral Image Classification

Craig Rodarmel and Jie Shan

 

The availability of hyperspectral images expands the capability of using image classification to study detailed characteristics of objects, but at a cost of having to deal with huge data sets. This work studies the use of the principal component analysis as a preprocessing technique for the classification of hyperspectral images. Two hyperspectral data sets, HYDICE and AVIRIS, were used for the study. A brief presentation of the principal component analysis approach is followed by an examination of the information contents of the principal component image bands, which revealed that only the first few bands contain significant information.  The use of the first few principal component images can yield about 70 percent correct classification rate. This study suggests the benefit and efficiency of using the principal component analysis technique as a preprocessing step for the classification of hyperspectral images.

Keywords: Hyperspectral images, image classification, land use, principal component analysis

 

Merging Surveying and Engineering in a Senior Design Course

Paul A. DeBarry and Thomas A. Seybert

 

Land development design requires knowledge of several aspects in land surveying and civil engineering. The Pennsylvania State University Surveying Program uses a senior design course to bring together several elements of surveying and engineering into a culminating design experience. The capstone-style course centers on a design project that requires the practical analysis of a parcel of undeveloped land, transforming the parcel into a residential subdivision. The project requires the use of theory and methods learned in several other courses: plane surveying, large-scale mapping, curve geometry, boundary surveying, land use controls, stormwater management, and professional aspects of surveying. Such issues as client relations, site selection, conservation design, and municipal approval are emphasized. The course ends with student presentations of their final design in a “mock” municipal planning commission meeting.

 

Increasing the National Vertical Control Network in Colorado

[A Cooperative Program between the Colorado Department of Transportation, the National Geodetic Survey, and the Metropolitan State College of Denver Surveying and Mapping Program]

Brandon D. Lee

 

High-accuracy digital differential leveling has become the basis for establishing quality geodetic vertical control networks. This paper describes the process employed to execute a leveling project. Digital leveling is similar to the process employed in the past for differential leveling. The same care and quality controls are required to observe and collect data and achieve the desired results.  The only difference is that the human observing factor is eliminated. The digital level (sometimes referred to as the electronic level) allows the instrument to observe and record data, and to perform calculations, all of which has accelerated the surveying process in the field. Although an on-line computer records and reduces data to ensure acceptability, an observer must make additional notes for field conditions and instrument performance. Significant changes/corrections to the observed data may be computed to correct for systematic errors not addressed in the field.