All about land surveying and a free booklet to get you started

What is land surveying?

Land surveyors take precise measurements with specialised surveying equipment to measure objects on, above and below the Earth’s surface and have the authority to measure and establish land boundaries. The International Federation of Surveyors defines surveying as follows:

• A surveyor is a professional person with the academic qualifications and technical expertise to conduct one, or more, of the following activities;
• to determine, measure and represent land, three-dimensional objects, point-fields and trajectories;
• to assemble and interpret land and geographically related information,
• to use that information for the planning and efficient administration of the land, the sea and any structures.

Land surveying equipment

Surveyors rely on equipment and procedures that provide accurate measurements to deliver a wide range of services across many industries. The development of modern and easy-to-use surveying instruments has resulted in surveying technology being utilised by many non-surveyors in many application fields. Surveyors use equipment such as total stations, GNSS systems, 3D laser scanners, mobile mapping sensors, detection systems,digital lasers and levels, GIS collectors, and field and office surveying software to measure, create maps, 3D models and much more. Leica Geosystems leads the surveying industry with accurate instruments, sophisticated software, and trusted services, to help surveyors be faster and innovate workflows to meet clients’ needs with fewer resources and higher-quality deliverables. Leica Geosystems’ end-to-end workflow solutions help surveyors become more efficient and accurate on how they process, report and share information. Our positioning, measurement and reality capture technology can dramatically improve the way survey data is collected, processed, visualised and shared.

Surveying Made Easy – A simple guide to the basics of surveying

To help individuals learn more about this exciting and noble profession, we created a booklet that provides information on the basics of surveying measurement, the most commonly used instruments and the most important everyday tasks employed by surveyors and other users. The booklet is divided into three sections: level measurement, total station and, surveying with GNSS satellite systems. Trainees, students, and professionals in the fields of surveying, civil engineering, architecture, and many other fields can find answers to these questions:

• What are the characteristics of survey instruments?
• What do I need to take care of when measuring with a level or total station?
• What is the effect of instrument error and how to recognise, determine and eliminate such errors?
• How do I perform simple measurement tasks? Download to learn how many survey tasks, such as calculating areas or volumes, the collection, checking, and staking of points or the transfer of heights, can be performed automatically using built-in application programs. Are you interested in learning more about these topics? Visit our surveying learning section.