History of surveying [world]

It is a brief report on history of Surveying. It mainly focuses on evolution of survey instruments and methods over time. Suggestions are appreciated.

1. KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY
Dhulikhel, Kavre



Assignment No.: 01
Subject: Introduction to Surveying and Geomatics
Topic: History of Surveying


Submitted By: Submitted To:
Binabh Devkota
Roll no.: 06
Level: UNG
Group: GE
Year/Semester: II/I
Er. Basudev Bhandari
Department of Civil and Geomatics
Engineering.




October, 2016

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1
2. THE BEGINNING OF SURVEYING --------------------------------------------------------------- 2
3. CHAIN AND COMPASS SURVEYING ------------------------------------------------------------ 3
4. OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY IN SURVEYING ----------------------------------------------------- 4
4.1. Theodolites and levels ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
4.2. Plane table survey ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
5. MODERN TOOLS AND METHODS OF SURVEYING----------------------------------------- 5
5.1. Total station ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
5.2. GPS (Global Positioning System) --------------------------------------------------------------- 5
5.3. UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) --------------------------------------------------------------- 5
6. REFERENCES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6

3. HISTORY OF SURVEYING
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1. INTRODUCTION
Surveying is one of the most important branches of engineering. It has its own history and
evolution. The growing need of maps, location and exact land boundaries has caused rapid
development in this field. Along with advancement in fields like transportation, mining, civil
engineering, etc. surveying has also evolved as it is an integrated part of all these sectors.

Figure 1: A symbolical representation of Evolution of Surveying.
The advancement of surveying is determined by the precision of instruments used. From early
period of chain and compass surveying to use of optical instruments like theodolite and further to
satellite based navigation based systems like GPS, surveying has always been an ever growing
field.

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2. THE BEGINNING OF SURVEYING
Evidence of surveying methods are recorded in many places of history. Actually, principles and
necessity of land surveying emerged along with the idea of land ownership. Surveying is
believed to have started from ancient Egyptian civilization. When the Nile River flooded the
agricultural lands and settlements near its banks, clearing the pre-set boundaries between them,
these boundaries were re-established through the use of simple geometrical concepts and
instruments. In this time, the measuring device they used was a knotted rope so surveyors were
known as rope stretchers. Pyramids also show the ability of surveying in ancient Egypt. Such
massive structures have nearly perfect square base and north-south orientation which would
never have been possible without advancement in surveying. Also around 3000 BC, the first land
ownership record is believed to have been established.
Around 1200 BC in ancient Babylon, a limestone tablet known as the 'Babylonian Kudurru' was
inscribed and set in the land. This was an earliest type of boundary stone, held the description of
the property, the name of the surveyor and the owner, and the ownership history. This early
tablet is somehow similar to one of today’s land surveying methods, which is the placing of a
boundary stone or other marker at the corner of the property.
By 500 BC, the Greeks had adopted many Egyptian surveying techniques. It is known that
mathematicians including Thales and Pythagoras traveled to Egypt to study geometry, returning
to impart their knowledge on mathematicians and surveyors in Greece.
The Roman Empire is another civilization noted for its land surveying prowess. The Romans
established land surveying as an official profession; land surveyors in this time were known as
agrimensores. Many Roman surveying methods were based on those used in ancient Egypt and
Greece.
The Chinese were also ahead in the field of surveying. In early 5 AD Chinese cartographers have
been developing maps for military and other various purposes. Pei Xiu' is considered father of
Chinese cartography. Sighting rods, water levels, ropes and set squares were some of the tools
most commonly used by Chinese surveyors. Furthermore, compass was also originated from
here.

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3. CHAIN AND COMPASS SURVEYING
The chain was invented in 1620 by Edmund Gunter, an Englishman. It was made of 100 iron or
steel links and was 66 feet long. Eighty chains made up one mile. Ten square chains made one
acre. Also the primary tool used by surveyors in North America from the 1600s through the end
of the 1800s was a "Gunter's chain". A retractable steel tape to replace the chain was patented in
1860 by W. H. Paine of Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Early surveys were often grossly
inaccurate. The iron chains stretched with use. An error of one link (about 8 inches) in 3 to 5
chains was considered normal.
The compass, invented in 1511, was in wide use until 1894. Surveyors relied on the compass to
set the direction of their chain. Goldsmith Chandlee, a notable clock and instrument maker, built
a brass foundry in Winchester, Virginia, in 1783 and made the most advanced surveying
compasses of his day. The magnetic compass was a major source of error. It is subject to daily,
annual and lunar variations in the earth's magnetic field, solar magnetic storms, local attractions
and static electricity in the compass glass. A 19th century compass measurement that came
within 60 seconds was acceptably accurate.
The solar compass is a compass with a very special purpose of easily determining "Latitude" and
"True North". The solar compass was invented in 1835 by William Austin Burt of Michigan
after he had discovered the iron deposits located in the state and concluded that a regular
compass would give such erroneous readings as to be almost useless. By making observations
on the sun or other stars, the latitude of the location can first be determined and then "True
North" can be determined. The solar compass also has the ability to measure horizontal angles
much like a transit. The solar compass was such an important invention that within a matter of a
few years it was required by law to be used on the surveys of the public lands. William Austin
Burt also made another significant invention. In 1829 he patented the first "typographer", or as
we would refer to it today, the typewriter.
An 1813 surveying text notes that, in New England, most work was done with a magnetic
compass and a surveyor's chain.

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4. OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY IN SURVEYING
4.1. Theodolites and levels
The transit was first made in 1831 by Philadelphian William J. Young. It was an adaptation of
the theodolite invented in 1720 by John Sisson of England. Sisson had combined a telescope
(invented circa 1608), a vernier, a device for subdividing measurements by 10ths (1631) and a
spirit level (1704) into a single instrument.
Young's improvement was to permit the telescope to revolve, or transit, upon its axis, a useful
feature when prolonging straight lines or taking repeated readings to confirm accuracy.
Improved versions of Young's transit were still in use for land surveying in the 1950s and are
still broadly used in the construction trade. Optical glass varied in quality. There were no
standards for equipment and many manufacturers. And, of course, no way to re-calibrate
equipment damaged 100 miles from nowhere.
Use of theodolites and levels is also quite popular in modern era. Now days also these instrument
are used as basic surveying tools. However, modern optical instruments are far more advanced,
sophisticated and accurate.
4.2. Plane table survey
The earliest mention of a plane table dates to 1551 in Abel Foullon's "Usage et description de
l'holomètre", published in Paris. However, since Foullon's description was of a complete, fully
developed instrument, it must have been invented earlier.
A brief description was also added to the 1591 edition of Digge's Pantometria. The first mention
of the device in English was by Cyprian Lucar in 1590.
Some have credited Johann Richter, also known as Johannes Praetorius, a Nuremberg
mathematician, in 1610 with the first plane table, but this appears to be incorrect.
The plane table became a popular instrument for surveying. Its use was widely taught.
Interestingly, there were those who considered it a substandard instrument compared to such
devices as the theodolite, since it was relatively easy to use. By allowing the use of graphical
methods rather than mathematical calculations, it could be used by those with less education than
other instruments.

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5. MODERN TOOLS AND METHODS OF SURVEYING
5.1. Total station
The total station was introduced in 1971 and for the first time distance and angle measurements
could be recorded by one instrument. The total station is a transit integrated with an EDM,
electronic distance meter, which can read slope distances from the instrument to a particular
point of land.
5.2. GPS (Global Positioning System)
GPS has its origins in the Sputnik era when scientists were able to track the satellite with shifts in
its radio signal known as the "Doppler Effect." The United States Navy conducted satellite
navigation experiments in the mid 1960's to track US submarines carrying nuclear missiles. With
six satellites orbiting the poles, submarines were able to observe the satellite changes in Doppler
and pinpoint the submarine's location within a matter of minutes.
In the early 1970's, the Department of Defense wanted to ensure a robust, stable satellite
navigation system would be available. Embracing previous ideas from Navy scientists, the
Department of Defense decided to use satellites to support their proposed navigation system.
Department of Defense then followed through and launched its first Navigation System with
Timing and Ranging (NAVSTAR) satellite in 1978. The 24 satellite system became fully
operational in 1993.
5.3. UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)
UAVs are the most recent advancement is surveying field. The first aerial photograph was
oblique and taken of a French village in the late 19th century. The man who took it,
photographer Gaspar Felix Tournachon, patented the concept of using aerial photographs to
compile maps; it was to prove much more effective than the time-consuming ground surveys that
had then been the more commonly-used method of the national mapping organizations that
developed throughout the 19th century (such as the UK's Ordnance Survey). George R.
Lawrence took aerial photographs of San Francisco in 1906 following the devastating
earthquake.

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6. REFERENCES
 EnvironmentalScience.org. (n.d.). Principles and Applications of Aerial Photography.
Retrieved October 14, 2016, from Enviromental Science:
http://www.environmentalscience.org/principles-applications-aerial-photography
 Geodetic Survey, L. (n.d.). Retrieved October 06, 2016, from History of Surveying -
Chicago Area Land Surveying: http://gslandsurveying.com/history-of-surveying
 Hoffman, A. (2013, March 22). The Total Station & Land Surveys: A Background Story.
Retrieved October 13, 2016, from GODFREY HOFFMAN ASSOCIATES:
http://www.godfreyhoffman.com/civil-engineering-blog/bid/278047/the-total-station-
land-surveys-a-background-story
 Mai, T. (2012, October 27). Global Positioning System History. Retrieved October 14,
2016, from NASA:
http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/communications/policy/GPS_History.html
 Point to Point Land Surveyors, I. (2009, October 25). Retrieved October 06, 2016, from
Land Surveying in Ancient Times: Egypt, Greece and Rome:
http://www.pointtopointsurvey.com/2009/10/land-surveying-in-ancient-times-egypt-
greece-and-rome/
 surveyhistory.org. (n.d.). The Surveyor's Basic Tools. Retrieved October 13, 2016, from
Survey History: http://www.surveyhistory.org/the_surveyor's_basic_tools.htm
 Surveyors Historical Society. (n.d.). Changing Chains. Retrieved October 13, 2016, from
Survey History: http://www.surveyhistory.org/changing_chains.htm