IndustrialDictionary

Surveying

50 entries in this trade.

backsight

nounSurveying

A measurement of a previously shot point, used to set the angle to zero when occupying a new position.

base station

nounSurveying

A GPS receiver at known fixed location, used to derive correction information for nearby portable GPS receivers.

bench

nounSurveying

A bracket used to mount land surveying equipment onto a stone or a wall.

blow a backsight

verbSurveying

To occupy a point, then enter the wrong point for the backsight, or forget to enter the backsight.

chain

nounSurveying

A series of interconnected links of known length, used as a measuring device.

chainage

nounSurveying

An imaginary line used to measure distance, often corresponding to the centre of a straight road.

chainwork

nounSurveyingdated

The technique of surveying by measuring distances with a chain.

circumferentor

nounSurveying

An instrument used to measure horizontal angles, consisting of a brass circle and an index, all of one piece.

cross

nounSurveying

An instrument for laying of offsets perpendicular to the main course.

datum

nounSurveying

A point, line, plane, or surface with reference to which positions (such as elevations) are measured or indicated. (Examples include a permanent benchmark in leveling or mean sea level in a topographical survey).

degree

nounSurveying

The curvature of a circular arc, expressed as the angle subtended by a fixed length of arc or chord.

delta

nounSurveying

The angle subtended at the center of a circular arc.

departure

nounSurveying

The difference in easting between the two ends of a line or curve.

dumpy level

nounSurveying

A level having a short telescope, usually an inverting one, rigidly fixed to a table capable only of rotatory movement in a horizontal plane.

final point

nounSurveying

A marker, similar to a benchmark, placed to honor a surveyor after his death.

geodimeter

nounSurveying

An instrument measuring the distance between two points by means of a laser.

gore

nounSurveying

A small piece of land left unincorporated due to competing surveys or a surveying error.

hub

nounSurveying

A stake with a nail in it, used to mark a temporary point.

Jacob's staff

nounSurveying

A single straight rod or staff, pointed and iron-shod at the bottom, for penetrating the ground, and having a socket joint at the top, used, instead of a tripod, for supporting a compass.

jigger

nounSurveyingslang

A total station or its predecessor, a theodolite.

leveling

nounSurveying

The process of measuring levels to establish heights and altitudes.

link

nounSurveying

The length of one joint of Gunter's chain, being the hundredth part of it, or 7.92 inches, the chain being 66 feet in length.

metes and bounds

nounSurveying

A description of a piece of land consisting of both measurements (metes) of the land and owners of land which is adjacent to (bounds) it.

misclose

nounSurveying

The discrepancy between the starting point the endpoint of the shape reconstructed from the measured dimensions and bearings of a boundary.

misclosure

nounSurveying

The situation where the last in a series of linked traverse lines fails to join up exactly with the first.

moundsman

nounSurveying

A man employed to dig pits and erect mounds as reference markers for surveys.

offset

nounSurveying

A short distance measured at right angles from a line actually run to some point in an irregular boundary, or to some object.

orograph

nounSurveying

A machine for use in making topographical maps, operated by being pushed across country, and recording distances and elevations.

pincushion corner

nounSurveying

A place where several surveyors have set markers, all purporting to mark the same property corner.

PK nail

nounSurveying

A thick-shanked nail with an indentation in the middle of its head, driven into the ground to mark a position precisely.

resection

nounSurveying

A method of determining a position by using a map and compass bearings for two additional points.

side shot

nounSurveying

A reading or measurement from a survey station to locate a point that is off the traverse or that is not intended to be used as a base for the extension of the survey. It is usually made to determine the position of some object that is to be shown on a map.

stadia

nounSurveying

A level staff or graduated rod used by surveyors to measure differences in level, or to measure horizontal distances by sighting the stadia hairs (graduations) through a telescope.

stadia hair

nounSurveying

In a theodolite, etc., one of the horizontal crosshairs equidistant from the central horizontal crosshair.

stadium

nounSurveying

A graduated rod used to measure the distance of the place where it stands from an instrument having a telescope, by observing the number of the graduations of the rod that are seen between certain parallel wires (stadia wires) in the field of view of the telescope.

tie

nounSurveying

A bearing and distance between a lot corner or point and a benchmark or iron off site.

traverse table

nounSurveying

A table by means of which the difference of latitude and departure corresponding to any given course and distance may be found by inspection. It contains the lengths of the two sides of a right-angled triangle, usually for every quarter of a degree of angle, and for lengths of the hypotenuse, from 1 to 100.

triangulation

nounSurveying

A technique in which distances and directions are estimated from an accurately measured baseline and the principles of trigonometry; (countable) an instance of the use of this technique.

vertical deflection

nounSurveying

A measure of how far the direction of the local gravity field has been shifted at a certain point on the Earth by local anomalies such as nearby mountains.

zero-order design

nounSurveying

An optimal network design within a computer. It involves choosing an optimal reference system and revolving it around a certain real number.