All posts by Anthony Whitlock

Construction Staking

Are you doing it right? In today’s world, survey construction staking is a major service being provided by most companies within the land surveying and civil engineering industry. Throughout my career, like many of you, I have been employed by a handful of different land surveying and civil engineering firms, and with each firm came...

Understanding GNSS Pt. 2

Vertical Datums Part 1 covers ellipsoids, datums, and realizations and is in the April print issue. This final part covers vertical datums. From my previous article: One of the most important things to understand when it comes to using survey-grade GPS systems is the difference among the many datums, reference ellipsoids, and coordinate systems that...

Understanding GNSS Pt 1

Image above: The author performs deformation monitoring on a Colorado reservoir with a Leica TS15. Pt. 1: Ellipsoids, Datums, and Realizations Land surveying is one of the oldest professions to exist throughout the world. Evidence of its use can be found dating as far back as 2700 BC when the Great Pyramid of Giza was...

A Millennial’s View of Land Surveying

Introduction by Field Notes editor, Scott Martin. Thank you, Anthony, for stating what we all need to hear. From mentoring, to degree requirements, to continuing education, to understanding the fundamental principles of technology, you hit all the major elements of what is needed—or not needed—to “save” our noble profession. We, being licensed professionals, NCEES, NSPS, state associations,...