Category Archives: Surveying
GNSS on Top of the World: Climbing Everest with CHC P5
Surveyors summit Mount Everest with a new generation of GNSS instruments. The fascination with the height of Mount Everest began one morning in 1852 when Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian-Bengali mathematician, rushed into the room of Sir Andrew Waugh and exclaimed, “Sir, I have discovered the highest mountain of the world.” Sikdar was employed by the Great Trigonometric Survey of India...
Reference Framework Update Delayed
Roll out of the National Spatial Reference System (U.S.) update, originally envisioned for 2022, may not complete until a 2024-2025 time frame. Many reasons are contributing to this delay. FAQ from the National Geodetic Survey: bit.ly/2Z09z6L
More on the Datum Epoch
Editor’s note: Our April feature “Datum Epochs, and How to Understand Them” by Richard Maher, generated a lot of interest, and readers asking for more on geodesy fundamentals. One letter to the editor provided more detail on keys points. In the interests of providing multiple perspectives, we present the following from Steven J. Martin as...
SLAM, Bam, Thank You Ma’am: Giving Preservation a Hand(held)
Handheld SLAM mapping technology helps preserve historical sites for future generations. Across the world, places of historical significance are regularly monitored to ensure they are cared for properly and preserved for future generations. This care and attention can help us learn more about our past and inform design and building projects of the future. When...
Just Say No
This article appeared in xyHt‘s e-newsletter, Field Notes. We email it once a month, and it covers a variety of land surveying topics in a conversational tone. You’re welcome to subscribe to the e-newsletter here. (You’ll also receive the Pangaea newsletter with your subscription.) As I have aged and learned, I have worked diligently to improve myself, whether through...
The Early Days of 3D Scanning
When I first came across Cyra Technologies Inc., a start-up that was developing 3D laser scanning, I was working at Trimble Navigation in Sunnyvale, California, in the heart of the San Francisco Bay area’s “Silicon Valley.” I consider myself lucky. I had the good fortune to be deeply involved in the very beginning of 3D...
