Tag Archives: Field Notes

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,...

081220-N-7090S-110 Washington D.C. (Dec. 20, 2008) The referee conducts the ceremonial coin toss before the inaugural Eagle Bank Bowl between the Navy Midshipmen and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jhi L. Scott/Released)

You Make the Call

Even if you aren’t a football fan, or a sports fan in general, you likely still heard something about the very controversial “non-call” of a penalty in the recent NFC championship game between the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams. It occurred in the last minutes of the game and very likely cost...

Single zone proposal

State Plane Coordinates 2022

Ready or not, here they come. Considering all of the outreach that the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) has been doing for the last couple of years, hopefully most of you are well aware of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) Modernization Project. That project will result in the replacement of both the North American Datum...

Close Enough for Government Work

Image above: High-tension measurement: Credit NOAA National Geodetic Survey. We have all heard it, most likely have even said it. I have. And we probably meant it as a negative, implying sloppy work. However, researching the origin of the saying revealed that it was born during World War II and meant excellence, as in: if...

NOAA's Historic Magnetic Declination

Lost My Rodman

On June 25th, I lost my rodman, who was also my brother, best friend, and only sibling, at the much-too-young age of 57. He went to sleep and didn’t wake up. Turns out he had been ignoring symptoms of heart trouble for some time, and, unfortunately, it was a fatal mistake. My weeks since have...

Getting out Is a Good Thing

Field Notes Although I have been active in the surveying profession in several ways over the years, including serving as the editor of Field Notes, I really haven’t ventured out much to seek face-to-face encounters in various venues and settings, but that recently changed a bit and has produced a new perspective for me. In...