Factors Affecting Field Work
The surveyor in the field must constantly be alert to the different conditions he or she encounters and the requirements of the survey. The weather, terrain, personnel, purpose, and accuracy of the survey, systematic procedures, and the expected rate of progress are some of the factors that will affect the work.
Physical factors such as terrain and weather will affect each field survey in varying degrees. Measurements using telescopes can be stopped by fog, mist, or dust. Swamps and flood plains under high water can impede taping surveys. Lengths of light-wave distance measurements are reduced in bright sunlight. Generally, reconnaissance will predetermine the conditions and alert the survey party to the best method to use and the rate of progress to be expected.
The status of training of the personnel is another factor that affects field work. Experience in handling the survey instruments and equipment can shorten survey time without introducing errors, which would require resurvey. The personnel factor is a variable that will affect the rate of progress.
The purpose of the survey will determine the needed accuracy, which, in turn, will influence the selection of instruments and procedures. For instance, comparatively rough procedures can be used in measuring for earth-moving, but grade and alignment of a highway must be much more precise, and require more accurate measurements. Each increase in precision also increases the time required to make the measurement, since greater care and more observations must be taken.
Each survey measurement will be in error to the extent that no measurement is ever exact. Besides errors, survey measurements are susceptible to mistakes or blunders. These arise from misunderstanding the problem, poor judgment, confusion on the part of the surveyor, or simply from an oversight. By working out a systematic procedure, the surveyor will often detect a mistake when some operation seems out of place.
Survey speed is not the result of hurrying; it is the result of saving time through the following:
- the skill of the surveyor in handling his field equipment
- the intelligent planning and preparation of the work
- the process of making only those measurements that are consistent with the accuracy requirements.
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