What is Surveying?

Surveying is the process of analyzing and recording the characteristics of a land area span to help design a plan or map for construction.

Categories of Surveying are:

Geodetic Surveying: Surveys are carried out on a large scale with the help of control networks spanning over long distances.
Cadastral Surveying: Surveys are carried out to define land ownership and boundaries.
Topographical Surveying: Surveys are carried out to determine land structure along with variation in land heights.
As Built Surveying: Surveys are carried out after completion of a construction project to check variance from proposed design.
Photogrammetry (Aerial Surveying): Surveys are carried out by taking photographs from elevated ground stations.
LiDAR (Aerial Surveying): Surveys are carried out using remote sensors and light reflected by lasers to measure distances.

Fundamental techniques used for Surveying are:

Triangulation: In this technique numerous triangles are inter-connected and overlapped to measure angles from a surveying station.
Trilateration: It follows the same technique as in Triangulation with additional use of Electronic Distance Meter (EDM).
Traverse: In this technique multiple lines of pre-measured lengths are inter-connected to measure angles and distances.
Leveling: In this technique the difference in heights in a terrain are measured with the help of graduated rods.
Radiation: In this technique radiating lines are drawn from a focal point to defined boundaries converted to a small scale surveying sheet.

Surveying finds multiple industrial applications across various domains. It is an integral part of Civil Engineering Discipline.