Surveying used to use simple tools. It usually involved surveyors carrying out the long and laborious tasks of manually measuring and planning areas, buildings and terrain. It often took quite a while. It could often result in poor measurements or inaccurate readings if it wasnt carried out to a very high standard by highly trained people. You will have probably seen surveying going on at some stage. We have also seen the guys pointing the measurement lasers at bridges and buildings too. But this is just the tip of the iceberg of how the surveying industry has moved forward. New technology has made things easier and quicker.
Surveying still requires highly trained people. It now uses lots of new gadgets though. This technology has taken surveying to the next level. GPS surveying now allows for unbelievable accuracy. It now allows for much better detail.
New technology emerging in the surveying industry includes Trimble robotic total stations as well as GPS surveying units. GPS stands for Global Positioning Satellite. GPS is now used around the world in various different guises. You will often see this on car navigation systems. The system (often know as Sat Nav for short) will use satellites to find the position of your car and then use this information to find the best or shortest route to your destination. The majority of us have used this technology.
It is this GPS technology that has evolved into use in the surveying industry. This technology allows for amazing accuracy. Some of the aspects of surveying covered with this new technology include utility mapping and a measured building survey. Utility detection is also a common survey requirement. Topographic surveying is also a very common requirement in this day and age. The technology is also used in geophysical surveys.
Even more interestingly, the technology is often used in archaeological surveys and this technology has actually helped with a huge number of archaeological digs. Archaeological sites, research and identification has been helped massively by the use of the new technology.
Survey speeds have increased since GPS was introduced. They have also become more and more accurate as time has passed and the technology has been more and more fine-tuned. This allows for much higher levels of surveying. The new speed of surveying also allows for projects to be researched and completed a lot quicker and make design changes a lot more viable.
It seems that GPS surveying has moved the field of surveying forward by a huge leap. It is likely that these improvements will continue as the technology is further refined and improved. New technology is likely to be seen in the future.