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 Surveying and Measurement The topics of surveying and measurement cover a wide variety of component subjects. For the purposes of
these page "surveying" is that definition of the word which refers to the collection of data relating to the recording of
surface and near surface features of the earth and generally their representation as a map, plan or digital model of the those
features. By "measurement" is meant those instruments and methods of measurement that relate in some way to the execution
of surveying as defined above. Thus "surveying" can relate to anything from one-house plots of land to determination of the size and shape
of the earth. "Measurement" can relate to anything from the use of pacing or a tape measure to the use of electro-magnetic
distance measuring equipment or satellite ranging techniques. Topographic and Geodetic Surveying pertains to the higher levels of surveying. The term "topographic surveying" implies the collection of information relating to large areas of land,
for subsequent use in the compilation of some form of map of the countryside. "Geodetic
surveying" is the determination of the size and shape of the earth together with the provision of triangulation networks over
it to which the topographic detail can be related. As such "Surveying and Measurement" can encompass aspects of mathematics, astronomy, geography, physics,
mechanics, metrology, statistics, geophysics and other scientific disciplines. Within
these disciplines it includes reading devices - such as verniers, micrometers and circles; standard units of measurement and
their inter-relationship; temperature devices and scales; trigonometric and other tables; logarithms; angle and distance measuring devices from earliest times; calculating devices; barometric devices and use
of their readings; the determination of gravity values; the determination and depiction of elevation and all the other sundry
instruments and methods associated with these areas of interest. In addition to the practical construction and operation of
the instruments the mathematical theories related to all the instruments and their use are of prime importance.
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