The Surveyor's Angle:

GPS & GIS

A Brief History of Land Surveying, It’s
roots and it’s tools, and how GPS and
GIS are changing
(or not really changing)
the way Surveyor’s do things
Christopher Holland, MAG, RPLS
The Lower Colorado River Authority
Surveying & Mapping Department
 The Lower Colorado River
Authority
is a conservation and reclamation
district established by Texas State Law
in 1934, whose mission is to provide
reliable, low cost utility and public
services in partnership with its
customers and communities, and to
use its leadership role and
environmental authority to ensure the
protection and constructive use of the
area’s natural resources
 Surveying...
A Little Background
Definitions:
Surveying has been traditionally defined as the science and
art of determining the relative positions of points above, on,
or beneath the surface of the earth, or establishing such
points.

*Professional Surveying in the State of Texas is defined by

statutory law as “…the measurement and location of sites,
points, lines, angles, elevations, natural features, and existing
man-made works in the air, on the surface of the earth, within
underground workings, and on the beds of bodies of water for
the purpose of determining areas and volumes…”
 Surveying...
A Little Background
The Beginnings….The Ancient
Surveyors:
Egyptians

Greeks

Romans
 Surveying...
A Little Background

The Middle Ages…

The Renaissance...

Modern Time…

Into The 21st Century...

 The Evolution of GPS & GIS
A Few Milestones...
GPS…From the North Star to Artificial
Stars
1954-1956 The first self-contained portable atomic clock built, the
Atomichron. Note: Time and Position
1957 October, Soviets launch Sputnik; Satellite Doppler tracking at MIT;
December, Navy Transit program starts
1964-1965 First position fix from a Transit satellite is computed aboard a
U.S.N. submarine.
1967 Transit system is made available to civilian community.
1968 Standards of a Defense Navigation Satellite System are defined.
1973 Development of Navstar GPS is approved by the U.S. Department of
Defense.
1974 First GPS test satellite, from Timation program, is launched.
1977 Test satellite incorporating principal features of later GPS satellites
(including first cesium clocks) launched.
1978-1985 Ten prototype GPS satellites are launched by the U.S.
1989-1993 Twenty four satellites are launched at about 6 per year. Final
satellite is launched on June 26, 1993.
 The Evolution of GPS & GIS
A Few Milestones...
GIS…From Maps to... Smart Maps?
1959 Waldo Tobler develops MIMO which contained all the standard elements found in
GIS software
1963 Roger Tomlinson leads development of Canada Geographic Information System,
pioneered many aspects of GIS
1964 Howard Fisher establishes the Harvard Lab for Computer Graphics, creating
pioneering software for spatial data handling
1965 Howard Fisher, SYMAP, a pioneering automated computer mapping application
developed
1967 George Farnsworth, US Census Bureau develops DIME & AUTOMAP developed by
the US Central Intelligence Agency
1969 ESRI founded by Jack & Laura Dangermond & Integraph Corporation founded by
Jim Meadlock
1970 The Canada Geographic Information System fully operational & First symposium
on GIS held
1979 The ODYSSEY GIS developed at the Harvard Lab
1980 Dana Tomlin developed the Map Analysis Package (MAP)
1981 ESRI launched ARC/INFO
1987 Ron Eastman, the Idrisi Project at Clark University & International Journal of
Geographical Information Systems published
The Evolution of GPS & GIS
What does that do for me...
GPS… Would seem to be natural tool for surveyors;
throughout time surveyors have used a variety of tools
to perform measurement, the GPS is no different.
So why has GPS taken off? Affordability has made it
reality:
smaller, less expensive, faster electronic components
(computers), have made it practical and economical
enough for for a variety of users to make use of GPS.

GIS…Also would seem to be a tool fit for surveyors;

collections of geographically referenced data are
inherent to surveying, a GIS offers not only a way of
storing, manipulating, organizing, etc., that data but
also opens up a whole new set of end users for survey
data.
So why has GIS taken off? Once again affordability
 GPS As a Surveying Tool
What can we use this tool to do? What
should we use this tool to do?
GPS accuracies and the Surveyor’s
needs….
Barriers to the needed accuracies….
Ways to work with what we have…
GPS, the good & the bad…
The Bottom Line...
GPS As a Surveying Tool
GPS As a Surveying Tool
 GIS As a Surveying Tool
What can we use this tool to do? What
should we use this tool to do?

The Bottom Line...

The Surveyor's Angle:
GPS & GIS
Questions & Answers