Principles of Geospatial Surveying

Since most geospatial data is still collected through surveying, the modernsurveyor should have a good grasp of the basics of surveying and the equipment involved. This book, which replaces “Practical Surveying and Computations” from the same author, concentrates on the essential surveying principles rather than on the use of software and systems.

Contents
According to the leaflet accompanying the book, it aims at filling the gap between elementary and advanced texts for students and
professionals for a broad range of surveying and geospatial applications. One can of course discuss where exactly elementary stops and advanced begins, but the book provides a good
mix between practical information and the elementary equations needed for a show more thorough understanding of surveying processes. From a
traditional land surveying perspective the book covers all essential topics such as geodesy, theory of errors as well as computations, instrumentation and setting out works. Much attention is given to the theoretical background needed to understand the operation of systems and the methods to derive the correct answer from a set of measurements. Where applicable
practical problems are noted and possible solutions are given.
For some readers the attention given to the least squares method and quality control may seem a bit over the top, The addition of practical examples does however aid in the understanding of these complex subjects.

Missing Topics
On the downside, the title of the book promises more than the contents offer. Based on the title one would expect a broad range of surveying topics in the book. After going trough the book it seems however to be aimed primarily on traditional land surveying.
GPS for example is discussed but mainly in terms of static carrier phase techniques. Completely missing from the book are modern techniques such as RTK dGPS and laser altimetry as well as traditional surveying in other area’s such as hydrographic surveying and GIS applications.
There is a chapter on maps and data processing, but this mainly discusses the mapping of land survey work and does not go
into for example the collection of attribute information such as is necessary for GIS surveys.
Quite a few pages are spent on the determination of volumes, and while triangular networks are discussed no attention is given to the, from a GIS perspective more common, grid based computation methods.

Conclusion
The book is an excellent book for more advanced land survey students or the experienced land survey professional who wishes
to deepen his knowledge.
It is just to bad that the title is misleading which seems to stem from an attempt to connect to the current geospatial hype. Instead
the title of it’s predecessor seems in that context a more adequate description of the books contents.
So for anyone looking for a book giving a theoretical background to land survey techniques this is an excellent book. If one is however looking for a book covering all aspects of geospatial surveying, this is the wrong book to buy. show less