Category Archives: Surveying

No Barrier Between Land and Water

Innovative tools and technology help hydrographic mapping deliver detailed data in previously inaccessible areas. Underwater mapping presents unique logistical challenges that are increasingly being met with technology used in creative ways, and by combining multiple types of data to develop a complete picture. From unmanned surface vessels (USV) to multi-beam sonar, advanced equipment yields accurate...

What to do With All the Lidar Data

An age-old Aesop’s Fable adage says, “Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true!” When the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) embarked on the National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (NEAA) in 2012, the goal was to document the national-level requirements for enhanced elevation data. Little did USGS know at the time, the report would be...

A Story About an Orchard

It’s a normal progression in the career of a surveyor to move into personnel management, as one becomes more experienced and gets promoted to a management position, or as they operate their own private practice. One of the first and most obvious problems is that not all good surveyors are good at managing people. Give...

Every Drop Counts

With help from GIS, these five megacities are future-proofing their water infrastructures so that sufficient water supply will no longer be a pipe dream. Megacities are a thirsty lot. These large and overpopulated metropolises have greater than 10 million inhabitants who consume more water than what their reservoirs can supply. Water shortages are commonplace, and...

Training as Incentive for Recruitment and Retention

It would be stating the obvious that finding qualified surveying staff right now is challenging. Offering training as recruitment/retention incentive is difficult if such opportunities are limited. A renewed focus on creating more training opportunities, within the profession and supporting industries, is changing this. Training/education as an incentive to recruit and retain survey staff is...

Woolpert Blends Methodology with Technology

What began as a four-person engineering and survey company in Ohio in 1911 has steadily evolved to become a full-service architecture, engineering, geospatial (AEG), and strategic consulting firm, with more than 1,600 staff and 60 offices on four continents.  This fusion of AEG data breeds innovative products and solutions that address complex challenges worldwide, providing...