November 2021 Archives
Safety First
If you look at a list of the most dangerous jobs in America, you won’t see surveyor listed in the top 25, but I believe that is because most of us only spend a small percentage of our time working along the highway or on a construction site. As many can attest, those situations are […]
Protecting Urban History
Maximizing the data collected from airborne lidar helps protect historic structures in older cities In Part I last month, we outlined the research performed in Dublin, Ireland, and Brooklyn, N.Y., using hyperspectral scanning to help old cities protect historically significant buildings during new construction projects. In Part II, NYU professor, Dr. Debra Laefer, explains how […]
A BIM of Hope for the Environment
This innovative building information modeling tool aims to reduce the construction sector’s carbon footprint. But unlike other practices, it begins at the design phase. The construction sector is in a conundrum. Decades of non-stop sawing and hammering have been wonderful for the world’s economy yet dismal for the environment. In the latest figures from the […]
Autonomy Comes to UAVs
Trending tech has UAV software looking futuristic To a certain degree, autonomous operations are already baked into the current state of data collection (aka reality capture) software for UAVs. Pre-mission planning consists of using a map-based interface to highlight the area that needs to be mapped or inspected, the appropriate flight pattern and height (AGL) […]
Exit Interview
Questions and answers with retiring NSPS Executive Director Curtis Sumner Curtis Sumner has had a venerable career in surveying, starting as an 18-year-old straight out of high school and finishing as the long-time executive director of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). Raised in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia, Sumner gained […]