Analysis

What does a surveyor do?

The work of a topographer covers a large part of projects in different fields or subjects, we
find applied topography in mining, land management, cadastre, or failing that in any
construction work.

One of the two jobs that a topographer develops is the topographical survey, which consists
of taking existing data on the ground and with said data or measurements and levels,
making or preparing a ground plan.
The second job that a topographer develops is stakeout, this job is totally the opposite of
topographic survey, stakeout consists of materializing a project by means of points on the
ground, explained in a very simple way, performing this task is nothing more than make
some marks on the ground that indicate all the information contained in the plans.
Throughout history they force us to look or take us back to the beginnings of civilization at
something that we know by general culture but that we completely ignore, we talk about
Greece, Rome, etc. On the other hand, the Mediterranean Sea and the Near East, having
said that, we would be located in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
In Egypt, in each arable land, a part was allocated to the pharaoh, which was marked by a
boundary. With the flooding of the Nile these borders were erased, so each year the exact
amount that corresponded to the Pharaoh was marked again. This task was carried out by
the Pharaoh's surveyors.
authors mark as the beginning of topographyThales of MiletusandAnaximander,who are the
ones who make the first geographical maps, as the French geographer P. Merlin points out
(topography was born at the same time as private property).
Topography, as a science, has been improving based on the technological evolution of each
era.
That said, by knowledge or by general culture we recognize the great work and the colossal
constructions of the time that are found there, and that these constructions are perfectly
designed and built.

Now, after knowing something very basic about the history or the birth of topography.
We will talk about the device with which we do or carry out the topographical survey or the
stakeout, whose name is the theodolite, from this device what is known today as a total
station is born.
The theodolite had two axes, one vertical and one horizontal, and it incorporated a distance
meter and a microprocessor, this gave us angles, coordinates and distances, this is what we
basically need to be able to carry out or carry out the topographic work accurately or
facilitate the work of the surveyor.
Now in topography we find a small limitation when it comes to accurately measuring or
collecting data, the limitation is that over long distances it ceases to be topography and we
start talking about geodesy.
Geodesy covers or focuses on the measurement of large areas or very extensive areas
where, due to their size, the curvature of the earth must be taken into account.
Geodesy is, at the same time, one of theEarth sciencesand oneengineering. It deals
withliftingand of therepresentationof the shape and surface of theLand, global and partial,
with its natural and artificial forms.
Geodesy is also used inmathfor measurement and calculation on curved surfaces. Methods
similar to those used on the curved surface of the Earth are used.
In conclusion, topography is a science of great importance for our lives, since thanks to it
not only civil engineering takes advantage of it to have better constructions and more
precise roads, but other sciences also require it to facilitate their objectives.