Our team at Meridian Geomatics LLC has extensive experience in the land survey industry, and over the years, we have found that many people don’t have a clear understanding of what exactly we do. While most people understand a land survey requires taking measurements of the land, not everyone knows what we’re actually measuring. To help shed some light on the matter, our team has put together this article to make it clear what we look at when we survey your land.
- Horizontal Distance – When conducting a land survey, our experts use specialized equipment to take multiple measurements at once. One of the first things we measure is the horizontal distance between each pair of our measuring devices. Taking this measurement is more complicated than it might first sound, as our team will need to factor in the curvature of the earth in order to make sure our numbers are accurate.
- Vertical Distance – Land survey experts also measure the vertical distance between the points of our measuring equipment, or how much higher or lower one is than the other. On flat terrain, the vertical distance should be very little, while on hilly terrain the vertical distance will be greater.
- Slope – Once we have calculated the horizontal and vertical distances, our team will use those numbers to figure out the slope of the ground, or how steep it is. This is important information to know, as it affects how you will need to design and to build structures on your land.