Module 3 Posting: Surveying and Cartography Revived by GoogleEarth and GPS

One of the traditional technologies that have been recalled and revived by current technological breakthroughs is the art and science of cartography, the study and science of making maps (Wikipedia, 2010). Cartography is the documentation of the results of surveying, which establishes 3-dimensional points on the Earth's surface and the angles and distances between them, and then uses those to develop maps and boundaries for ownership or governmental purposes (Wikipedia, 2010).

Surveying has a long and storied history with its roots in ancient Egypt and ancient Europe (the placement of the stones of Stonehenge is the result of surveying techniques). George Washington was a practicing surveyor early in his career before he assumed the role of military commander and first president. As the explorers went west, they surveyed as they went, so as to be sure to claim territory for the United States. In Europe, England and France deployed surveyors as they expanded their respective empires through colonization. The British, in particular, surveyed meticulously, and their original surveys of the Himalayas had been the only surveys on record prior to this wave of new technologies.

The advent and open availability of both satellite imagery and Global Positioning System (GPS) technology has made re-mapping of basically everywhere on the planet, in some cases just because we can, and in others because there have sometimes been questions and disputes regarding the accuracy of the surveys on record.

I cite the availability, rather than the development, of these technologies, as both of these technologies have been in extensive use by the U.S. Department of Defense (and defense organizations of other nations as well) for a number of years. We used to use the term "national technical means" to refer to satellite imagery, as only governments had the resources to field orbiting satellite photo collection systems. Once commercially-available imagery was introduced, more and better-quality imagery has become available to anyone with an internet connection and a credit card.

When GPS was introduced as part of a technology transfer initiative, it was seen as an amusing curiosity (Wikipedia, 2010). However, it was quickly noted that this capability could render invalidnt many traditional land surveys, some of which had been done more than 200 years ago. A new generation of surveyors is working at computer terminals to correct these legacy surveys.

Fun Fact Story: When my husband and I purchased the land we now live on in 1984, a title search was done, which yielded several centuries of survey records, including the original survey done in 1632, when the property was part of the original land grant to George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, from King Charles I of England, as well as subsequent surveys done when the parcel that included our land was part of a gift to Charles Carroll, the Maryland signer of the Declaration of Independence from George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, on the occasion of his marriage to Molly Darnall in 1768.

Our real estate attorney who did the title search was duly impressed. We have gone over the original survey marker points with a GPS, and the coordinates that they listed are fairly accurate: most are within a tolerance of 12 inches.

References

Google (Google Earth). (2010). http://www.google.com/earth/index.html

Wikipedia (Cartography). (2010). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartography

Wikipedia (GPS). (2010). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System

Wikipedia (Satellite Imagery). (2010). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_imagery

Wikipedia (Surveying). (2010). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveying