ACSM Presents Survey Earth in a Day 1.0

Survey Earth In a Day Planet Earth has never been measured with great precision in its entirety from thousands of points simultaneously during the course of a single day. On Survey Earth Day, geospatial professionals of the world will have a chance to change that. — by Scott Warner and Justin Farrow

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On the day of the summer solstice June 20th, 2012, geospatial professionals around the world and members of Land Surveyors United (a global support network for land surveyors) will simultaneously record survey grade GPS data from thousands of points around the globe, in order to gain a more accurate understanding of the earth’s surface.

If you are a geospatial professional with access to survey grade GPS equipment, consider helping set a world record, right from where you live and work! Only surveyors can provide the kind of precision that will be needed to truly understand the dynamics of the shape of planet Earth. Just imagine how much this could reshape our understanding of the mathematical models we have built to better measure the world around us...

Let’s retrace the genesis of this truly remarkable concept. For us, it began in March 2010, when members of the Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors (WSLS) celebrated National Surveyors Week with

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a statewide survey project called “Survey Wisconsin in a Day.” During this first-of-itskind event land surveyors from around the state simultaneously gathered data from GPS receivers set up at various points throughout Wisconsin, recorded the data, and transformed them into information useful to the public. The goal, of course, was not merely to provide a unique set of data but, importantly, to increase public awareness of the role of surveyors in the national economy and in the private lives of each of us individually.

To participants, the event demonstrated, beyond any shred of doubt that more accurate mapping of the world can be achieved when land surveyors unite behind a given task.

The data WSLS collected were processed into a single precise latitude and longitude location for each point measured. Every point was post-processed to within 1 centimeter on the surface of the Earth. Wisconsin surveyors plan to re-measure these same monuments in the near future in order to determine any shift in position.

The idea of a large-scale surveying project in the interest of the profession proved to be contagious, and, in March 2011, the NSPS Survey USA was held. Hundreds of surveyors using GPS technology hit the fields across the United States to provide detailed positioning information for the online database maintained by the National Geodetic Survey (NGS).

According to Joe Evjen, a geodesist with the NGS, Survey USA Day was more than a public relations event for the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). The GPS data submitted to the Online Positioning User Service (OPUS) for post-processing were incorporated, as post-processed coordinates, into the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), the reference system on which most surveying and mapping in the U.S. is based.

Both the Wisconsin and the national event were hugely popular and attracted much attention. The 2011 Survey USA indicated that the timing was right for a worldwide surveying event. Not only timing was auspicious.

A major ingredient of any global surveying and mapping project, an online platform linking thousands of professional land surveyors, was already in place—the Land Surveyors United. A global project for surveying the Earth suddenly became “doable.”

The concept of a “Survey Earth in a Day” was introduced on the Land Surveyors United website in December 2011. LSU members considered several implementation dates and how any of them might influence the information derived on the basis of the data collected on a given day. Could, for instance, the shape of the Earth be different during an equinox or a solstice?

There was also a lengthy discussion about the ways and means of managing the data gathering and processing stages. Soon it became clear that to accomplish the project, a major collaborative effort would need to exist between individual participants and with well established geospatial organizations such as ACSM / NSPS, NGS, and

perhaps other groups whose members are interested in positioning.

The more we thought about the event and its implications, the closer we came to the realization that if something like Survey Earth in a Day were to ever happen, we would need a highly efficient platform for organizing surveyors and sharing the data. That platform would have to be Land Surveyors United.

With over 2,700 members, Land Surveyors United is the only global geospatial community online with representation in all seven continents (even Antarctica) and all 50 U.S. states, and with real-time communication and zero language barriers.

Members have the capability of keeping in constant contact via the social media tools available through the site’s many regional forums.

With the mobile computing and communication aspects of the LSU platform recently upgraded, members can now access the LSU network on smartphones, tablets, iPads, and other devices from the field. Utilizing this technology enables professionals to communicate directly with their local representative and fellow surveyors—always a key goal for the network and, recently, an advantage benefitting surveyors across the globe.

The data collected during Survey Earth in a Day will be submitted to and recorded right inside the Land Surveyors United mobile interface, making it simple for any surveyor to participate. The experience should prove particularly valuable as our efforts to unite surveyors in locally based group forums continues.

Each location-based LSU group forum is geolocated, i.e., it actually exists in the area which it represents. This has the advantage in that information shared among the professionals in a given group is searchable in

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local search engines. In addition, the group discussions are translated into the native language of the area represented by the group forum, and other members have the ability to translate any page on the site in a single click. As if this were not enough, information shared on the network is indexed on all social media platforms. All these capabilities make it possible for Land Surveyors United to communicate on levels never before attempted in the land surveying industry.

Largely because of this strength, a Survey Earth in a Day event spearheaded by Land Surveyors United could positively influence the public’s perception of surveying here at home and elsewhere. Besides, the level of precision that this global undertaking is bound to deliver could change much of what people currently know about the Earth’s shape.

The first annual Survey Earth in a Day event will institute an ongoing annual social survey-

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ing education experiment, with a mission to not only learn more about our planet but also to monitor changes over time, as a global community. The information derived from the data collected during Survey Earth in a Day events can enrich the knowledge we currently have about life on planet Earth.

Help represent the surveying industry and the surveyors in your region of the world by participating in the monumental task of remeasure the entire globe in one single day.

Get Involved!

The first Survey Earth in a Day event is scheduled to take place on the day of the Summer Solstice this year. More information about participating in the event can be found on LSU’s website, on Facebook and on Twitter. Find and follow the Land Surveyors United Network via its website and on Facebook or Twitter.