Starting Field Work - Practical Boundary Surveying - page 134

Fig. 10.3 Enjoying the sunset after a day of surveying in southeast Alaska
It may be necessary to move survey equipment and supplies with whatever
means are available, such as the All-Terrain-Vehicle (ATV) moving an improvised
“boat trailer” loaded with survey gear shown in Fig. 10.5 . The robotic total station,
in its yellow carrying case, can be seen in the rear compartment of the boat trailer
which is precariously listing to starboard.
Figure 10.6 shows the beginning of the boundary survey with the total station
set up on the edge of a gravel way and the prism tripod just visible on the left of
the gravel way up the hill. A little further along the way the surface became so
muddy and rutted that the ATV was barely able to make it through.
In remote areas the surveyor must deal with the logistics of ensuring ade-
quate supplies and all of the equipment, including back up equipment that will
be needed to perform the survey. When equipment has to be flown in at great
expense, you don't want to be the one who forgot to pack the battery for the total
station. The weather, such as the almost constant rain and drizzle in southeast
Alaska can make the work difficult. High latitudes have very limited daylight in
winter. In the location illustrated, the island was covered with heavy canopy of
mature Sitka Spruce trees which prevented much of the available light from reach-
ing the ground. In winter, on a cloudy day, the light can be so dim that it is diffi-
cult to see the target through the instrument, even at noon. In environments such as
this a tracking total station can be a great asset (Fig. 10.7 ).
Surveys in such locations can present different sorts of challenges than those
in more populated areas. The surveying technology and legal issues do not