Minor in Surveying and Mapping

The objective of the Minor program in surveying and mapping is to give the Program completers a general understanding of how surveying measurements are performed and to gain familiarity of knowing how to use the field surveying instruments. This knowledge gained through this Minor will enable the student who completes the Program to function as a surveying technician within an organization. The students completing this Program should be able to:

  • Perform basic differential leveling in the field
  • Reduce differential leveling observations
  • Understand the concept of field data collection using conventional and modern electronic data collection instruments such as an electronic total station
  • Understand the concept of field data collection using global positioning system (GPS) instruments
  • Understand the basic concept of how to prepare a topographic map from actual survey data
  • Perform traverse computations and simple traverse adjustment
  • Develop an appreciation for establishing horizontal and vertical control for a small to medium size surveying project
  • Have a basic understanding of State Plane Coordinates, Lambert conic projection in particular

 

Depending upon the student's selection of the optional courses the student completing this minor will demonstrate:

  • Performing simple circular curve calculations
  • Performing the field layout of a basic circular curve
  • An appreciation for the basic photogrammetric concepts such as photo scale, flying height, overlap, side lap
  • An understanding of the public land surveying systems
  • An appreciation for the basic concepts of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

 

To obtain a minor a student must complete the following core courses for a total of 12 credit hours:

 
Fundamentals of Surveying
4
Intro. To Computer Mapping
 1
Surveying Computations
3
SURE 230 Control Surveying 4
     
    12

In addition, the student must complete two courses (6 or 7 credits, for a total of 18 or 19 credit hours) from the following list of courses:

Engineering Surveying
4
Photogrammetry
 3
Legal Aspects of Surveying
3
Principles of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
 3