CA Land Surveyor flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Monument controls over distance

A boundary rule holding that a called natural or artificial monument fixes the corner location and prevails over the course or distance recited in the deed.

Lost corner

A corner whose original position cannot be recovered from physical evidence or reliable reference ties, so it is reestablished by proportionate measurement between the nearest accepted corners.

Double proportionate measurement

A method for reestablishing a lost interior or closing corner by proportioning record distances in both the north-south and east-west directions from the four surrounding accepted corners.

Agreed boundary doctrine

A doctrine fixing a boundary by the landowners' agreement when the true line is uncertain, where the agreement is followed by acquiescence and occupation or monuments mark the agreed line.

Senior right rule

Where two patented boundaries conflict, the earlier grant and its survey control the location of the common line, regardless of the acreage recited in either deed.

Adverse possession period in California

Five years of open, notorious, hostile, continuous, and exclusive possession, together with payment of all taxes assessed against the property under Code of Civil Procedure section 325.

Combined factor

The product of the Lambert projection scale factor and the elevation factor; multiplying a ground distance by it produces the grid distance for a California Coordinate System zone.

Elevation factor

The ratio R divided by the quantity R plus h, where R is the Earth's radius and h is height above the ellipsoid; it reduces ground distance to ellipsoid distance.

California Coordinate System zones

Six Lambert conformal conic zones numbered 1 through 6, each defined by its own central meridian, standard parallels, false easting, and false northing.

Convergence angle

The angle at a point between grid north and geodetic north; it must be applied when converting between grid azimuths and geodetic azimuths within a state plane zone.

Scale factor

The ratio of grid distance to ellipsoid distance at a point; it equals 1.0 on the standard parallels, is less than 1.0 between them, and greater outside them.

Township and range

In the Public Land Survey System a township is a six-mile-square block of 36 sections, and ranges are columns of townships counted east or west from the principal meridian.

Section numbering

Sections are numbered 1 through 36, starting at the northeast corner and running west then east in alternating rows, so that section 36 lies at the southeast corner.

Mount Diablo Meridian

The principal meridian and base line governing most Public Land Survey System work in California; the Humboldt and San Bernardino meridians serve the northwest and southeast parts of the state.

Parcel map threshold

Under the Subdivision Map Act, a division creating four or fewer parcels requires a parcel map, while a division creating five or more parcels requires a tentative and final map.

Tentative map expiration

A tentative map expires 24 months after approval unless extended under Government Code section 66452.6 or a local ordinance; the final map must be recorded within that life.

Lot line adjustment

A local approval that shifts land between four or fewer existing adjoining parcels without creating a new parcel, so that no new subdivision map is required.

Mean high tide line

The average of high tides taken over the 18.6-year tidal cycle; in California it is the boundary between state-owned tidelands and private upland property.

Ordinary high water mark

The line on the bank of a non-tidal navigable water that marks the ordinary high water; it is the state's ownership boundary and shifts with gradual changes.

Accretion

The gradual and imperceptible addition of land by water action; title to the added land passes to the riparian or upland owner without a new conveyance.

Avulsion

A sudden and perceptible change in a stream channel or shoreline; the property boundary remains at the old channel or shoreline rather than moving with the water.

Meander line

A survey line run along a water body for computing area only; it is not a boundary of title, because the water itself is the boundary.

Record of Survey trigger

California requires a Record of Survey when a surveyor establishes a corner or line not shown on a recorded map, or finds a material discrepancy with the record.

Corner Record

A document filed with the county surveyor to perpetuate a monument when no Record of Survey is required, showing ties, monument type, size, and cap stamping.

Monument destruction statute

California Penal Code section 605 makes willfully destroying, removing, or injuring a survey monument a crime; a surveyor must reference a monument before it is disturbed.

RTK check shot

An observation on known control at the start of a GNSS session to verify datum, epoch, fix quality, and antenna height before boundary measurements begin.

Weighted mean

An average in which each observation is weighted by the inverse of its variance, so that more precise measurements contribute more heavily to the final value.

Least squares adjustment

A method that distributes random errors by minimizing the sum of squared residuals, producing the most probable coordinates and a variance estimate for statistical testing.

Curvature and refraction correction

A net correction of about 0.0206 D squared feet, with D in thousands of feet, applied to long level or total station sights to correct for Earth curvature and atmospheric refraction.

Relative precision

The ratio of traverse misclosure to total traverse length, such as 1:10,000, which equals about 0.53 foot of closure per mile of traverse.

Traverse angular closure

The difference between the measured sum of traverse angles and the geometric requirement; the allowable value is commonly the instrument standard times the square root of the number of angles.

Standard error of a sum

For independent observations, the standard error of a sum or difference equals the square root of the sum of the individual variances of the contributing measurements.