DE Land Surveyor flashcards

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

Delaware surveying statute

Land surveying in Delaware is regulated under Title 24, Chapter 27 of the Delaware Code, which establishes the licensing requirement and the Board that administers the profession.

Footsteps of the original surveyor

The retracement principle that a later surveyor must follow the original survey's evidence and intent, giving controlling weight to original monuments over recorded bearings and distances.

Monument controls distance

When an undisturbed original monument conflicts with a deed distance, the monument position governs; distances are treated as subordinate evidence in boundary retracement.

Distance controls bearing

Where a deed's bearing and distance are both in error and no monument controls, the measured distance is generally preferred over the recorded bearing.

Adverse possession period

Delaware's general adverse possession statute requires 20 years of actual, open, notorious, exclusive, continuous, and hostile possession before title transfers to the possessor.

Prescriptive easement elements

An easement by prescription arises from use that is open, notorious, continuous, and adverse to the servient owner for the 20-year statutory period; permissive use defeats it.

Seal authority limit

A licensed surveyor may seal only work they prepared or that was prepared under their direct supervisory control; sealing another's unsupervised work is a violation.

Aliquot parts

The rectangular survey system's subdivision of sections by successive halving, producing half-sections, quarter-sections, and quarter-quarter sections of nominally 320, 160, and 40 acres.

Chain of title research

A chronological tracing of recorded deeds and plats from the original grant to the present owner, used to establish boundary calls and easement encumbrances before fieldwork.

Record versus field evidence

Recorded deeds and plats supply the written boundary description, while field evidence supplies monument positions; retracement reconciles them in favor of original monuments.

Delaware Coordinate System

Delaware's State Plane Coordinate System zone, defined by a map projection with a scale factor and convergence used to convert between ground and grid distances and azimuths.

Continuing education requirement

Delaware licensees must complete the Board-specified continuing professional education hours per renewal cycle, including ethics and surveying-related technical subjects, to maintain licensure.

Closure precision ratio

Traverse accuracy expressed as a ratio of linear misclosure to total traverse length, such as 1:10,000, computed after computing latitudes and departures.

Latitude and departure

Latitude is the north-south component of a course (distance times cosine of bearing); departure is the east-west component (distance times sine of bearing).

Compass rule adjustment

A traverse adjustment distributing latitude and departure misclosures in proportion to each leg's length, applying corrections with signs opposite the total misclosure.

Linear misclosure formula

The straight-line distance between the computed and true starting point of a closed traverse, equal to the square root of the summed squared latitude and departure misclosures.

Shoelace area formula

A coordinate method for polygon area: twice the area equals the sum of cross products (Xi·Yi+1 − Xi+1·Yi) around the closed boundary.

Horizontal curve tangent

The tangent distance from the point of intersection to the point of curvature, computed as T = R tan(Δ/2) where Δ is the central deflection angle.

Horizontal curve length

The arc length between PC and PT, computed as L = RΔ with Δ in radians, or L = 100Δ/D when D is the degree of curve.

Middle ordinate

The distance from the midpoint of a horizontal curve to the midpoint of its long chord, computed as M = R[1 − cos(Δ/2)].

Degree of curve arc definition

The central angle subtended by a 100-foot arc; radius equals 5729.578 divided by the degree of curve under the arc definition.

Long chord

The straight line from the point of curvature to the point of tangency of a horizontal curve, computed as LC = 2R sin(Δ/2).

Vertical curve offset

The vertical offset from the tangent to a parabolic vertical curve at distance x from the PVC, equal to (g2 − g1)x²/(2L).

Vertical curve high or low point

The station where the curve's tangent slope is zero, located at x = −g1L/(g2 − g1) measured from the PVC along the curve length L.

Curvature and refraction

Atmospheric bending of line of sight and Earth curvature; balancing backsight and foresight distances cancels both errors in differential leveling.

Leveling misclosure limit

The allowable difference between measured and known elevations, commonly expressed as a coefficient times the square root of the route length in miles.

Slope to horizontal distance

Horizontal distance equals slope distance multiplied by the cosine of the vertical angle, the standard reduction applied to total station EDM observations.

Atmospheric correction

An EDM adjustment for air temperature and barometric pressure that changes the signal's refractive index and therefore the measured distance.

Prism constant

A fixed offset added to or subtracted from EDM distances to account for the optical path through the prism and its mounting relative to the instrument center.

Combined scale factor

The product of the map projection scale factor and the elevation factor, used to convert ground distances to grid distances on a State Plane projection.

Grid versus geodetic azimuth

Grid azimuth differs from geodetic azimuth by the mapping angle (convergence) at the point; the sign depends on the position within the projection zone.