Jamaica Land Surveyors Board Exam flashcards
Jamaica Land Surveyors Board Exam · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Land Surveyors Board
- Statutory body in Jamaica that registers licensed land surveyors, sets standards of practice, and hears disciplinary complaints, with power to suspend or revoke a licence for misconduct.
- Indefeasibility of title
- Torrens principle under which the registered proprietor's title is conclusive and free from unregistered interests, subject to fraud and statutory exceptions such as caveats and overriding interests.
- Caveat
- Statutory notice lodged against a title to protect a claimed interest; it prevents registration of inconsistent dealings until the claim is resolved or the caveat lapses.
- Jamaica Datum 1969
- Classical geodetic reference frame for Jamaican mapping, based on the Clarke 1866 ellipsoid; modern GNSS work requires transformation to ITRF-based frames.
- Geoid separation N
- Difference between ellipsoidal height h and orthometric height H, expressed as h = H + N; needed to convert GNSS heights to levelling-based elevations.
- Combined scale factor
- Product of the ellipsoid reduction factor and the projection scale factor, used to convert measured ground distances to grid distances on a projected map.
- Transverse Mercator scale factor
- Grid scale increases with distance from the central meridian, approximately k = k0(1 + x²/2R²); distances must be corrected before use in boundary computations.
- Original monument control
- Undisturbed original survey marks in their documented positions govern boundary reinstatement; replacement marks must be tied to and shown relative to the original evidence.
- Adverse possession period
- In Jamaica, open, notorious, exclusive and continuous possession for the statutory period, generally twelve years, may support a claim to title by possession.
- Accretion versus avulsion
- Gradual imperceptible change shifts a riparian boundary with the water; sudden avulsion does not move the legal boundary, which remains where it was.
- Bowditch rule
- Compass rule distributing traverse misclosure in proportion to line length; applied to coordinates after angular misclosure is adjusted, before final coordinates are adopted.
- Least squares adjustment
- Estimation method minimising weighted squared residuals; solution x = (AᵀWA)⁻¹AᵀWl with covariance (AᵀWA)⁻¹ giving standard errors of adjusted quantities.
- Two-peg test
- Field procedure for detecting collimation error in a level by comparing height differences from equal and unequal sight distances; the error is then applied as a correction.
- Prism constant
- Correction applied to EDM distances to account for the offset between the instrument and prism reference points; an incorrect constant causes systematic scale error.
- Horizontal curve tangent
- Distance from the point of intersection to the point of curvature, computed as T = R tan(Δ/2), where R is radius and Δ the deflection angle.
- Vertical curve grade change
- Parabolic vertical curve with a = (g2 − g1)/(2L); the highest or lowest point occurs where the tangent grade equals zero.
- Average end-area volume
- Earthwork volume estimated as V = (A1 + A2)/2 × L between two cross-sections; the prismoidal formula gives a more accurate result for varying sections.
- Free station resection
- Total station position determined from measured directions or distances to at least three known control points; poor angular geometry greatly amplifies coordinate uncertainty.
- Breakline
- Line along a ridge, valley or embankment used in terrain modelling so that interpolation follows the true surface rather than creating false slopes.
- Contour interval
- Vertical distance between adjacent contour lines; chosen from map scale, relief and intended use, and stated on the map together with the datum.
- Map scale ratio
- Ratio of map distance to ground distance, such as 1:1 000 for detail design or 1:10 000 for planning; it determines the level of detail representable.
- Dilution of precision
- Measure of satellite geometry quality; high PDOP degrades positional accuracy, while HDOP and VDOP describe horizontal and vertical components respectively.
- RTK fixed solution
- Carrier-phase GNSS mode with resolved integer ambiguities giving centimetre accuracy; requires a base-rover link and short enough baseline to limit atmospheric error.
- Coordinate reference system
- Complete definition of datum, ellipsoid and projection used for coordinates; it must be declared for every dataset to prevent misregistration during integration.
- Spatial metadata
- Recorded source, accuracy, datum, date and processing of a spatial dataset; without it the data cannot be reliably assessed or reused by others.
- Vector data model
- Representation of spatial features as points, lines and polygons with attributes; topology rules enforce adjacency, connectivity and containment relationships.
- Torrens register
- Register of titles in which ownership is recorded by volume and folio; the register, not the deed, is the primary evidence of title in Jamaica.
- Registered plan precedence
- Where title dimensions and the registered plan disagree, the plan and its bearings, distances and monument evidence generally govern boundary reinstatement.
- Conflict of interest disclosure
- Professional obligation to disclose in writing any interest that could bias a survey; material conflicts require declining the engagement or informing affected parties.
- Contingent fee prohibition
- Ethical rule that survey fees must not depend on a boundary outcome, because such arrangements compromise the surveyor's independence and objectivity.
- Records retention duty
- Obligation to keep field notes, plans and digital data for the period prescribed by the Board and to produce them for audit or legal proceedings.
- Certification responsibility
- Signing a survey plan attests to the surveyor's personal professional judgement; certifying work not personally supervised constitutes misconduct.