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MI Land Surveyor practice questions

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Question 1Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

During a retracement survey in Michigan, a surveyor finds the original federal government survey stone at a section corner, but the bearing and distance in the recorded field notes differ slightly from the stone's position. Which evidence controls the corner location?

  1. The original government monument found in place Correct answer.
  2. The bearing and distance recorded in the field notes
  3. The nearest fence line maintained by the adjoining owners
  4. The area called for in the current deed

Explanation

Original government monuments, once positively identified, are the best evidence of the original survey and control over courses, distances, and area. A retracement surveyor should hold the monument and adjust subordinate calls rather than move the corner to the record distance.

Question 2Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

Michigan's statute of limitations for recovering title to land by adverse possession requires possession for how many years?

  1. 20 years
  2. 30 years
  3. 10 years
  4. 15 years Correct answer.

Explanation

Michigan's 15-year statute of limitations for actions to recover land, MCL 600.5801, is the period generally used for adverse possession. The claimant must also prove the other elements, such as open, hostile, and continuous possession.

Question 3Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

In the original U.S. General Land Office survey of Michigan, meander lines were run along lakes and streams. In a modern boundary survey of an inland lake lot, those meander lines are best treated as:

  1. Lines of title that override the deed's water call
  2. Public trust boundaries that fix the ordinary high-water mark
  3. Reference lines used to compute area, not the water boundary Correct answer.
  4. The true legal boundary of the upland parcel

Explanation

Meander lines were run to approximate the water's edge for calculating fractional lot areas; they do not fix the legal boundary. The boundary of land bordering a lake is generally determined by the water's edge or ordinary high-water mark under Michigan law.

Question 4Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

For more than 15 years, two Michigan neighbors have treated a fence as the property line, mowed to it, and repaired it, although their deeds overlap. Neither can prove all elements of adverse possession. Which doctrine is most directly available to fix the boundary at the fence?

  1. Prescriptive easement
  2. Easement by necessity
  3. Boundary by acquiescence Correct answer.
  4. Dedication by plat

Explanation

Michigan recognizes boundary by acquiescence when adjoining owners treat a line as the boundary for the 15-year statutory period and their conduct shows agreement. It can settle a boundary even if one party cannot prove every element of adverse possession.

Question 5Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A grantor owns a large Michigan parcel and conveys the east half by deed in 2010, then later conveys the west half by a deed that overlaps the first conveyance. Both grantees have notice of the prior deed. Under senior/junior rights, which deed generally prevails as to the overlap?

  1. The deed with the more precise metes-and-bounds description
  2. The earlier (senior) deed Correct answer.
  3. The later (junior) deed
  4. The deed recorded first, regardless of execution date

Explanation

When a common grantor conveys the same land twice, the first conveyance generally creates the senior title, and the later deed is junior as to the overlap. This assumes the later grantee is not protected by the recording act as a bona fide purchaser without notice.

Question 6Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

An original section corner in Michigan is destroyed and cannot be found. Two identified original corners remain on the same section line. What is the proper method to reestablish the lost corner?

  1. Use single proportionate measurement between the two remaining corners Correct answer.
  2. Set it at the record bearing and distance from the nearest remaining corner
  3. Set it at the intersection of the section's record centerlines
  4. Use the average of the deed distances to the adjoining owners

Explanation

A lost corner is reestablished by proportionate measurement between the nearest existing original corners on the line. Record bearing and distance from one corner are not used alone because they would ignore the original survey's error of closure.

Question 7Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

To establish a prescriptive easement over a neighbor's land in Michigan, the claimant must show use that is:

  1. Exclusive, written, and recorded for 15 years
  2. Necessary for access and continued for 20 years
  3. Open, notorious, adverse, and continuous for 15 years Correct answer.
  4. Permissive and occasional for 15 years

Explanation

A prescriptive easement in Michigan requires use that is open, notorious, adverse, and continuous for 15 years. Exclusivity is not required, and permissive use defeats the claim.

Question 8Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan parcel fronts on an inland lake. The deed describes the parcel as running "to the lake." What right does the upland owner generally have as a riparian proprietor?

  1. Reasonable use of the water and access to it Correct answer.
  2. The right to exclude all public use of the lake
  3. Ownership of the lake bed to the center of the lake
  4. The right to drain the lake for agricultural use

Explanation

A riparian owner on a Michigan inland lake has riparian rights, including reasonable use of the water and access. Ownership of the lake bed depends on the specific lake and chain of title and is not automatically to the center.

Question 9Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan deed describes a parcel as bounded by a non-navigable stream but does not state whether the boundary is the bank or the center. Under the common-law rule generally applied to non-navigable streams, the boundary is:

  1. The low-water mark on the opposite side
  2. The ordinary high-water mark on the grantor's side
  3. The edge of the stream's floodplain as shown on the current FEMA map
  4. The thread (center) of the stream unless the deed limits the call to the bank Correct answer.

Explanation

For non-navigable streams, Michigan generally follows the common-law rule that a grant bounded by the stream carries title to the thread or center. A deed may limit the boundary to the bank by clear language.

Question 10Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan court applies the doctrine of practical location to a long-disputed boundary. What is the effect?

  1. It converts the dispute into a prescriptive easement over the overlapping strip
  2. It binds the parties to a line they agreed on and treated as the boundary Correct answer.
  3. It requires the boundary to be relocated to the nearest original government monument shown on the survey
  4. It treats the deed line as controlling regardless of the parties' conduct

Explanation

Under practical location, a boundary line agreed upon and acted on by adjoining owners can be binding even if it varies from the deed line. The doctrine rests on the parties' conduct and intent to fix a boundary, not on a new conveyance.

Question 11Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan deed conveys a parcel 'lying on Lake Michigan' but gives no water boundary call. Under Michigan law, the parcel's lakeward boundary is:

  1. the vegetation line at the top of the bluff
  2. the centerline of Lake Michigan
  3. the ordinary high water mark Correct answer.
  4. the water's edge as it exists on the date of survey

Explanation

Michigan follows the common-law rule that the boundary of littoral upland on the Great Lakes is the ordinary high water mark. The state holds title to the submerged bottomlands lakeward of that mark in trust for the public. A surveyor should not treat the current water's edge or a vegetation line as the legal boundary.

Question 12Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan metes-and-bounds deed calls for a line to run 210 feet to an iron pipe set at the corner, but the pipe lies 200 feet from the point of beginning. In retracing the deed, which call controls?

  1. The iron pipe monument Correct answer.
  2. The bearing of the line
  3. The deed's stated acreage
  4. The 210-foot distance

Explanation

In deed construction, calls are ranked so that monuments control over courses and distances, and distances control over quantity. The called-for iron pipe is the best available evidence of the corner's location, so the 210-foot distance yields to it. Acreage and bearing are subordinate calls.

Question 13Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan deed describes a parcel by metes and bounds and adds 'containing 40 acres, more or less.' The closed figure computes to 38.5 acres. In a boundary dispute, the acreage statement is:

  1. equal in weight to the monuments called for
  2. controlling because it is a specific quantity
  3. conclusive if the deed is recorded
  4. the least reliable call and does not control Correct answer.

Explanation

Quantity or acreage is generally the weakest element of a deed description, especially when qualified by 'more or less.' The metes and bounds calls, particularly monuments and distances, control over the stated area. A recorded deed does not make its acreage recital conclusive.

Question 14Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan river changes course suddenly during a single flood, abandoning its old channel and cutting a new one across a riparian parcel. Under the avulsion doctrine, the property boundary:

  1. moves to the thread of the new channel
  2. moves to the ordinary high water mark of the new channel
  3. remains at the former channel location Correct answer.
  4. is divided equally between the affected owners

Explanation

Avulsion is a sudden, perceptible change in a stream channel, and under Michigan law it does not move property boundaries. The boundary remains where the channel ran before the flood; gradual accretion or reliction, by contrast, can change the boundary. The new channel does not become the line merely because water now flows there.

Question 15Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

In Michigan, O conveys a parcel to A, who does not record. O then conveys the same parcel to B, who pays value, has no notice of A's deed, and records before A. In a dispute between A and B, who prevails?

  1. A, because A's deed was executed first
  2. B only if B takes by quitclaim deed
  3. A, because B had constructive notice of A's unrecorded deed
  4. B, under the race-notice statute, because B recorded first Correct answer.

Explanation

Michigan's recording statute is a race-notice statute: a subsequent purchaser for value who takes without notice and records first prevails over a prior unrecorded conveyance. A's earlier unrecorded deed does not defeat B's protected position. Recording is the act that perfects B's priority.

Question 16Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan owner sells an interior parcel that becomes landlocked, retaining surrounding land. The buyer claims an easement by necessity over the seller's remaining land. Which element is essential?

  1. continuous use for the statutory prescriptive period
  2. a written reservation in the buyer's deed
  3. payment of additional consideration to the seller
  4. strict necessity at the time of severance Correct answer.

Explanation

An easement by necessity arises when a common owner severs land and one parcel becomes landlocked or strictly inaccessible. The necessity must exist at the time of severance, and no written reservation is required. Prescriptive use and additional payment are irrelevant to this implied easement.

Question 17Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

In the U.S. General Land Office system used in Michigan, standard parallels (correction lines) are established primarily to:

  1. mark the boundaries of meandered lakes and streams
  2. identify fractional lots within each section
  3. correct for meridian convergence between township lines Correct answer.
  4. separate the state's principal meridian from the base line

Explanation

Standard parallels, or correction lines, are run generally every 24 miles to compensate for the convergence of meridians. They reset the township grid so township lines do not drift excessively from six-mile intervals. Meander lines and fractional lots are handled within the township plat, not by correction lines.

Question 18Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan landowner occupies and improves land up to an old fence, honestly believing the fence is the true line. In an adverse possession claim, this possession is:

  1. presumptively permissive because the fence was not surveyed
  2. hostile, because hostility requires use without permission, not intent Correct answer.
  3. insufficient unless the claimant had a recorded deed
  4. not hostile because the claimant lacked intent to take another's land

Explanation

Michigan applies an objective test for hostility in adverse possession: the claimant's use must be without permission and inconsistent with the owner's rights. A mistaken belief that the fence is the true line does not defeat hostility. A survey and a recorded deed are not elements of the common-law claim.

Question 19Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

An original GLO corner monument no longer stands, but a nearby bearing tree, original field notes, and undisturbed fence evidence establish its position. This corner is best classified as:

  1. fractional, because its section lines are irregular
  2. lost, because the monument itself is gone
  3. obliterated, because collateral evidence fixes its position Correct answer.
  4. meandered, because it lies near a watercourse

Explanation

An obliterated corner is one whose original monument is gone but whose position can be recovered from collateral evidence such as bearing trees, field notes, or undisturbed physical evidence. A lost corner has no such evidence and is reestablished by proportioning between known corners. Calling every missing monument 'lost' would incorrectly discard reliable evidence.

Question 20Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan deed describes a parcel as 'the lot conveyed to Jones in 1985,' but the grantor had conveyed two different lots to Jones that year. A court admits extrinsic evidence of the parties' intent. This is proper because the ambiguity is:

  1. a scrivener's error that voids the deed
  2. cured automatically by recording the deed
  3. latent, arising when the description is applied to the ground Correct answer.
  4. patent on the face of the deed and cannot be explained

Explanation

A latent ambiguity arises when a description that appears clear on its face becomes uncertain when applied to the land, as with two lots conveyed to Jones. Michigan courts may admit extrinsic evidence of the parties' intent to resolve that uncertainty. A patent ambiguity is apparent on the face of the deed and is treated differently.

Question 21Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan deed conveys 'the SW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Section 22, T4N, R9W.' In a regular section without survey error, how many acres does this aliquot description contain?

  1. 80 acres
  2. 40 acres Correct answer.
  3. 20 acres
  4. 160 acres

Explanation

A quarter-quarter description covers one-sixteenth of a section. A regular section contains 640 acres, so 640 divided by 16 equals 40 acres.

Question 22Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

Michigan's Marketable Record Title Act (MCL 565.101 et seq.) generally extinguishes stale interests in land unless they are preserved and have been unrecorded for how many years?

  1. 15 years
  2. 30 years
  3. 40 years Correct answer.
  4. 20 years

Explanation

The Marketable Record Title Act uses a 40-year search period to establish a root of title. Interests older than the root of title are extinguished unless preserved by a proper notice or filing.

Question 23Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan grantor signs a quitclaim deed conveying 'all of grantor's right, title, and interest' in a parcel. What does this deed convey to the grantee?

  1. A fee simple title free of all prior interests
  2. A covenant against encumbrances
  3. Whatever interest the grantor actually owns at the time of conveyance Correct answer.
  4. Title that is void unless the grantor later acquires the parcel

Explanation

A quitclaim deed transfers only the grantor's present interest, if any. It contains no warranty and cannot convey more than the grantor owns at the time.

Question 24Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

Over many years, a Michigan inland lake gradually deposits sand along the frontage of a riparian parcel, adding 30 feet of dry land. The deed bounds the parcel 'on the lake.' Who owns the newly formed strip under the doctrine of accretion?

  1. No one until a new patent issues
  2. The riparian owner Correct answer.
  3. The adjacent riparian owners as tenants in common
  4. The State of Michigan

Explanation

Accretion is the gradual and imperceptible addition of land by natural deposition. Under Michigan law the riparian owner takes title to the newly formed land because the lake boundary moves with the water.

Question 25Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan owner sells the back half of a parcel that has no other access, retaining the front half that fronts a public road. The buyer claims an easement by implication across the retained frontage. In addition to unity of ownership and reasonable necessity, what must the prior use have been?

  1. Apparent, continuous, and reasonably necessary at the time of severance Correct answer.
  2. Approved by the township board
  3. Open and notorious for the 15-year adverse possession period
  4. Expressly recited in the deed

Explanation

An implied easement from prior use arises at severance when the use was apparent, continuous, and reasonably necessary to the enjoyment of the conveyed parcel. It does not require a 15-year prescriptive period or deed language.

Question 26Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan deed conveys 'Lot 7 of the Riverside Plat, as recorded in Liber 4, Page 12,' and also states 'containing 2.1 acres, more or less.' A survey shows Lot 7 actually contains 1.85 acres. What controls the parcel's limits in a boundary dispute?

  1. The stated acreage
  2. The assessor's parcel map
  3. Lot 7 as shown on the recorded plat Correct answer.
  4. A surveyor's opinion of the best fit

Explanation

A call to a recorded plat incorporates the plat's lines and monuments into the deed. Area is the lowest-ranked call in deed construction, so the lot as platted controls over the stated acreage.

Question 27Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan landowner has used a 12-foot-wide driveway across a neighbor's land for 20 years to reach a barn. The owner now wants to widen it to 20 feet for farm equipment. What is the scope of the prescriptive easement?

  1. Extended to any use the owner chooses
  2. Limited to the 12-foot width historically used Correct answer.
  3. Void because the use was not in writing
  4. Automatically expanded to serve any later need

Explanation

A prescriptive easement is limited to the use that created it in nature, extent, and duration. Widening the driveway beyond the historical 12-foot use exceeds the easement unless the servient owner agrees or a new prescriptive period is satisfied.

Question 28Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan grantor who owns land on both sides of a public highway conveys a lot abutting the highway's right-of-way by a deed that does not mention the road. Absent a contrary intent, the grantee takes title to what?

  1. No interest in the road because the state owns all highways
  2. The surface only to the edge of the right-of-way
  3. The entire right-of-way in fee simple absolute free of the public easement
  4. To the centerline, subject to the highway easement Correct answer.

Explanation

Michigan follows the common-law presumption that a conveyance of land abutting a public right-of-way carries fee title to the centerline. The public holds an easement for highway purposes, so the grantee takes subject to that easement.

Question 29Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

An interior section corner in a Michigan township is lost. The four nearest original section corners in the four cardinal directions are found and accepted. Under General Land Office retracement rules, how is the lost corner reestablished?

  1. By restoring it at the mathematical center of the section
  2. By setting it at the record bearing and distance from the nearest corner
  3. By double proportionate measurement using the four found corners Correct answer.
  4. By single proportionate measurement between two corners on one line

Explanation

A lost interior corner is restored by double proportionate measurement. The surveyor runs lines between the found opposite corners and intersects them, proportioning in both north-south and east-west directions rather than using record distances.

Question 30Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan deed describes the east 100 feet of a parcel, but both grantor and grantee intended to convey the west 100 feet, and the error is proven by clear and convincing evidence. What remedy is available?

  1. Damages for breach of warranty
  2. Nothing, because the deed is conclusive
  3. Reformation of the deed to reflect the parties' mutual intent Correct answer.
  4. Rescission only

Explanation

Reformation is an equitable remedy available when a deed fails to express the parties' mutual intent because of a mutual mistake. Michigan requires clear and convincing evidence; a unilateral mistake by one party generally will not support reformation.

Question 31Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

In Michigan, a person who occupies private land without permission may acquire title by adverse possession only after satisfying the general limitations period. How long is that period?

  1. 15 years Correct answer.
  2. 5 years
  3. 20 years
  4. 10 years

Explanation

Michigan's general statute of limitations for recovering land is 15 years, so adverse possession ordinarily requires 15 years of continuous, open, hostile, and exclusive possession. Special statutory periods can differ, but 15 years is the general rule.

Question 32Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

Michigan's recording statute protects a later purchaser of land only if that purchaser takes in good faith, pays value, and records before the earlier unrecorded conveyance. This makes Michigan's statute which type?

  1. Race-notice statute Correct answer.
  2. Pure notice statute
  3. Tracing statute
  4. Pure race statute

Explanation

Michigan's statute protects a later purchaser who takes in good faith, pays value, and records first. That combination makes it a race-notice statute, not a pure race or pure notice statute.

Question 33Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

In the federal rectangular survey system as used in Michigan, a regular township is divided into how many numbered sections?

  1. 36 Correct answer.
  2. 32
  3. 25
  4. 16

Explanation

A regular township is a six-mile-square block containing 36 sections of nominally one square mile each. Sections are numbered 1 through 36 beginning in the northeast corner and running back and forth across the township.

Question 34Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan deed conveys Lot 5 “subject to a 20-foot-wide utility easement of record.” What is the legal effect of this language?

  1. The grantee receives title free of the easement.
  2. The grantor reserves a new utility easement over Lot 5.
  3. The grantee takes title burdened by the recorded easement. Correct answer.
  4. The easement is extinguished by the deed reference.

Explanation

“Subject to” identifies an existing burden and limits the warranty, but it does not create or reserve a new interest in the grantor. The grantee takes the lot encumbered by the recorded easement.

Question 35Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan deed from a stranger to the chain of title is recorded in the county register of deeds. In a later dispute, what notice does that recording generally provide to a purchaser of the parcel?

  1. Record notice only after the purchaser records a deed.
  2. Inquiry notice only if the stranger is openly in possession of the parcel.
  3. No constructive notice; it is outside the chain of title. Correct answer.
  4. Constructive notice to every later purchaser of the parcel.

Explanation

A deed recorded by a grantor who does not appear in the recorded chain of title is a “wild” deed. It is outside the chain of title and generally gives no constructive notice to later purchasers, although actual or inquiry notice may still exist.

Question 36Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan buyer purchases a parcel without inspecting the land, and the seller's tenant is visibly farming part of it under an unrecorded lease. What notice is the buyer charged with?

  1. Inquiry notice; the buyer must ask about the tenant's interest. Correct answer.
  2. Record notice only after the tenant records a memorandum of lease in the register's office.
  3. Constructive notice under the recording statute.
  4. No notice, because the lease is unrecorded.

Explanation

Visible possession by someone other than the seller puts a purchaser on inquiry notice. The buyer must inquire into the possessor's interest and is charged with what a reasonable inquiry would reveal, even if the lease is unrecorded.

Question 37Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan deed grants “a right-of-way across Lot 3 for access to Lot 4,” and the same grantor owns both lots when the deed is made. This interest is best classified as what?

  1. An easement in gross benefiting the grantee personally.
  2. A license revocable by the grantor.
  3. An easement appurtenant benefiting Lot 4. Correct answer.
  4. A fee simple determinable in Lot 3.

Explanation

An easement is appurtenant when it benefits a particular parcel, here Lot 4, rather than the grantee personally. It passes automatically with transfers of the benefited parcel.

Question 38Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

In the GLO surveys of Michigan, a meander line run along a lake shore was intended primarily to do what?

  1. Mark the line of navigability for public easement purposes.
  2. Compute the area of fractional lots bordering the water. Correct answer.
  3. Establish the legal water boundary at the ordinary high water mark.
  4. Set the boundary between riparian owners' wharf rights.

Explanation

Meander lines were run to calculate the area of fractional government lots along water bodies, not to fix the water boundary. The water boundary itself is generally governed by the water's ordinary high water mark or the applicable legal rule.

Question 39Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

In a Michigan GLO township, the lots in the north and west tiers are often shown as numbered fractional lots rather than regular quarter-quarter descriptions. What survey condition most directly causes this?

  1. Section lines must be run true north, while meridians converge. Correct answer.
  2. The township's base line is offset from the principal meridian.
  3. The GLO reserved all waterfront land as fractional.
  4. Section corners were set at random intervals to follow terrain.

Explanation

In the rectangular survey, section lines are intended to run north-south, but meridians converge toward the pole. That convergence, together with correction lines, leaves fractional lots in the north and west tiers of many townships.

Question 40Boundary Surveying and Legal Principles

A Michigan grantor owning 100 acres conveys the east 60 acres to A by a recorded deed. The grantor later conveys the west 60 acres to B. The two descriptions overlap by 20 acres. If neither party had notice of a conflicting claim, which grantee generally prevails as to the overlap under senior/junior rights?

  1. B, because B's deed was recorded later and is more specific.
  2. B, because the west 60 acres is a larger parcel.
  3. Neither; the overlap escheats to the state.
  4. A, because A's deed is the earlier conveyance. Correct answer.

Explanation

When a grantor conveys overlapping parcels, the first conveyance in time generally prevails to the extent of the overlap, assuming the senior grantee's interest is valid. The junior grantee takes only what the grantor still owned, though recording-act and notice issues can alter priority.

Question 41Geodetic and Control Surveying

Under NAD83, how is the Michigan State Plane Coordinate System organized into zones?

  1. Four zones, one for each quadrant of the state
  2. One zone covering the entire state with a single central meridian
  3. Two zones divided at the 44th parallel
  4. Three zones: North, Central, and South Correct answer.

Explanation

The Michigan State Plane Coordinate System in NAD83 is divided into three zones: Michigan North, Michigan Central, and Michigan South. Each zone carries its own Transverse Mercator projection parameters and false northing and easting, so a coordinate is meaningless unless the zone is identified with it.

Question 42Geodetic and Control Surveying

An orthometric height, such as the elevation published for an NGS benchmark, is referenced to which surface?

  1. The WGS84 ellipsoid used for GNSS positions
  2. The geoid, approximated by mean sea level Correct answer.
  3. The GRS80 reference ellipsoid
  4. A best-fit plane through the local tide-gage record

Explanation

Orthometric heights, including NAVD 88 benchmark elevations, are measured from the geoid, the equipotential surface of the Earth's gravity field that best fits mean sea level. Ellipsoid heights from GNSS are measured from the reference ellipsoid instead, so the two differ by the geoid undulation.

Question 43Geodetic and Control Surveying

In horizontal geodetic surveying, a datum such as NAD83 is best described as which of the following?

  1. The published list of passive control monuments that NGS maintains for each state
  2. The set of State Plane projection parameters that a state adopts for each zone
  3. The mathematical model of the geoid used to compute orthometric heights
  4. The ellipsoid parameters plus the placement and orientation of its axes Correct answer.

Explanation

A horizontal geodetic datum fixes both the ellipsoid, through its size and shape, and the position and orientation of that ellipsoid relative to the Earth. Ellipsoid parameters alone cannot produce usable coordinates until the datum ties the ellipsoid to the physical Earth.

Question 44Geodetic and Control Surveying

A ground distance of 5,280.00 ft is measured between two points inside a State Plane zone. Using a combined scale factor of 0.99995, what is the equivalent grid distance?

  1. 5,280.26 ft
  2. 5,279.47 ft
  3. 5,280.05 ft
  4. 5,279.74 ft Correct answer.

Explanation

Grid distance equals ground distance multiplied by the combined scale factor: 5,280.00 x 0.99995 = 5,279.736 ft, which rounds to 5,279.74 ft. Because the factor is slightly less than one, the grid distance is slightly shorter than the measured ground distance.

Question 45Geodetic and Control Surveying

In a Transverse Mercator State Plane zone, the line along which the projection scale factor is exactly 1.000000 is which of the following?

  1. The segment of the equator lying inside the zone
  2. The central meridian of the zone Correct answer.
  3. The standard parallel nearest the zone center
  4. The zone boundary meridian farthest from the central meridian

Explanation

On a Transverse Mercator projection the cylinder is tangent along the central meridian, so the scale factor there is exactly 1.0. Scale error grows with distance east or west of that meridian, which is why zones are kept narrow or designed as secant projections.

Question 46Geodetic and Control Surveying

A differential level loop 2.4 mi long closes with a misclosure of 0.048 ft. Using an allowable misclosure of 0.05 times the square root of M ft, where M is the loop length in miles, what is the allowable misclosure and does the loop pass?

  1. 0.024 ft; the loop fails
  2. 0.120 ft; the loop passes
  3. 0.077 ft; the loop passes Correct answer.
  4. 0.050 ft; the loop fails

Explanation

The allowable misclosure is 0.05 x the square root of 2.4, which equals 0.05 x 1.549 = 0.077 ft. The observed 0.048 ft is smaller than that, so the loop meets the criterion and the misclosure can be distributed proportionally to distance.

Question 47Geodetic and Control Surveying

When a static GNSS session is submitted to NGS's Online Positioning User Service (OPUS), the computed solution is derived from which of the following?

  1. A broadcast ephemeris only, with no reference stations
  2. The user's own base receiver position held fixed as the only control
  3. The single closest continuously operating reference station
  4. Three CORS processed simultaneously with the submitted data Correct answer.

Explanation

OPUS processes the uploaded static session simultaneously with data from three NGS continuously operating reference stations in a least-squares solution. Using three well-distributed references instead of one provides a check on the position and a realistic estimate of uncertainty.

Question 48Geodetic and Control Surveying

For high-precision geodetic control, which GNSS observable provides the baseline accuracy needed for a network adjustment?

  1. Doppler shift recorded at the rover antenna only
  2. Carrier-phase data differenced between receivers Correct answer.
  3. Broadcast almanac parameters decoded at the rover
  4. C/A-code pseudorange smoothed over a 30-second interval and averaged

Explanation

Carrier-phase observations have wavelengths near 19 cm on L1, and differencing between receivers and epochs cancels satellite and receiver clock errors, giving millimeter-to-centimeter baseline precision. Code pseudorange alone is limited to roughly the meter level and cannot support high-order control work.

Question 49Geodetic and Control Surveying

A station has an ellipsoid height of 250.00 m and a geoid undulation of minus 33.00 m, meaning the geoid lies below the ellipsoid. Using H = h - N, what is the orthometric height of the station?

  1. Minus 283.00 m
  2. 217.00 m
  3. 250.00 m
  4. 283.00 m Correct answer.

Explanation

Orthometric height equals ellipsoid height minus geoid undulation: H = 250.00 - (-33.00) = 283.00 m. A negative undulation, typical in Michigan, means the geoid lies below the ellipsoid, so the orthometric height is larger than the ellipsoid height.

Question 50Geodetic and Control Surveying

Why should a single combined scale factor be applied with caution to a State Plane line that is several kilometers long?

  1. The combined factor is rounded to six decimal places by NGS, which causes closure errors in long lines
  2. Applying the factor twice converts grid distance back to ground, so the two corrections cancel
  3. The combined factor applies only to distances measured with GNSS and not to total station work
  4. Scale factor varies with easting and elevation, so an average factor or segmented line is used Correct answer.

Explanation

Both the projection scale factor, which changes with easting, and the elevation factor, which changes with height above the ellipsoid, vary along a long line. A single average factor is adequate for short lines, but long lines should be evaluated with an average of end-point factors or split into segments to avoid a systematic error in the grid distance.