ND Land Surveyor cheat sheet

Priority of evidence (hierarchy of calls): natural monuments, artificial monuments, courses and distances, area; written record evidence controls over measurements taken in the field.

Adverse possession in North Dakota requires N.D.C.C. ch. 28-01: 20 years of actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous possession; color of title with payment of taxes can shorten to 10 years under N.D.C.C. 28-01-08.

Boundary by acquiescence requires a mutual recognition of a line as the boundary, typically treated as a presumption rebuttable by clear evidence; practical location fixes an uncertain line the parties agreed to and then treated as binding.

Easements are appurtenant or in gross; a prescriptive easement requires the same elements as adverse possession except exclusivity, and North Dakota treats use of unenclosed land as permissive in some contexts.

Riparian boundaries: the thread of the stream rule applies to non-navigable streams; for navigable waters the state owns the bed and the ordinary high water mark is the boundary (equal footing doctrine).

Monument vs. measurement: when a monument of the original survey is found undisturbed, it controls the record distance; if the monument is lost, remonumentation should follow the original survey's evidence of position.

Deed construction: a call for a monument that can be located prevails over a call for an adjoining tract or a course/distance; ambiguity is construed against the grantor.

Record research order: chain of title, then original government survey plats and field notes, then subdivision plats and auditor's records; note section subdivision by the U.S. Public Land Survey System.

Traverse closure: linear error of closure = sqrt((sum departures)^2 + (sum latitudes)^2); precision = perimeter / linear error, expressed as 1:N.

Latitude = distance × cos(bearing), departure = distance × sin(bearing); bearings measured from north or south toward east or west, azimuths measured clockwise from north.

Adjustment by compass (Bowditch) rule: correction to each latitude/departure proportional to its length over total perimeter; transit rule uses total absolute latitude/departure.

Area by coordinates (shoelace): 2A = sum over i of (E_i × N_{i+1} − E_{i+1} × N_i); sign indicates clockwise or counterclockwise order.

Triangle solution: Law of Sines a/sin A = b/sin B = c/sin C; Law of Cosines c² = a² + b² − 2ab cos C for SAS or SSS cases.

Horizontal curve: T = R tan(Δ/2), L = RΔ (Δ in radians), M = R(1/cos(Δ/2) − 1), E = R(1/cos(Δ/2) − 1); degree of curve by arc definition D = 5729.578/R.

Vertical curve: elevation at any station = PVC elevation + g1 x + (g2 − g1)x²/(2L), with x measured from the PVC; high/low point where x = −g1 L/(g2 − g1).

Unit conversions: 1 acre = 43,560 ft² = 4046.856 m²; 1 mile = 80 chains = 5280 ft; 1 Gunter's chain = 66 ft; 1 rod = 16.5 ft.

NAD83 (2011) is the current horizontal datum for North Dakota; NAVD88 is the vertical datum; know the epoch of adjustment when reporting coordinates.

State Plane Coordinate System in North Dakota: two zones, North (3401) and South (3402), Lambert Conformal Conic; scale factor and convergence angle vary with longitude.

Grid vs. ground: grid distance = ground distance × combined factor, where combined factor = scale factor × elevation factor; elevation factor ≈ R/(R + h) with R ≈ 20,906,000 ft.

Geoid model (GEOID18) converts between ellipsoidal height h and orthometric height H: H = h − N, where N is geoid undulation.

Differential leveling: misclosure adjusted proportional to distance or number of setups; allowable misclosure often expressed as C × sqrt(miles) for a given order.

GNSS static/RTK: horizontal accuracy typically 1 cm + 1 ppm for static, 1–2 cm for RTK; vertical accuracy is about 2–3 times worse than horizontal.

Control densification must tie to NSRS passive marks or CORS; OPUS solutions require at least 2–4 hours of static data for reliable results.

Reciprocal vertical angles cancel curvature and refraction; combined curvature and refraction correction ≈ 0.0206 D² (D in thousands of feet, result in feet).

Scale of a vertical aerial photo = f/H, where f is focal length and H is flying height above ground; photo scale varies with terrain elevation.

Relief displacement d = r × h/H, where r is radial distance from principal point, h is object height, H is flying height; displacement is radial from the nadir.

Stereopair overlap: 60% endlap and 20–30% sidelap are typical; base/height ratio B/H controls vertical accuracy.

Orthophoto production removes relief displacement and tilt; digital orthophoto quarter quads (DOQQs) are referenced to NAD83 and often delivered at 1 m or 0.5 m resolution.

LiDAR: point density and pulse rate determine ground sampling; classified returns separate ground, vegetation, and buildings; accuracy reported as RMSEz.

NDVI = (NIR − Red)/(NIR + Red); values range −1 to 1, with healthy vegetation typically 0.3–0.9.

Map accuracy: National Map Accuracy Standards require 90% of well-defined points within 1/30 inch at map scale (horizontal) and one-half contour interval (vertical).

Photogrammetric control: pass points and ground control points must be well distributed; bundle adjustment minimizes residuals across all photos.

Map projections: conformal preserves angles (Lambert, Transverse Mercator), equal-area preserves area (Albers), equidistant preserves distance along specific lines.

Coordinate systems: geographic (latitude/longitude, degrees) vs. projected (linear units); always record datum and epoch with coordinates.

Topology rules in GIS: no gaps, no overlaps, no dangles; topology supports network analysis and parcel fabric maintenance.

Metadata standard: FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata or ISO 19115; record source, accuracy, projection, and lineage.

Vector vs. raster: vector stores points/lines/polygons with attributes; raster stores a grid of cells with a single value per cell, resolution controls detail.

Parcel data management: GIS parcel fabric must be reconciled with recorded deeds and plats; a GIS map is not a legal boundary unless adopted as such.

Map scale and generalization: larger scale (1:1,200) shows more detail than smaller scale (1:24,000); generalization reduces detail at small scales.

Data accuracy: positional accuracy is tested against higher-accuracy control; attribute accuracy is tested by sampling and comparison to source records.

Total station: measure horizontal and vertical angles plus slope distance; apply atmospheric and prism constant corrections; EDM accuracy often ±(2 mm + 2 ppm).

Digital level: uses bar-code staff; typical accuracy 0.3 mm/km double-run; check collimation before each project.

GNSS RTK: base station broadcasts corrections to rover; fix solution requires at least 5 satellites and good PDOP; check with a known point at start and end of session.

Traverse field procedure: close on known control, record all angles and distances, note instrument height and target height; perform a field check on a second known point.

Safety: traffic control per MUTCD, high-visibility apparel, locate underground utilities before digging, and follow lockout/tagout near power lines.

Instrument care: store in a dry, temperature-stable case; avoid pointing at the sun without a filter; calibrate levels and total stations on a schedule.

Field notes: record date, weather, party, instrument, and observations in a bound field book; do not erase - strike through errors and initial.

Leveling: balance backsight and foresight distances to cancel curvature, refraction, and collimation error; keep sight lines short.

Construction staking: set horizontal and vertical control, then stake offsets; check as-built against design before paving or pouring.

Grading: cut and fill volumes by average end area or prismoidal formula; mass haul diagrams balance cut and fill.

Horizontal and vertical alignment: design speed, superelevation, and stopping sight distance govern curve design; check clearances.

Stormwater: detention/retention design uses the rational method Q = CiA; check local and state drainage requirements.

Subdivision plat: show lots, blocks, streets, easements, and dedications; must be approved by the governing body and recorded.

Erosion and sediment control: silt fence, inlet protection, and stabilized construction entrances; inspect after each rain event.

ADA and accessibility: sidewalk cross-slope not steeper than 2%, running slope not steeper than 5% without landings.

As-built surveys document constructed improvements; compare to design and note deviations; deliver record drawings to the owner.

Professional ethics: practice only within competence, disclose conflicts of interest, and do not misrepresent qualifications or results.

Contracts: scope, schedule, fee, and deliverable should be in writing; standard of care is that of a reasonably prudent surveyor under similar circumstances.

Liability: errors and omissions insurance covers negligent professional acts; keep records for the statute of limitations period.

Seals and signatures: only a licensed surveyor may sign and seal survey documents; do not seal work you did not perform or directly supervise.

Confidentiality: protect client information; disclose only with consent or legal requirement.

Continuing education: North Dakota requires continuing professional competency hours for renewal; keep certificates.

Business records: retain field notes, computations, and correspondence for the period required by law and contract.

Advertising: do not use false or misleading statements; do not claim official affiliation with any agency.

North Dakota surveyor licensure is administered by the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors under N.D.C.C. ch. 43-19.1.

Boundary surveys in North Dakota follow the North Dakota Minimum Standards for Land Boundary Surveys; check current board rules for monumentation and filing requirements.

Corner recordation: monumented corners should be recorded with the county recorder; the state plane coordinate system in North Dakota uses two zones (North 3401, South 3402).

Plats and subdivisions: county and city platting authority review; the plat must be approved and recorded before lots are conveyed.

Adverse possession and boundary disputes are governed by N.D.C.C. ch. 28-01; prescriptive easements require open, adverse, continuous use for the statutory period.

Public lands: the federal government's original surveys and field notes are the basis for section subdivision; the Bureau of Land Management maintains the records.

Water boundaries: the state owns the beds of navigable waters; the ordinary high water mark is the boundary; check the current list of navigable waters.

Practice rules: the board may discipline licensees for incompetence, negligence, or violation of the rules; know the complaint process and continuing education requirement.

Priority of evidence: natural monuments, artificial monuments, courses and distances, area; record evidence controls over field measurements.

Adverse possession in North Dakota requires 20 years of actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous possession under N.D.C.C. ch. 28-01.

Boundary by acquiescence: mutual recognition of a line as the boundary, rebuttable by clear evidence; practical location fixes an uncertain line the parties agreed to.

Easements: prescriptive easement requires the same elements as adverse possession except exclusivity; use of unenclosed land may be permissive.

Riparian boundaries: thread of the stream for non-navigable streams; state owns the bed of navigable waters up to the ordinary high water mark.

Monument vs. measurement: an undisturbed original monument controls record distance; a lost monument is reestablished from original survey evidence.

Deed construction: a locatable monument call prevails over a call for an adjoining tract or a course and distance; ambiguity is construed against the grantor.

Record research order: chain of title, original government survey plats and field notes, then subdivision plats and auditor's records.

Traverse closure: linear error = sqrt((sum departures)² + (sum latitudes)²); precision = perimeter / linear error as 1:N.

Latitude = distance × cos(bearing); departure = distance × sin(bearing); azimuths measured clockwise from north.

Compass rule adjustment: correction proportional to length over total perimeter; transit rule uses total absolute latitude/departure.

Area by coordinates: 2A = sum of (E_i × N_{i+1} − E_{i+1} × N_i) around the traverse.

Law of Sines a/sin A = b/sin B = c/sin C; Law of Cosines c² = a² + b² − 2ab cos C.

Horizontal curve: T = R tan(Δ/2), L = RΔ (radians), M = R(1/cos(Δ/2) − 1), D = 5729.578/R by arc definition.

Vertical curve: elevation = PVC + g1 x + (g2 − g1)x²/(2L); high/low point at x = −g1 L/(g2 − g1).

Conversions: 1 acre = 43,560 ft²; 1 mile = 80 chains = 5280 ft; 1 chain = 66 ft; 1 rod = 16.5 ft.

NAD83 (2011) is the current horizontal datum in North Dakota; NAVD88 is the vertical datum; report the epoch.

North Dakota State Plane: two zones, North 3401 and South 3402, Lambert Conformal Conic; scale factor and convergence vary with longitude.

Grid distance = ground distance × combined factor; combined factor = scale factor × elevation factor; elevation factor ≈ R/(R + h).

Geoid model GEOID18: H = h − N, converting ellipsoidal height to orthometric height.

Differential leveling misclosure is adjusted proportional to distance or setups; allowable misclosure often C × sqrt(miles).

GNSS static accuracy about 1 cm + 1 ppm horizontal; RTK about 1–2 cm horizontal, vertical 2–3 times worse.

Control must tie to NSRS passive marks or CORS; OPUS solutions need at least 2–4 hours of static data.

Curvature and refraction combined correction ≈ 0.0206 D² (D in thousands of feet, result in feet).

Photo scale = f/H, where f is focal length and H is flying height above ground.

Relief displacement d = r × h/H, radial from the nadir; displacement increases with distance from the principal point.

Stereopair overlap: 60% endlap and 20–30% sidelap typical; B/H ratio controls vertical accuracy.

Orthophotos remove relief displacement and tilt; DOQQs are referenced to NAD83 at 1 m or 0.5 m resolution.

LiDAR: point density and pulse rate set ground sampling; classified returns separate ground, vegetation, and buildings; accuracy reported as RMSEz.

NDVI = (NIR − Red)/(NIR + Red); healthy vegetation typically 0.3–0.9.

National Map Accuracy Standards: 90% of well-defined points within 1/30 inch at map scale horizontally and one-half contour interval vertically.

Bundle adjustment uses well-distributed ground control and pass points to minimize residuals across all photos.

Conformal projections preserve angles (Lambert, Transverse Mercator); equal-area preserves area (Albers); equidistant preserves distance along specific lines.

Geographic coordinates are in degrees; projected coordinates are in linear units; always record datum and epoch.

Topology rules: no gaps, no overlaps, no dangles; topology supports network analysis and parcel fabric maintenance.

Metadata standard: FGDC CSDGM or ISO 19115; record source, accuracy, projection, and lineage.

Vector data stores points, lines, and polygons with attributes; raster data stores a grid of cells with one value per cell.

A GIS parcel fabric must be reconciled with recorded deeds and plats; a GIS map is not a legal boundary unless adopted as such.

Larger scale (1:1,200) shows more detail than smaller scale (1:24,000); generalization reduces detail at small scales.

Positional accuracy is tested against higher-accuracy control; attribute accuracy is tested by sampling against source records.

Total station measures horizontal and vertical angles plus slope distance; apply atmospheric and prism constant corrections; EDM accuracy often ±(2 mm + 2 ppm).

Digital level uses a bar-code staff; typical accuracy 0.3 mm/km double-run; check collimation before each project.

GNSS RTK: base broadcasts corrections to rover; fix requires at least 5 satellites and good PDOP; check against a known point at start and end.

Traverse procedure: close on known control, record angles and distances, note instrument and target heights, and field-check on a second known point.

Safety: traffic control per MUTCD, high-visibility apparel, utility locate before digging, and lockout/tagout near power lines.

Instrument care: store in a dry, temperature-stable case; avoid pointing at the sun without a filter; calibrate on schedule.

Field notes: record date, weather, party, instrument, and observations in a bound book; strike through errors and initial, never erase.

Leveling: balance backsight and foresight distances to cancel curvature, refraction, and collimation error; keep sight lines short.

Construction staking: establish horizontal and vertical control, stake offsets, and check as-built before paving or pouring.

Cut and fill volumes by average end area or prismoidal formula; mass haul diagrams balance cut and fill.

Alignment design: design speed, superelevation, and stopping sight distance govern curve design; check clearances.

Stormwater detention design uses the rational method Q = CiA; check local and state drainage requirements.

Subdivision plat shows lots, blocks, streets, easements, and dedications; must be approved by the governing body and recorded.

Erosion control: silt fence, inlet protection, and stabilized construction entrances; inspect after each rain event.

ADA: sidewalk cross-slope not steeper than 2%, running slope not steeper than 5% without landings.

As-built surveys document constructed improvements, compare to design, and deliver record drawings to the owner.

Practice only within competence, disclose conflicts of interest, and do not misrepresent qualifications or results.

Contracts should be in writing with scope, schedule, fee, and deliverables; standard of care is a reasonably prudent surveyor under similar circumstances.

Errors and omissions insurance covers negligent professional acts; retain records for the statute of limitations period.

Only a licensed surveyor may sign and seal survey documents; do not seal work you did not perform or directly supervise.

Protect client confidentiality; disclose only with consent or legal requirement.

North Dakota requires continuing professional competency hours for renewal; keep certificates.

Retain field notes, computations, and correspondence for the period required by law and contract.

Advertising must not be false or misleading; do not claim official affiliation with any agency.

Surveyor licensure is administered by the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors under N.D.C.C. ch. 43-19.1.

Boundary surveys follow the North Dakota Minimum Standards for Land Boundary Surveys; check current board rules for monumentation and filing.

Monumented corners should be recorded with the county recorder; North Dakota State Plane has two zones, North 3401 and South 3402.

Plats and subdivisions require county and city platting authority review; the plat must be approved and recorded before lots are conveyed.

Adverse possession and boundary disputes are governed by N.D.C.C. ch. 28-01; prescriptive easements require open, adverse, continuous use for the statutory period.

Original federal surveys and field notes are the basis for section subdivision; the Bureau of Land Management maintains the records.

The state owns the beds of navigable waters; the ordinary high water mark is the boundary; check the current list of navigable waters.

The board may discipline licensees for incompetence, negligence, or rule violations; know the complaint process and continuing education requirement.