S+SNZ Spatial Measurement study guide
S+SNZ Spatial Measurement · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
Survey and Spatial New Zealand (S+SNZ) is a professional association representing members in the survey and spatial sector in New Zealand, describing a diverse and fast-growing membership and the ethos of 'Measuring success together'. Its members work across land development and urban design, resource management, civil engineering surveying, positioning and measurement, cadastral surveying, hydrographic surveying, and the spatial/GIS sector - the same seven areas the Spatial Measurement examination is built around, each carrying roughly the same weight. The S+SNZ Spatial Measurement study guide has 7 sections and about 2,547 words.
01Land Development and Urban Design
Land development converts a planning framework into serviced, legal, buildable parcels. Understand the sequence: feasibility and due diligence, scheme plan, subdivision resource consent, engineering design, construction, section 224(c) certification, survey and title issue.
347 words, about 2 min02Resource Management
The Resource Management Act 1991 is the core statute: its purpose (s 5) is sustainable management of natural and physical resources. Section 6 matters of national importance (coastal environment, outstanding natural features and landscapes, indigenous vegetation and habitat, wahi tapu, the Maori relationship with ancestral lands, water and sites) must be recognised and provided for; s 7 other matters must have particular regard; s 8 requires the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
375 words, about 2 min03Civil Engineering Surveying
Engineering surveying transfers design geometry from the drawing into the ground, then verifies what was built. Understand the control hierarchy: primary control, secondary control and transfer benchmarks (TBM), all reduced to a single datum.
389 words, about 2 min04Positioning and Measurement
Positioning in New Zealand is built on the geodetic datum NZGD2000 (effectively aligned to ITRF at 2000.0), realised through a network of continuously operating GNSS stations. Positions are projected to NZTM2000 : a Transverse Mercator projection with central meridian 173 degrees east and central scale factor k0 = 0.9996.
366 words, about 2 min05Cadastral Surveying
New Zealand operates a Torrens (Land Transfer) system: the register, not the deed, is the evidence of title, and the Crown guarantees it. The statutory framework is the Land Transfer Act 2017, the Cadastral Survey Act 2002, and the Cadastral Survey Rules 2021, administered by LINZ and applied by licensed cadastral surveyors.
369 words, about 2 min06Hydrographic Surveying
Hydrographic surveying maps the seabed and water column for navigation, dredging, engineering and environmental purposes. The controlling standard is IHO S-44 Edition 6.0.0 , which defines survey orders - Special, 1a, 1b and 2 - each with limits on total vertical uncertainty (TVU), total horizontal uncertainty (THU) and feature detection.
350 words, about 2 min07Spatial / GIS
A GIS combines geometry, attributes and coordinate reference information. Know the data models - vector (point, line, polygon) and raster (cells, resolution) - and the operations: selection by attribute or location, buffer, clip, intersect, union, spatial join, dissolve and network analysis.
351 words, about 2 min