Eric D. Colburn, PLS

Spotty The Spotted Turtle

Yesterday I was cutting line for a roughly 40 acre survey I’m working on when I came across this Spotted Turtle. He or she – we really didn’t get to know each other that well in the short time we visited together – turned out to be the shy type.

Spotty can’t be blamed for being defensive and shy; a six foot tall humanoid carrying a machete would be reason enough. Two woods travelers crossing paths, a few words exchanged, a couple of pictures snapped, and then we parted ways. OK, so I did all the talking, but I could tell that Spotty was warming up to me and was just about ready to open up.

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Just a few land surveying photographs and images from the USGS I thought were interesting. I hope you enjoy them, too.

Professional Land Surveyor Source

USGS

High Standard Alidade

Cast Bronze Benchmark

Leather Boots The soles of made of heavy-duty rubber with metal studs

This Professional Land Surveyor Survey Party is brought to you by EricColburn.com – Professional Land Surveyor Source – showing a few pictures I snapped while carrying out land surveying field work somewhat recently.

Most of these pictures were taken within the last few weeks, which you might be able to tell by the snow and/or stark cold looking locales, but a couple are from a few months ago when the climate was a little warmer (and greener). Right after the most recent pictures were taken we got hit with that blizzard most of you along the eastern seaboard got hit with too, getting 18-20 inches of snow. The good news is that today, most of that snow is gone!

GPS Base Station

Did I Mention It's In A Cemetery

NGS Control Disk Chepachet 1968

GPS Rover Station

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Milton Denny marks and documents a previous “Ellicott?mound” he discovered. The Ellicott mounds once served as the border between the U.S. colonies and Spanish Florida. Photo by Justin Schuver.

The following news story is a very interesting article I found about Professional Land Surveyors participating in an Auburn University-sponsored workshop, “Locating the Ellicott Mounds Along the Alabama/ Florida Boundary”:

Andalusia starting point for ‘mound hunt’

Professional surveyors look for centuries-old markers of Alabama-Florida line

By Justin Schuver (Contact) | Andalusia Star-News

Published Friday, December 4, 2009

More than 35 professional surveyors and engineers are visiting Andalusia this week to take part in a “hidden treasure” hunt. But in this case, their treasure is literally nothing more than piles of dirt.

The professionals are participating in the Auburn University-sponsored workshop, “Locating the Ellicott Mounds Along the Alabama/ Florida Boundary.” The Ellicott mounds were established in 1799 by Andrew Ellicott and a team of both Spanish and American surveyors, and were used to mark the 31st parallel and show the boundary between Alabama and Spanish-owned Florida.

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Here are a few of the many fantastic and interesting photographs submitted on the Professional Land Surveyor Facebook Group. Visit our group to see all of the other wonderful photographs and to submit your favorite land surveying pictures, too!

Ice Road Surveying on Alaska's North Slope in early November, along the Chukchi Sea. Photo by Ken DeCamp

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USGS Director McNutt a Leader in U.S. Delegation at International Conference

3D Black Hills, South Dakota, USA

Free, easily accessible U.S. satellite data enables any citizen, scientist, or analyst who can use the information to contribute to a shared vision of the challenges facing our planet.

That’s the message the newly-appointed director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Dr. Marcia McNutt, plans to deliver when representatives of 80 governments and over 50 participating organizations convene at the international Group on Earth Observations (GEO-VI) meeting, November 16-17, in Washington, D.C.

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Wire Fence in Tree

Wire Fence in Tree

Wire Fence in Tree

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For fun here are a few Independence Day videos and images. Happy 4th of July everyone! Read the rest of this entry →

Celebrate Earth Science Week

Earth Science Week 2009 Photography Contest. “How Climate Shapes My World”

The American Geological Institute (AGI) is sponsoring a photography contest to celebrate Earth Science Week 2009. The photography theme for this year is: “How Climate Shapes My World.”

The photography contest is open to interested persons of any age. You must be a resident of the United States to enter.

Your photograph should focus on the topic “How Climate Shapes My World.”

If you were putting together a travel brochure about your local area, what image would best represent your climate? No matter where you are, your climate affects – and is affected by – air, water, land, and living things. Use your camera to get the best possible “Climate Capture,” and submit it to this year’s Earth Science Week Photo Contest.

Professional Land Surveyor Source: EarthScienceWeek.org

PICTURESQUE AU SABLE CHASM, NEAR LAKE CHAMPLAIN, IS ABOUT TO BE SURVEYED FOR A STATE PARK

I came across this newspaper article from the New-York tribune. (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, August 10, 1902. The title of this pictorial is “PICTURESQUE AU SABLE CHASM, NEAR LAKE CHAMPLAIN, IS ABOUT TO BE SURVEYED FOR A STATE PARK (Photographs by Katherine E. McClellan.)”.

The five captions to the photographs are:

• THE ELEPHANT’S HEAD.
• CROSSING TO DEVILS OVEN.
• THE BOAT IN THE FLUME.
• CATHEDRAL ROCKS.
• TABLE ROCK.

Perhaps it’s a little wanderlust but this sounds like a great surveying adventure to me. Hard work? Yes. Unforgiving, yet beautiful, terrain? Yes. Days full of challenges? Yes. But in the end, I bet it was done and done well. Or, is this a more a more generic usage of the term “surveyed”?

In either case, it looks like magnificent lands.

Anyone familiar with this park and/or survey? If so, leave us a comment below.