Surveying basically provides position information on the surface or above the Earth and its temporal variations. Geodesy provides the corresponding reference frames for surveying bysed on physical and geophysical considerations.
Surveying and geodetic measurements are performed on terrestrial, air-borne (e.g. UAV) and satellite-borne platforms, and delivers information both on visible light (surveying, phtogrammetry) and other frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum (Remote Sensing). Based on the measurements, geometry, maps, remote sensing and geoinformatic data are derived, and used for a wide range applications, including civil engineering, exploration geophysics, military, hydrology, ecology, oceanography, glaciology and geology. Surveying is the basic of all engineering tasks. |