Assess your understanding of key land survey methods and their applications in modern agricultural practices. Explore different tools, techniques, and interpretations used by professionals to enhance field productivity and management.
Which land survey technique is most commonly used to create detailed topographic maps for agricultural field planning?
Explanation: Plane table surveying allows for real-time plotting of detailed topographic features directly in the field, making it a common choice for agricultural mapping. Compass traversing is mainly used for measuring distances and bearings, hydrographic surveys are for water bodies, and photogrammetry uses aerial imagery, which is less direct for detailed ground features.
What is a key advantage of using a grid sampling method for soil survey in agriculture?
Explanation: Grid sampling divides the field evenly, ensuring that samples represent the whole area uniformly. Although it can require more manpower than random sampling, it is not specifically suited for hilly terrain, and it uses soil collection rather than just visual estimation.
A surveyor uses GPS receivers mounted on tractors to map field boundaries with high precision. What is this method called?
Explanation: GPS surveying uses satellites and receivers to determine precise locations and boundaries, making it suitable for agricultural mapping. Tacheometric surveying uses optical instruments, chain surveying involves tape or chains, and traverse adjustment is a computation, not a method.
If contour lines on a farm survey are spaced closely together, what does this indicate about the land?
Explanation: Closely spaced contour lines show rapid changes in elevation, indicating steeper slopes. Flat land would have widely spaced contours; drainage and sandiness relate to soil properties, not directly to contour spacing on a map.
Which information source is best for updating large-scale maps of crop areas during the growing season?
Explanation: Satellite imagery can be frequently updated and covers large areas, making it highly effective for monitoring crops. Field diaries and hand-drawn sketches are limited and subjective, while archive reports provide historic but not current data.