How To Read A Topographic Survey Map

Know your scale — the scaling of topographic maps is the same as the scaling of standard maps. It is the art of measuring horizontal and vertical distances between objects, measuring angles between lines, determining the direction of lines, and of establishing points by predetermined angular and linear measurements.

Aspen, Colorado — Scott Reinhard Maps (With images) Map

Planimetric maps contain symbols, roads, rivers, and other distinguishable landmarks but lack any way to determine elevation.

How to read a topographic survey map. The first key is to understand the color codes on a topographic map. You can look at a topographic map and quickly see where the hills, rivers, peaks, and valleys are. Classic 7.5 minute usgs topographic map for manitou springs, colorado, 1961.

For any map, you have to learn to read and understand the language of the map. To read the contour lines on a map, first note the direction your map faces. We recently covered the basics of topographic maps, including how to read contour lines, and how to use the maps to plan your next outing.

Read the map it’s important to understand the scale of the map when analyzing it. When you are navigating, a topographic map can show you where you are, what route to. It does this by using contour lines.

Geological survey (usgs) topo maps. It would be thousands of years before cartographers (map makers) could chart large areas of terrain with any real accuracy. This lesson will help students learn how to read that map.

These maps show the land's contours, elevations, mountains, valleys, bodies of water, vegetation and more. A contour line is a line that connects points of equal elevation. On the poster is atopographic map of salt lake city.

The scale on any topographic map will tell you how many miles, or fractions of a mile, one inch. Most maps are oriented with north at the top of the map. How to read a topographic map.

Typically the usgs maps have a scale at the bottom and you can use that measurement on the map to calculate the distance between two points. If you have a paper map, the scale is easy to understand. In this post, we’ll go into more detail about u.s.

Look closely at the map legend. To read a topographic map, it is necessary to know the principles behind the symbols on the map. First, look for the map’s scale, which will let you know how much detail the map contains.

Contour lines on a topographic map. A map’s scale is typically represented in inches on american maps. See the map below showing this example.

Generally, green indicates denser vegetation, while light or colorless areas suggest open terrain. And, as you’d expect, streams and lakes are shown in blue. In some cases, this language is expressed using words, but more often it’s done through the use of symbols.

One of the advantages to using a topographical map is that it shows the three dimensional lay of the land. Surveying has to do with the determination of the relative spatial location of points on or near the surface of the earth. Each map sheet is physically about 29 inches high and 22 inches wide.

A topographic map can be easy to read once you know the details. It shows the relative distance of the map to the physical world. This contour and elevation information distinguishes them from other maps.

The map reading guide is an ideal resource for a wide range of map users and is an excellent and simple introduction to topographic maps which are suitable for anyone with an interest in maps. A map’s scale connects the. With all those map basics out of the way, we can finally start looking at how to actually read a topographic map.

For example, a scale of 1:24000 indicates that 1 inch of the map is equal to 24,000 inches in the real world. On the topo map they appear as the brown lines. The first known maps to include geographical features were found in ancient rome.

How to use topographic maps edition 4. Start by studying what each line, symbol and color means. Your survey will display information based on a scale.

A survey’s legend is typically presented on the right hand side of the survey, or along the bottom of the document. It is available as a pdf download below. Reading and interpreting contour lines may seem intimidating at first, but it’s actually quite simple and is a valuable skill for learning to how to read a topographic map.

A separate set of topographic maps represent alaska. On these maps, one inch equals 24,000 inches or 2000 feet.

Dolphin Engineers are providing topographic survey, DGPS