CEE 251: Engineering Spatial Measurements

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CEE 251 - Engineering Spatial Measurements

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Catalog Description

251 Engineering Spatial Measurements. I, II; 2 cr (P-E). Introduction to the fundamentals of engineering measurements; units of measurement; significant figures; errors in measurement; measuring devices and their calibration; measurements of distances, angles, elevations and other engineering quantities; construction measurements; reference coordinate systems for point positioning, datums; mapping. P: Math 221, ME 170 or cons inst.

Course Prerequisite(s)

CEE 251

Prerequisite knowledge and/or skills

Mathematics, including elementary differential calculus.
Civil engineering graphics, including construction and interpretation of plan, profile, and cross-section views.
Fundamentals of computer-aided drafting (CAD).

Textbook(s) and/or other required material

Elementary Surveying, 10th Ed., Wolf and Brinker, Harper Collins College Publishers, 2000.

Course objectives

This course will develop students' knowledge of
geospatial measurements and applications of such measurements to the planning, design, construction and operation of common Civil and Environmental Engineering projects.
the types of instruments, techniques and detailed procedures used for making geospatial measurements in a field environment.
the nature of the errors that occur in geospatial measurements and the resultant effects of those errors after propagation through computations that involve the measured quantities.
the techniques involved in collecting, processing and plotting the types of geospatial data necessary for constructing engineering-scale topographic maps and other engineering drawings such as profile plots.
the geodetic datums and coordinate systems that provide the reference frameworks required for most applications of geospatial data and information, including mapping, construction stakeout, property boundary descriptions, and Land and Geographic Information Systems (LIS/GIS).
effective approaches to setting up and presenting engineering problem solutions with clarity and completeness; and the interpersonal and communication skills required for successful teamwork.

Topics covered

GeoSpatial measurements and errors; accuracy and precision; significant figures; measurement statistics (2 lectures).
Geodesy and geodetic datums; reference coordinate systems; 2-D coordinate transformations; U.S. Public Land Survey System; other property descriptions (3 lectures).
GeoSpatial data acquisition: instruments, techniques, field procedures, fieldnotes and data reductions (4 lectures).
GeoSpatial control networks: computations and adjustments (2 lectures).
Mapping principles; topographic data acquisition and reduction; map compilation; Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) (2 lectures).
Construction staking and measurements; GIS/LIS (1 lecture).

Class/laboratory schedule

One 50-minute class period per week.
One 2-hour laboratory period per week.

Contribution of course to meeting the professional component

This course contributes primarily to the students' knowledge of engineering topics, but does not provide design experience.

The following statement indicates which of the following considerations are included in this course: economic, environmental, ethical, political, societal, health and safety, manufacturability, sustainability.

General economic considerations are included, e.g., the costs of different types of instruments utilized for making geospatial measurements, and the relative costs of different procedures for collecting geospatial data. Ethical standards of professional conduct are alluded to within the context of licensure as a professional land surveyor or geospatial information engineer. Environmental, societal, and health and safety considerations are mentioned in connection with potential benefits that may be derived as a result of establishing a land or geographic information system, particularly for use at the local government level.

Relationship of course to undergraduate degree program objectives and outcomes

This course primarily serves students in the department. The information below describes how the course contributes to the undergraduate program objectives.

Upon successfully completing this course, students .................................................

......will have gained an ability to better understand, and to have experienced the use of, instrumentation and methods to acquire geospatial data, including assessments of accuracy and errors for the data and for the computed results.

......will have an improved ability to select and apply appropriate analysis methods to solve well defined problems, using knowledge of mathematics, statistics, computer science and CAD tools.

......will have gained experience in developing teamwork and communication skills.

......will have an improved ability to prepare accurate, well organized, written engineering solutions as well as plotted engineering drawings and maps.

Assessment of student progress toward course objectives

One or two short quizzes (10%) plus mid-term (25%) and final examinations (30%).
Assigned and graded homework problems (10%).
Laboratory exercises, including field data acquisition sessions as well as indoor data reduction and/or computation periods (25%). Some of the computation labs are completed individually, but most of the field work and data reduction/computation labs are completed by small teams of about 3 students each.

Person(s) who prepared this description

Raad A. Saleh

Copyright 2007 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Date last modified: 02-Aug-2007
Content by: cee@engr.wisc.edu
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