FUNDAMENTAL SURVEYING Geodesy and Map Projections 2

Question 1

What is the scale factor in State Plane Coordinates?

Accepted Answer

The ratio of grid distance to ground distance

Answer

The scale factor (k) is the ratio of grid distance to geodetic distance on the ellipsoid at a given location.

Question 2

What is the combined scale factor used for in surveying computations?

Accepted Answer

To convert ground distances to grid distances (or vice versa)

Answer

The combined scale factor (= ellipsoid factor × scale factor) converts ground distances to grid distances for use in SPC or UTM computations.

Question 3

UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) divides the world into how many zones?

Accepted Answer

60 zones

Answer

UTM divides the world into 60 zones, each 6° of longitude wide, numbered 1–60 from west to east.

Question 4

What is the central meridian scale factor in the UTM projection?

Accepted Answer

0.9996

Answer

UTM uses a scale factor of 0.9996 at the central meridian to reduce maximum distortion across the 6° zone.

Question 5

What is the 'convergence angle' (γ) in a map projection?

Accepted Answer

The angle between grid north and true (geodetic) north

Answer

The convergence angle (grid declination) is the angular difference between grid north and true (geodetic) north at any given point.

FUNDAMENTAL SURVEYING Practice Test