Surveying, which has recently also been interchangeably called geomatics (see
Section 1.2), has traditionally been defined as the science, art, and technology of
determining the relative positions of points above, on, or beneath the Earth’s surface,
or of establishing such points. In a more general sense, however, surveying
(geomatics) can be regarded as that discipline which encompasses all methods
for measuring and collecting information about the physical earth and our environment,
processing that information, and disseminating a variety of resulting
products to a wide range of clients. Surveying has been important since the beginning
of civilization. Its earliest applications were in measuring and marking
boundaries of property ownership. Throughout the years its importance has
steadily increased with the growing demand for a variety of maps and other spatially
related types of information and the expanding need for establishing accurate
line and grade to guide construction operations.