LAND SURVEY TERMS
GLOSSARY OF U.S. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT SURVEYING AND MAPPING TERMS L
Land Survey Terms, A convenient source for our clients and website visitors
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l – Liter
LA. – Louisiana.
LA – Land access
LAGEO – Laser Geodynamic Satellite
LAGIC – Louisiana Geographic Information Center
LA MER (Land Status Records) – Louisiana Meridian.
LAMP – Low Altitude Mapping Photogrammetry
LAMPS – Laser-scan Automated Map Production System
LAT (Land Status Records) – Latitude.
LCR – Lower Colorado River.
LD (Land Status Records) – Interior Land Decisions.
LH (Land Status Records) – Light House.
LIC (Land Status Records) – License.
LM – See UNITED STATES LOCATION MONUMENT.
LO (Land Status Records) – Land Office.
LOC (Land Status Records) – Location.
LONG (Land Status Records) – Longitude.
L&R – Division of Lands and Recreation.
LS – Land Surveyor – if followed by a number it indicated the land surveyor’s registration number.
LS (Land Status Records) – Lieu selection.
LSBL (Land Status Records) – Leaseable.
LSE (Land Status Records) – Lease.
LTR (Land Status Records) – Letter.
LU (Land Status Records) – Land Utilization.
LAKE – An extensive sheet of water enclosed by land, occupying a hollow in the earth’s surface. The name is
sometimes loosely applied, too, to the widened part of a river, or to a sheet of water lying along a coast, even
when it is connected with the sea; there are many graduations, in fact, between bays and lagoons which are
almost enclosed and coastal lakes.
LAMBERT CONFORMAL CONIC MAP PROJECTION – A map plotting system in which points on the
ellipsoid are mathematically projected onto a cone with its axis identical with the polar axis. The cone surface
may be tangent to the ellipsoid or it may cut below the surface (secant) creating two parallels where the scale is
exact. The secant form of this projection is the basis of State Plane Coordinate Systems where the zone extends
more east-west than north-south.
LAMBERT GRID – An information designation of a plane coordinate system based on a Lambert conformal map
projection.
LANDFORM – The shape into which a part of the earth’s surface is sculptured by natural forms.
LAND LINE ADJUSTMENT (USGS) – Positioning the public land lines on the topographic map to indicate their
theoretical, or approximate location relative to the adjacent terrain and culture, by reconciling the information
shown on BLM Plats with the ground evidence of the location of the lines.
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LANDMARK – 1) An object of enough interest or prominence in relation to its surroundings to make it outstanding
or to make it useful in determining a location or a direction. 2) Any monument or material mark or fixed object
used to designate the location of a land boundary on the ground. See LANDMARK*.
LANDSCAPE MAP – A topographic map made to a relatively large scale and showing all details. Such maps are
required by architects and landscape gardeners for use in planning buildings to fit the natural topographic
features and for landscaping parks, playgrounds, and private estates. These are generally maps of small areas,
and a scale is used of 1 inch equals 20 feet to 1 foot equals 50 feet, depending on the amount of detail.
LAND SURVEY – The process of determining land boundaries and areas. See CADASTRAL SURVEY* and
LAND SURVEY*.
LAPLACE AZIMUTH – A geodetic azimuth derived from an astronomic azimuth by use of the Laplace equation
which correlates geodetic and astronomic azimuths using observed longitude and known geodetic position.
LAPLACE STATION – One of several stations selected at intervals in a large system of geodetic triangulation or
traverse where both astronomic azimuth and longitude observations are made for the purpose of determining the
Laplace correction.
LARGE SCALE MAP – A detailed map at scales of 1” = 1000 ft., or even 1” = 100 ft. See SMALL SCALE MAP.
LASER – An acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.” A device producing coherent
energy beams in the spectrum of light or near-light frequencies.
LATITUDE – 1) The angle between the plane of the earth’s equator and a normal to surface at the point. 2) The
north-south component of a traverse course. See GEODETIC LATITUDE and ASTRONOMIC LATITUDE.
LEAGUE – See MARINE LEAGUE.
LEAST SQUARES – A mathematical method for the adjustment of observations, based on the theory of
probability. In this method, the sum of the squares of all the computed corrections is made a minimum.
LEFT-READING – A descriptive term for a reverted or mirror image.
LEGEND – A description, explanation, table of symbols, and other information, which is printed on a map or chart
for a better understanding and interpretation of it.
LEGENDRE’S THEOREM – The lengths of the sides of a spherical triangle (very short by comparison with the
radius of the sphere) are equal to the lengths of the corresponding sides of a plane triangle in which the plane
angles are derived by reducing each of the spherical angles by approximately one-third of the spherical excess.
LENS, COLOR CORRECTED – A camera lens specially designed for taking color photographs. Chromatic
aberration has been corrected to provide substantially optimum resolution for all visible and near infrared wavelengths on the same focal plane.
LENS DISTORTION – An aberration affecting the position of images of the optical axis. The radial component is measured from the principal point. The tangential component is measured normal to a radial line from the principal point.
LENS ELEMENT – One lens of a complex lens system.
LEVEL – 1) Horizontal. 2) A leveling instrument. 3) An attachment (such as a spirit level) to indicate when an
instrument or other device is level. See AUTOMATIC LEVEL, CIRCULAR LEVEL, DUMPY LEVEL, ENGINEER’S LEVEL and TILTING LEVEL.
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LEVEL CIRCUIT – The measurement of bench mark elevations by spirit leveling in two different directions from
one end of the circuit to another. Different turning points are used in each of the two different directions.
LEVEL DATUM – A surface used as a reference for elevation or depth measurements. It may consist only of an
assumed elevation value for a given benchmark or may be based on mean sea level.
LEVELING (OR LEVELING) – 1) The process of measuring the difference of elevation between any two points,
usually by spirit leveling. 2) The process of orienting the photogrammetric model to a level surface during
absolute orientation. See FLY LEVELING, GEODETIC LEVELING, RECIPROCAL LEVELING, SPIRIT
LEVELING, TRIGONOMETRIC LEVELING and WATER LEVELING.
LEVEL SURFACE – A surface which at every point is perpendicular to the plumbline or the direction in which
gravity acts.
LIGHT – That form of radiation that is capable of detection by the human eye. Visible radiation (about 0.4 to 0.7
micron in length).
LIGHT SCATTER – Breaking up of light rays by refraction and reflection from particles of moisture or solid
matter suspended in the atmosphere.
LIGHT, TRANSMITTED – Light that has traveled through a medium without being absorbed or scattered.
LIMITED REVISION (USGS) – The correction of specified map deficiencies only. Usually this will be confined
to the updating of certain major features which would be specified for each project, or it might be limited to
certain types of features within portions of a total project area. See MAP REVISION.
LINEAR PARALLAX – See preferred ABSOLUTE STEREOSCOPIC PARALLAX.
LIST OF DIRECTIONS – A tabulation of points or objects observed during triangulation with the horizontal
directions referred to an initial.
LITHOGRAPHY – A printing process in which the image to be printed is ink-receptive and all other areas are ink-
repellent. See OFFSET PRINTING.
LITTORAL – Of or pertaining to, a shore, especially a seashore. More specifically applied to the depth zone of the
sea floor lying between tide levels.
LOBE – The tongue of land within a meander. When the lobe lies between two stream meanders and is connected
with the mainland by a narrow passage, the narrow passage is the neck. The cutting action of the river narrows
the neck until finally the river breaks through and forms a new channel or a cutoff.
LOCATION SURVEY – 1) The establishment on the ground of points and lines which have been previously been
determined by computation, or by graphical methods, or by description obtained from deeds and maps or other
records. 2) In private practice of surveying, survey of a lode mining claim.
LOGICAL CONTOURING – Sketching contours on a map using spot elevations taken at breaks in slope.
LONGITUDE – The dihedral angle between the observer’s meridian and an arbitrary initial meridian (usually
Greenwich). See ASTRONOMIC LONGITUDE, GEODETIC LONGITUDE, GREENWICH MERIDIAN and
WASHINGTON MERIDIAN*.
LOW-OBLIQUE PHOTOGRAPH – An oblique aerial photograph that does not include the apparent horizon.
LOXODROME – See RHUMB LINE.
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