New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules
Lan - Board of Licensure for Land Surveyors
Chapter Lan 500 - ETHICAL STANDARDS
Part Lan 503 - TECHNICAL STANDARDS
Section Lan 503.02 - Definitions

(a) "As-built survey" means a survey performed to detail the horizontal and vertical positions of the physical improvements of all or part of a tract, parcel, or lot of land.

(b) "Construction survey" means a survey to position on the ground physical structures and/or improvements that have been designed for a particular tract of land.

(c) "Dilution-of-precision value (DOP)" means a measure of the accuracy of the readings based on the dispersion of the visible GPS satellites.

(d) "Elevation mask" means the cut-off angle for tracking satellites, set at 15 degrees above the GPS receiver's horizon.

(e) "Farmland and woodlot (F) surveys " means surveys of property of unimproved or improved lands used as farmland, woodlots, or wetlands, surveys of land which lie in remote, sparsely populated areas with difficult terrain, or both.

(f) "Field notes", electronic or written, means the permanent detailed record made by a surveyor as he is in the process of establishing a boundary.

(g) "Geoid model" means the hypothetical surface if water reacted to gravity alone, over the entire surface, used as a base datum for determining heights.

(h) "Global positioning system (GPS) survey" means any survey in which the location of property features, for whatever purpose, are primarily measured using observations of radio signals transmitted from satellites in a GPS. This survey includes all equipment and procedures from the planning stage to the reporting of final results.

(i) "Land title survey" means a survey that conforms to the requirements of a particular land title insuring agency or "Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys", adopted 2016 by the National Society of Professional Land Surveyors and the American Land Title Association as specified in Appendix B.

(j) "Least squares" means a mathematical method of the adjustment of observation, based on the theory of probability.

(k) "Line of possession" means a line defined by physical evidence of occupation.

(l) "Linear misclosure" means the straight-line bearing and distance error by which a survey traverse loop fails to close.

(m) "Loop closure" means the comparison to the elements of a polygon of the positional measurements of a survey traverse whose successive instrument set-ups form a loop.

(n) "Monument" means a physical object, natural or artificial in nature, which marks the location of a corner or other survey point.

(o) "Observation rate" means the stipulated short period of time between each of the downloads to storage from a GPS receiver's microprocessor, also known as the sampling rate or data interval.

(p) "Plat" means a plan drawn to scale showing all essential data pertaining to the boundaries and subdivisions of a tract of land, as determined by survey.

(q) "Root collar" means that portion of a tree which is above ground and below the elevation at which the tree becomes merchantable or cylindrical.

(r) "Rural (R) surveys" means surveys of property that lie outside urban and suburban areas.

(s) "Sideshot" means a reading or measurement from a survey station to locate a point which is not intended to be used as a base for the extension of the survey.

(t) "Standard property survey" means a survey of boundary, easements, rights of way and/or leases performed with research, field survey and analysis of all factors affecting and influencing the location of the boundaries, easements, rights-of-way, and leases of record, within or immediately surrounding the tract, parcel or lot.

(u) "Statistical accuracy data" means results of the comparison of differences between the observed positions and those derived as elements of a network of polygons, using statistical analysis.

(v) "Survey classification" means a specific survey type based upon the location and/or use of the site to be surveyed.

(w) "Topographic survey" means a survey to determine the configuration, relief or elevation of a portion of the earth's surface, including the location of natural and/or man-made features thereon.

(x) "Urban, suburban, industrial, commercial, condominium and multi-unit residential surveys (U)" means surveys of property lying within or adjoining a developed area of a city or town.