LAND-SURVEYING SOFTWARE

Autodesk makes surveying software for land surveyors, civil engineers, project managers and construction professionals.

What is land-surveying software?

Two engineers use their equipment to survey land at a job site.

Land-surveying software assists in the process of evaluating a 3D landscape to determine the angles and distances between a series of points. Measuring the positioning of these points is typically used to establish maps and boundaries for buildings and other subterranean civic projects.

How does land surveying work?

A locally employed surveyor at an open-pit copper mine in Zambia

Land surveyors use a variety of tools, such as total stations (which use beams of light and built-in electronic distance measurement to collect data and triangulate positions), GPS devices, theodolites, drones, retroreflectors, 3D laser scanners (US site) and other technological devices. Surveying also utilises knowledge and practices from many different fields, including trigonometry, geometry, engineering and physics. Today, the data and measurements collected by surveyors in the field can be fed into surveying software to generate precise calculations, visualisations and more.

Methods of land surveying

While there are many different land-surveying techniques, there are three fundamental ones that are used the most often. These three techniques can be used alone or in combination with each other.

  • Plane surveying

    Plane surveying

    One of the more commonly used surveying methods, this assumes that the Earth is a flat surface and disregards its curve.

  • Geodetic surveying

    Geodetic surveying

    Used for surveying large areas, this method takes the curvature of the Earth into account.

  • Aerial surveying

    Aerial surveys

    Data is collected from above via drones, planes and other aircraft.

Featured land-surveying software

  • Powerful BIM and CAD tools for designers, engineers and contractors, including Revit, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Autodesk Forma and more

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  • Civil engineering design and construction documentation.

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  • 2D and 3D CAD tools, with enhanced insights, AI-automations, and collaboration features. Subscription includes AutoCAD on desktop, web, mobile, and seven specialized toolsets.

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  • BIM 360 is a construction management platform that connects, organises and optimises projects from design to construction.

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  • Plan, design, construct and manage buildings with powerful tools for Building Information Modelling.

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  • Navisworks Manage, Navisworks Simulate software and the Navisworks Freedom 3D viewer for 5D analysis, design simulation and project review.

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See how customers are using land-surveying software

  • Morocco's Bouregreg River bridge

    EGIS

    6 Firms, 3 Continents, 1 Bridge

    Building Africa’s longest and tallest cable-stayed bridge in Morocco brought together 6 companies to collaborate across 3 continents.

  • Model of the new WWTP Zimmerberg

    HUNZIKER BETATECH AG

    Modernising aged water infrastructure

    The engineering firm was tasked with combining two aged wastewater treatment plants at one location. A task that could only be accomplished using BIM.

  • A section of the Havelland Autobahn being extended

    WAYSS & FREYTAG INGENIEURBAU AG

    BIM in the fast lane: the Havelland Autobahn extension

    The Autobahn is among the BIM pilot projects of the government's 2020 road map. The route will be widened to six lanes while traffic will remain open.

Land-surveying software tutorials

  • The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AutoCAD

     The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AutoCAD Basics

    This guide introduces you to the essential commands that you need to create 2D drawings in AutoCAD

  • Surveying Project in Civil 3D

    Survey tutorials in Civil 3D

    Uncover the guide to the basic commands needed to create and modify surveys in Civil 3D.

  • Tour of AutoCAD UI in AutoCAD

     Getting started with AutoCAD

    Explore the video series on getting started in AutoCAD. 

Land-surveying resources

Land-surveying FAQs