Lesson Note On Field Notes

Field Notes

The field notes of the surveyor must contain a complete record of all measurements made during the survey with sketches and narration, where necessary, to clarify the notes. The best field survey is of little value if the notes are not complete and clear. They are the only record that is left after the field party leaves the survey site.

All field notes should be lettered legibly. Numerals and decimal points should be legible and permit only one interpretation. Notes must be kept in the regular field notebook and not on scraps of paper for later transcription. The field notebook is a permanently bound book (not loose-leaf) for recording measurements made in the field.

Field note recording takes three general forms: tabulations, sketches, and descriptions. Two, or even all three forms, are combined when necessary to make a complete record.

Tabulation — Measurements may be recorded manually in a field book or they may be recorded electronically through a data collector. Electronic data collection has the advantage of eliminating reading and recording errors.

Sketches — Sketches add much to clarify electronic data collection files and should be used as a supplemental record of the survey. They may be drawn to an approximate scale, or important details may be exaggerated for clarity. Measurements may be placed directly onto the sketch or keyed in some way to the tabular data. A very important requirement of a sketch is legibility. It should be drawn clearly and large enough to be understandable.

Descriptions — Tabulations with or without added sketches can also be supplemented with descriptions. The description may only be one or two words to clarify the recorded measurements, or it may be quite lengthy in order to cover and record pertinent details of the survey.

Note: Erasures are not permitted in field notebooks.

Individual numbers or lines recorded incorrectly shall be lined out and the correct values added. Pages that are to be rejected are crossed out neatly and referenced to the substituted page. This procedure is mandatory since the field notebook is the book of record and it is often used as legal evidence.