National Geodetic Engineering Summit 2026 Quiz Bowl

Flashcards covering terms and concepts from the National Geodetic Engineering Summit 2026 Quiz Bowl transcript, including legal acts, surveying techniques, and geodetic science.

National Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)

The government agency created to implement RA 8371.

Intermediate Sight

The first reading made with the staff on a point of known reduced level.

Triangulation Surveys

Surveys carried out to provide Planimetric and Height Control.

Public Land Survey

All original surveys of lands of the public domain classified as alienable or disposable pursuant to public lands laws.

Quarry Permit Land Limit

The maximum land area an applicant may apply for/under a quarry permit is $5$ hectares.

Lambert Conformal Conic Projection

The map projection most appropriate for urban land registration when combined with Photogrammetric Surveys.

Fathom

One unit equivalent to $9$ feet according to the transcript.

Balanacan to Baltazar Azimuth

$$9^{\circ}12'37"$$

Regalian Doctrine Statement

According to the 1987 Constitution Article XII Section 2, all lands of the public domain and natural resources are owned by the State.

Orthorectification

A method of transforming a photo to a horizontal plane to remove displacements caused by tilts and relief.

Geoid

Described by WGS 84 as the equipotential surface of the earth, often used as a datum in determining heights and elevation on the earth surfaces.

Digitizing

The process where features on a map or image are converted into digital format for use in GIS.

Balanacan to Baltazar Distance

$$37,680.90\,m$$

Balanacan to Baltazar Back Azimuth

$$189^{\circ}11'50.60"$$

Contour Lines

Lines on a map which connect points of the same elevation referenced from a datum, capable of showing terrain shape.

PD 1529

A law that aims to strengthen the Torrens system by documenting the transfer of property rights from one owner to the next.

Visual Hierarchy

A component of graphic map design focused on symbolizing relevant information so important details are visually more prominent.

Bursa-Wolfe Transformation Parameters

$$7$$

SADD

An acronym for the four key factors cartographers must note in map projections: Shape, Area, Distance, and Direction.

Reference Systems

The theoretical/conceptual definition serving as the backbone for forming coordinate systems.

Orthophoto

An aerial photograph in which parallax and scale distortions are already removed.

Celestial Sphere

An imaginary, infinitely large sphere with the Earth at its center, used to map the positions of stars and planets.

Map Design

The aggregate of thought processes involving decisions on scale, projection, typography, and color during the abstraction phase.

Valley

The landform indicated by a series of V-shaped contour lines pointing to a higher elevation.

Four Classifications of Public Land

As per Section 3 of Article XII: Agricultural Land, Mineral Land, Timberland, and National Parks.

Spectral Resolution

The specific wavelength intervals in the electromagnetic spectrum that a sensor can record.

Right Ascension

The angle between the equinoctial colure and the hour circle of a star measured from the vernal equinox in the plane of the celestial equator.

GNSS Satellites Required

At least $4$ satellites are needed to pinpoint a location accurately on the surface of the Earth.

IHO Survey Orders

Special, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd orders as defined in publication S-44 edition 98.

Hachure

Rows of short, nearly parallel lines whose spacing, weight, and direction produce a shading-like effect.

Harmonic Function

A function said to satisfy the Laplace Equation at every point in a given region.

Relief Displacement

The displacement of an object due to a change in the point of observation.

Distortion

A shift in the location of an object that causes changes in perspective characteristics of a photo.

Geostationary Orbit

An orbit lying on the plane of the Earth’s equator where a satellite travels at the same angular velocity as the Earth.

Ellipsoid

The mathematical surface of reference often referred to as the 'idealized representation of the Earth'.

Pilar, Bataan

The location where the first cadastral project was conducted in the Philippines.

Transducer

A component in hydrographic surveys that converts electric energy to high-frequency sounds.

Thematic Map Symbols

The two major classes are Replicative and Abstract Symbols.

High Pass Filter

An image filter used to enhance edges between different regions to make an image look sharper.

Digital Terrain Model (DTM)

A subset of digital elevation data representing terrain features like slope and elevation while excluding land cover.

Nanosecond Sat-Clock Inaccuracy

Results in $30\,cm$ of error.

Mean Sea Level Cycle

An arithmetic mean of water elevations over a specific $19$-year cycle.

Geodetic Torsion

The twisting of a surface along a curved path, specifically regarding the orientation change of a normal vector.

Bouguer Anomaly

The difference between observed and theoretical gravity after correcting for elevation and topographic mass.

Chronometric Levelling

A high-precision method of determining height differences using ultra-accurate atomic clocks.

Orbital Perturbation

A deviation in a satellite’s orbit caused by gravitational forces, atmospheric drag, or solar radiation.

Ephemeris

A table or data set listing the positions of celestial bodies at regular intervals.

Declination

The angular distance north or south of the celestial equator, similar to latitude.

InSAR

Acronym for Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar.

RA 8560

The republic act that defines the practice of Geodetic Engineering in the Philippines.

Pushbroom Scanning

Another name for Along Track Scanning.

Strike

The direction of a line formed by the intersection of a bedding plane and a horizontal plane.

Sounding

The process of measuring the depth of a body of water at a particular point.

Whiskbroom Scanning

Another name for Across/Cross Track Scanning.

Error of Omission

The error corresponding to Producer's Accuracy.

Boreholes

Narrow shafts bored in the ground for extracting liquids, gases, or geotechnical investigation.

Co-production Agreement

An agreement where the Government provides inputs to mining operations other than the mineral resource.

Black Body

A hypothetical radiator that completely absorbs and re-emits all incident radiation.

Terrestrial Radiation

Energy emitted from the earth and atmosphere, detectable both day and night.

Stope

An underground 'room' or working area from which ore is removed.

Transmission

When radiation passes through the atmosphere without significant attenuation.

Winze

A vertical or inclined opening driven downwards (sunk) from a point inside a mine.

Offshore Exploration Limit

The maximum area for a corporation is $1,000$ blocks under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

Refraction

The bending of light rays at the contact between two media that transmit light.

Pixel

The smallest individual element in an image holding quantized values.

Atmospheric Windows

Portions of the atmosphere and spectrum which are transparent to electromagnetic radiation (EMR).

Scattering

The dispersion of radiation in all directions by particles or large molecules in the atmosphere.

Image Histogram

A plot where pixel values are on the horizontal axis and the frequency of pixels is on the vertical axis.

Minimum Mapping Unit

The smallest area that is represented on a map.

GPS L2 Signal

A frequency of $1227.60\,MHz$.

Least Square

A mathematical method used to estimate parameters by minimizing the sum of the squares of measurement residuals.

Vernier

A small graduated mechanical device used to increase the accuracy of readings on linear or circular scales.

Pls

The letters engraved on a Mojon marker established for a Public Land Survey.