List of standards, guidelines, manuals, and best-practice guides in geomatics, land surveying, geodesy and geospatial engineering

Standards

A standard is a rule or requirement that is determined by a consensus opinion of users. It prescribes the accepted and (theoretically) the best criteria for a product, process, test, or procedure. The benefits of a standard are safety, quality, interchange ability of parts or systems, and consistency across international borders.

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s leading developer of International Standards. It is a global network that identifies and delivers international standards required by business, government and society. Several ISO standards are applicable to the Geomatics profession (the ISO 191XX family, ISO12858, ISO17123 and ISO9000).

The ISO 9000 standard is concerned with quality management. It represents an international consensus on good management practices aimed at ensuring a business or organization consistently delivers products or services that meet the customer’s quality and regulatory requirements. An ISO 9001:2000 certification is considered proof of a supplier’s capability to design, manufacture, and supply quality conforming products and services. This standard prescribes regular instrument calibration (if possible) and testing. The ISO 191XX (6709, 19104, 19111, 19116,19127, 19132, 19133, 19134, 19145) family concerns standardization in the field of digital geographic information. They aim to establish a structured set of standards for information concerning objects or phenomena that are directly or indirectly associated with a location relative to the Earth. Of particular interest is ISO 19111 - Spatial referencing by coordinates (i.e. geodesy).

The ISO17123 series (parts 1 through 8) of standards are concerned with instrument testing.

Authorities that publish standards

• USA Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS)
• Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

Best-practice

Best-practice is a management idea which asserts that there is a technique or method that is more effective and efficient at delivering a particular outcome than any other.

It maintains that with proper processes, checks, and testing, a desired outcome can be delivered with fewer problems and unforeseen complications. Best practice is generally based on repeatable procedures that have proven themselves over time for large numbers of people. The notion of best practice does not commit people or companies to one inflexible,unchanging practice. Instead, it is an approach that encourages continuous learning and improvement. Best practice in a field can be expected to evolve as new information, instrumentation and methodology becomes available.

Best practice in surveying and GNSS in particular may have some very job specific aspects associated with it. There may be accompanying legal and/or legislative imperatives that do not impact directly on the measurement process and thus strongly influence what may otherwise be regarded as the best practice approach to the job.

Regardless of the specificity of the job, normally an important objective in a survey is to get the best possible results. This is typically synonymous with the highest attainable precision.

List of standards relevant for geodesy

• JCGM (2008) Evaluation of measurement data—Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement. Int. Organ. Stand. Geneva ISBN, 50, 134. LINK
• ISO 99:2007 International vocabulary of metrology — Basic and general concepts and associated terms (VIM)
• ISO 17025:2017 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
• ISO 6709:2008 Standards representation of geographic point locations by coordinates
• ISO 19116:2019 Positioning services
• ISO 19161-1:2020 Geographic information — Geodetic references — Part 1: International terrestrial reference system (ITRS)

List of standards relevant for quality control of geodetic instruments

Practical guidelines to mapping using photogrammetry and LiDAR

• American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. (2024). ASPRS positional accuracy standards for digital geospatial data. ASPRS. LINK

• NCHRP Report 748 established the national guidelines for 3D laser scanning

• Learn Mobile Lidar, Guidelines for the use of mobile LiDAR in transportation applications Link1, Link2

• Guides to good practice in close range digital photogrammetry

USGS NGP

• USGS NGP LiDAR base specification LINK

• USGS Topographic Data Quality Levels (QLs) LINK

• USGS NGP Standards and Specifications LINK

  • USGS NGP Standards and Specifications 3D elevation program LINK

• LiDAR Error Dictionary LINK LINK2

• Maes WH. Practical guidelines for performing UAV mapping flights with snapshot sensors. Remote Sensing. 2025; 17(4):606. LINK

• Sivanandam, P., Turner, D., Lucieer, A., Segaran, D. R. C., Virtue, J., Melville, B., & McCallum, K. (2022). Drone data collection protocol using DJI Matrice 300 RTK: imagery and LiDAR. Univ. Tasman. Aust. Terr. Ecosyst. Res. Netw.(TERN), 1-58. LINK

Surveying manuals and technical publications

• The Survey Association

• Survey Practice Handbook Link

• Highway Surveying Manual Link

• Control Surveying and Mobile Laser Scanning guidelines by Queensland Government Link

• Literature Database of learnmobilelidar.com Link

Glossaries

• AMS Glossary of Meterology Link
• Furuno glossary Link
• Glossary for Geospatial Science Link
• Geoinformatik Rostock Lexikon Link
• DGK Geodäsie Glossar Link
• Microimages Link
• Sentinel Glossary/Acronyms Link, Link
• A glossary of Digital Photography Terms
• Glossary of the Mapping Sciences Link
• IERS Conventions Centre, Link
• Geonics blogspot Link
• eye4software glossary Link
• GSSC ESA NAVIPEDIA Link
• NGS Link
• LearnMobileLidar FAQ Link
• Gnss science support centre library Link
• UNAVCO Link
• NOAA Glossary, Link
• NGS/NOAA GPS/GNSS Bibliography Link
• Mapping glossary Link
• GLOSSARIES OF BLM SURVEYING AND MAPPING TERMS Link
• Definitions of Surveying and Associated Terms, USPS
• URISA Surveying and Land Records Glossary of Terms Link
• GISgeography GIS dictionary Link
• UNAVCO Link
• QZSS Link

References and useful links

• Author: David Martin

• Geospatial standards by Federal geographic data committee

• Huge Literature Database of MobileLidar Link