INVESTIGACIÓN VS. DOCENCIA:

6. Planning and Preparing for a Survey

Introduction

Overview

The importance of survey planning and preparation cannot be over-emphasised. Experience has shown that every hour spent planning a survey to ensure that it is executed smoothly can save up to 8 hours in post-survey data processing/corrections etc.

This chapter focuses on the following components of survey planning and preparation:

 Defining Keyboard Events. Setting up the keyboard to record visually identified features during a survey. See Chapter 7 for further details on setting up and defining the Rating Keycodes.

 LRP File Utilities. Ways in which LRP files can be modified:

 Importing Data. Creating an LRP file from an existing data source

 Reversing LRP Files. Reversing the order of an LRP file to allow for the survey to be done in the opposite direction.

 Creating a Survey Route. Combining individual LRP files into a single file representing a continuous survey route.

 LRP Definitions. Short-cut definitions that can be used when defining LRPs in a survey

 Survey ID Definition. Creating a file which contains key survey data, such as the description and file name, so that when the operator enters a Survey ID all other data and survey options are correctly set.

Default Survey Settings

Overview

It is necessary to define the default survey settings before the survey can commence. These control the various settings and options available during the survey. These settings are described in Chapter 1.

Importing LRP Data

Overview

As described in Chapter 0, LRP files are an integral component of ensuring survey data quality. LRP files are generally created through an LRP survey (see Chapter 8), but sometimes the data may be available in existing files, such as from a pavement management system. ROMDAS LRP files are in a Microsoft Access table in the LRP.MDB file in the Setup folder. This data from other sources can be put into the required format for use in surveys.

Reversing LRP Files

Overview

LRP files are created with the LRPs in the order that they were surveyed in the original LRP survey. It is necessary to reverse the LRP files when the surveys are done in the opposite direction to the original LRP survey.

The table below shows the differences between original and reversed LRP files.

Currently this will have to be done manually in Microsoft Access or by exporting the data to Excel for data sorting.

Creating Survey Routes

Overview

A survey route consists of a series of LRP files which will be driven continuously. For example, there may be files covering 0 - 10 km, 10 - 20 km and 20 - 25 km. It is proposed to drive this continuously as 0 - 25 km so a new LRP file is required which allows this.

A source table is created which includes the links to be included in a route. These must be continuous, for example it would not work in the above example to have 0 - 10 km and 20 - 25 km.

Pre-Defining LRP Entries

Overview

When defining LRP’s in surveys the operators must type in a description of the LRP. To simplify the process and ensure consistency of the LRP descriptions it is recommended to use the Predefined LRP’s.

A list of LRP descriptions are each associated with a short-cut key. When the operator defines a LRP during the survey the complete LRP description is selected with the short-cut key. This feature is enabled under Tools|Options|Location Reference Points.

Defining

 Select Setup| Survey Setup Files|LRP Utilities|Pre-Define LRPs

 Enter the key for the short cut

 Enter the full LRP description

The screen to the right shows how entering ‘4’ would have the LRP description stored as ‘Intersection Riversdale Road’.

6 Planning and Preparing for a Survey

Customising

To use the Predefined LRP’s during a survey the feature needs to be turned on under Tools| Options | Location Reference Points.

The Name of LRP Definition table can also be set here. The LRP definition tables are located in

‘...\ROMDAS\Setup\LRP.mdb’.

Define Survey ID’s

Overview

The Survey ID file is used to control the survey options. The data are typically generated from a standard database to ensure that the correct data are used during the survey. The operator enters the Survey ID and then the other data are automatically inserted into the appropriate field.

Under Setup| Survey Setup Files | Define Survey Ids.

The screen to the right shows the data associated with each Survey ID:

 Survey description

 File name

 LRPs (Yes/No/Define)

 Existing or new LRP file name

 User defined fields (if activated as described in Section 0)

As an example, the screen to the right shows the data that would have been entered to the survey definition screen after the user entered ‘SH16’. The description and file name were defined based on the entry in the screen given above.

Start the Survey

Defining Survey Data

When the New Survey menu option is selected, the Survey Setup screen is displayed. The data entered are as follows:

 Survey ID: A unique code identifying the survey. The F5 or Alt-F5 Key will bring up the list of existing or predefined Survey ID’s in the Survey Defineitions.mdb file.

 Survey File: The name of the file where the data are stored. This defaults to the Survey ID.

 Description: A description of the survey.

 LRP Reset: How LRPs are used in the survey (No/Yes/Define). This setting can be set to default to any of these options under LRP Setup.

 LRP Data Files: The name of the data file with the LRPs (if ‘Yes’ selected for LRP reset).

 Start LRP:

 User Defined Fields: There are up to three User defined fields available. Any user defined fields need to have the appropriate data entered. See Section 0.

 Start Chainage: The chainage along the road where the survey is starting. This will usually be 0. It would be non-zero if the survey starting part way along the road.

 Length: You can optionally enter the Road length if known and have the ROMDAS software automatically stop the survey when this length is reached (if the Survey to End When Survey Length Reached field is set - see Section 0).

 Direction: This indicates if the measurements are increasing (Increment) or decreasing (Decrement).

For example, a road section starting at 0 and going to 1000 m is increasing, with the other direction being classified as decreasing.

 Lane: If surveying multiple lanes the lane number can be identified here.

 Operator: The name of the operator for the survey. Defaults to last used.

 Vehicle: The vehicle used in the survey. The data are selected for a list based on the vehicle calibrations.

These data are all recorded in the Survey_Header output table.

6 Planning and Preparing for a Survey

Select devices for survey: Make sure the survey devices are selected as appropriate. These would normally be enabled automatically from the settings in Default to Use in Survey fields for each instrument.

Once all the survey setup data is entered select F10 to get to the Survey screen.

End the Survey

Ending the Survey

At the completion of the survey press the F10 key. The screen below will be shown.

Sometimes the operator has something to note about the survey. The Make Survey Notes button allows user to enter comments on the survey when the survey ends. This data is stored in the Memo field of the Survey_Header table in the output file.