Celestial Navigation - the book
Videos/DVD
Astrogeodetic Levelling - PhD Thesis
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Books ...
Essential Maths for Engineering and Construction - How to avoid mistakes
Don’t let your mathematical skills fail you! We all make mistakes; who doesn’t? But they can be avoided when you understand why you make them. In engineering, construction and science exams, marks are often lost through carelessness or from not fully understanding the maths involved. When there are only a few marks on offer for a part of a question there may be full marks for a right answer and none for a wrong one, regardless of the thought that went into answering.
Taking mistakes that undergraduate students often make as a starting point, this book not only looks at how you can prevent mistakes but provides an introduction to the core mathematical skills required for your degree discipline. The book contains many practice questions and fully worked answers, so whether you struggle with algebra, geometry, statistics, calculus or any of the other mathematical areas vital to your degree, this book will guide you around the pitfalls.
Focusing on the recognition, correction and avoidance of common errors to improve the clarity of your maths work and mathematical understanding, this book is for any undergraduate who does mathematics – and sometimes makes mistakes. Publisher's details Find it on Amazon
Fundamental Maths for Engineering and Science
This book is written for students
in further and higher education who need a little extra help to make better
sense of what may have previously been a difficult subject. Perhaps it is a long
time since you last tackled mathematics. This book will be a useful revision
text but it is also likely to introduce you to some new material. The subjects
are presented in a style that assumes very little prior knowledge.
Each
chapter starts with a brief explanation of what it is about. The text is broken
up into bite-sized sections that can be mastered one at a time. Examples
reinforce and develop the ideas and should be read and understood as you read
through. At appropriate stages there are exercises that enable you to practise
and so confirm your knowledge so far. Key facts are highlighted in coloured
panels. At the end of each chapter there is a summary of all the main teaching
points. This can be used to confirm that you have understood all the important
points of the chapter or can be used for last minute revision for an
examination. The answers to all the exercises are presented at the end of each
chapter so you do not need to thumb through lots of pages to find them. At the
end of each chapter, there is a separate set of questions which reinforce and
draw together all the subject material of that chapter. Publisher's details
Find
it on Amazon
Dissertation Writing for Engineers and Scientists
Many university courses in science and engineering require their students to undertake a major project and write a dissertation upon it. The prospect of undertaking a project can be very daunting to many students who, up to this point, have never embarked upon such a major exercise.
"Dissertation
Writing for Engineers and Scientists" is written to help students at both undergraduate and
postgraduate levels to understand, manage and excel at their own project and
dissertation. The style is chatty and the book is designed to be an inspiring
and informative text on this potentially dry subject. There are many short
sections with headings to break up the text. Examples are presented in boxes and
there is a summary and a list of action items at the end of each chapter.
Publisher's details
Find
it on Amazon
Revised fully throughout, this sixth edition includes numerous worked examples and illustrations to aid the reader’s understanding. Engineering Surveying is a comprehensive and clearly written text.
There is an introduction to geodesy to facilitate greater understanding of satellite systems and a fully updated chapter on GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO for satellite positioning in surveying. An all new chapter covers the important subject of rigorous estimation of control coordinates. There is detailed material on mass data methods of photogrammetry and laser scanning and the role of inertial technology in them and topics not found elsewhere like tunneling surveys and machine guidance. In previous editions of Engineering Surveying the aim was to give the reader a clear understanding of the fundamentals of the subject. The custom continues with this new edition so that it remains an essential and constant reference for both students and professionals. Publisher's details Find it on Amazon
Height from GPS is height above the WGS 1984 ellipsoid earth model. Orthometric height is often realised as height above sea level. Knowing separation between height systems is essential for using GPS for precise measurements of orthometric height. Separation may be found by Astrogeodetic Levelling.
Astronomic position is found by Position Line observations to stars and geodetic position by GPS. The difference between them, deviation of the vertical, is also the rate of change of separation. In this book a least squares approach to Position Lines is developed with modelling for refraction, vertical collimation and their rates of change. There is new theory to account for the effect of lunar gravitation and barycentric centrifugal force on deviation of the vertical. A simple method to determine the topographic-isostatic effect using wedges is developed. This practical process can be used where precise height is required from GPS, such as in large engineering projects where a precise relative local geoid model is required for a limited area. This book will interest surveyors and engineers who work on major projects where precision of height is essential. Find it on Amazon
Celestial Navigation ...when your GPS fails
"Celestial Navigation ...when your GPS fails" is the most comprehensive book on celestial navigation for bluewater sailors who need to find latitude and longitude at sea. This resource is for real and aspiring bluewater sailors; yachtsmen who leave the sight of land and rely on various electronic devices for navigation.
When
satellite navigation fails because of seawater in the electronics or just plain
battery failure then being lost at sea is a life-threatening situation,
especially when night falls. Celestial
Navigation... describes how to use a sextant to make
astronomical observations and how to do all the calculations. It describes the
celestial framework, with particular reference to the way that the Sun, Moon stars and planets appear and
the principles of astronomical navigation. On linked pages there are all the
necessary forms and almanac data to find latitude and longitude from the
declination and sidereal hour angle (a coordinate related to right ascension) of Sun,
Moon, star or planet.
More details
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it on Amazon
Videos / DVDs ...
The Precise Levelling video describes what makes precise levelling so precise, the equipment procedures, the 2 peg test, booking forms, scales, reconnaissance, refraction, care of the equipment, wind, stability, rules for minimizing errors. There is an example procedure and an exercise for the student.
The
video/DVD comes with a set of support material including blank and completed field
sheets. Total running time approx. 50 minutes.
More details
The Gyrotheodolite is an expensive and specialist piece of engineering surveying equipment. Most surveyors do not have access to a gyro and yet, when they have to use them will spend much time becoming proficient, prior to becoming productive.
The
video/DVD "Gyrotheodolite Measurements", gives the viewer the nearest
thing to hands on experience that is possible with a video. The video explains
in full detail the processes of operation, observation and computation
associated with the determination of the bearing between 2 stations. The gyro
used in the video is a Wild GAK1. The programme is in 2 parts. Part 1 describes the
gyrotheodolite and it operation. Part 2 is an exercise for the student.
Other stuff ...
PhD
Thesis "An Automated Approach to Astrogeodetic Levelling"