Land Leveling and Simplistic Surveying

Abstract

Farming with supplemental irrigation requires a knowledge of field leveling and surveying. Surveying is the science by which lines, distances, angles, and elevations are established and measured on the earth’s surface. All supplemental irrigation methods are made more efficient by some degree of land smoothing or leveling, and several systems require accurate leveling in order to operate. Leveling for supplemental irrigation is different from most other earth-moving jobs because the amount of soil to be moved may not be large, but the depth of cut and the height of fill have to be precise. Natural soil surfaces are generally irregular consisting of elevated areas and depressions. For irrigation basins, this results in pondage of rainfall and interrupted surface runoff. The land surface is reformed to provide a continuous slope through the cultivated soil. There are three main types of land forming.