Plane table survey
An introduction to recording buildings, A guide to good recording practice, published by Historic Environment Scotland on 5 November 2019, defines a plane table as: ‘a device used in surveying to provide a solid and level surface on which to make field drawings, charts and maps.’
BIM for Heritage, Developing a Historic Building Information Model, published by Historic England in July 2017, defines a plane table survey as: ‘One of the oldest forms of surveying comprising a tripod mounted drawing board and an alidade for sighting angle observations.’
Where an alidade is a sighting device used for determining directions or measuring angles. For more information see: Alidade.
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