GEOG 310Geodesy and Surveying
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Environment
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 4 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Concepts of geodesy and surveying, Earth's gravity field and the geoid, and measurement techniques applied to geomatics are examined. Field studies include the use of the level, the total station, and GPS for doing distance and angle measurements, leveling, traversing, and topographic surveying.
Prerequisites
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Fall 2026 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 5615 | 84 / 87 | M 08:30–10:20 T 08:30–10:20 |
| LAB 101 | 5660 | 30 / 29 | M 10:30–12:20 T 10:30–12:20 |
| LAB 102 | 5853 | 26 / 29 | M 12:30–14:20 T 12:30–14:20 |
| LAB 103 | 7827 | 28 / 29 | M 14:30–16:20 T 14:30–16:20 |
Reviewed on UW Flow
25% liked it42% easy48% useful
From 24 ratings and 7 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
Interesting, simple, easy marks. Midterm and exam are tricky.
Mar 2014 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
This course is poorly defined. Sure there are only 9 lectures, but the course uses an American text book and is taught with imperial system so it stays confusing. The tests are diabolical and completely full of writing. So many people writing until the time limit. It's generally trig so it's not difficult math, just very tedious. Assignments teach some concepts but not actually true surveying techniques. Best to steer clear unless required.
Aug 2024 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Lectures are quite disorganized and unclear...
Also, don't take this this in Fall, you'll freeze to death during the outdoor labs!!!Dec 2022 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
If you're not interested in surveying, you're not gonna like this course. The concepts itself were easy. If you have a solid foundation in maths (trig specifically) you'll be fine. Labs were easy, but midterms and finals were much more difficult than any of the labs so I would keep that in mind. Overall, not the worst course in the world but could use some updates to be more engaging.
Mar 2022 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Took this course a couple years ago.
Is a useful course if you're considering going into surveying I would imagine.
Calculations are not difficult to do, mostly basic trigonometry.
Lot of memorization on the final from what I recall.Sep 2021 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
12 posts and comments in 11 threads mention GEOG 310, April 2016 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Fall 2024
GEOG 310 Labs 2 points, 1 comment
u/mangomuncher11: “Has anyone who is either taking this course currently, or taken it in the past actually been able to get a number within the “permissible misclosure” for the lab assignments? …”
Winter 2024
Courses related to LiDAR or Photogrammetry? 7 points, 5 comments
“Are there courses related to LiDAR, SLAM, or Photogrammetry? Interested in knowing but what I know so far is prob ECE 495, MTE 544, STAT 443 (Kalman Filtering?), have no clue for Photogrammetry”
u/WestonSpec: “… GEOG 271 (Earth from Space Using Remote Sensing) and GEOG 371 (Advanced Remote Sensing Techniques) GEOG 310 (Geodesy and Surveying) covers land based surveying and navigation satellite systems. …”
u/WestonSpec: “GEOG 271/371 and 310 are more application based, so probably not what you're looking for then. …”
Fall 2019
ENVS 278 wya 61 points, 14 comments
u/NoseBlind2: “If you guys think Fletcher is bad, you're gonna love Jonathan Li (if youre in GEM or Geomatics you might have him for the next stats course which in that case r.i.p)”
u/Syvash: “Oh fuck he also teaches stats? I had him for GEOG 310 and his exams were somewhat tough”
Opinions on these Geography Courses?(209, 271 and 306) 0 points, 8 comments
“I am looking to take these three in the Winter. Has anyone took these courses yet? What did you think of the workload and difficulty, and did you find them interesting? …”
u/RedPanda26: “209: Was interesting but definitely science heavy for a geography course. The workload was fairly easy and the labs and lab assignments were fun. …”
u/RedPanda26: “… I've also taken GEOG 309, 310, 316, and 349. …”
GEOG 387 and 310 Past/Practice Exams? 0 points, 1 comment
u/Billybobjoe135: “The environment department is garbage at providing practice and past exams, anyone have any exams to practice off of for these classes? Thanks!”
Fall 2017
Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments
“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”
u/Jackhofmann: “PSYCH 483 PSYCH 484 PSYCH 485 PSYCH 486 PSYCH 490R PSYCH 499A PSYCH 499B PSYCH 499C PSYCH 621 PSYCH 630 PSYCH 677A PSYCH 704A PSYCH 704B PSYCH 707 PSYCH 710 PSYCH 714 PSYCH 717 PSYCH 720A PSYCH 721A …”
u/Jackhofmann: “… GEOG 201 GEOG 203 GEOG 215 GEOG 222 GEOG 233 GEOG 281 GEOG 293 GEOG 294 GEOG 303 GEOG 309 GEOG 310 GEOG 311 GEOG 316 GEOG 319 GEOG 340 GEOG 356 GEOG 371 GEOG 374 GEOG 387 GEOG 404 GEOG 405 GEOG 428 GEOG 453 GEOG 474 GEOG 490A GEOG 490B GEOG 600 GEOG 602 GEOG 604 GEOG 615 GEOG …”
Spring 2017
What courses are you taking this fall? 28 points, 129 comments
“With course selection and add/drop happening this week I figured this would be a cool discussion post. …”
u/RedPanda26: “GEOG 309 Physical Climatology GEOG 310 Geodesy and Surveying ENVS 178 Introduction to Environmental Research Methods ENVS 200 Field Ecology CS 115 Intro to CS 1 The joys of being an environment student, I'm actually super pumped for the term all my courses seem interesting and …”
Fall 2016
IAMA Geomatics student, AMA 13 points, 33 comments
u/IdleATM: “Shouldn't you be studying for GEOG 310?”
Do geomatics peoole get a job? 7 points, 26 comments
“I heard their coop rate is pretty high. What about after graduation? Still good? FYI I'm from GEM.”
u/ghostofstuff: “Serious answer here. I'm entering my first coop this next term and many of my other friends in geomatics got jobs too. …”
u/ghostofstuff: “… After that there are a few courses that take a bit of time and are some what difficult such as GEOG 387/310/316/318/271 but are very useful.”
Spring 2016
Is it possible to ask prof to switch my midterm exam weight to final? 3 points, 12 comments
u/n3verlose: “I've never heard of a prof doing this for a student without a medical reason or something. You were definitely not the only person that did poorly, you don't deserve your grade shifted because you …”
u/Obviously_Aviation: “GEOG310, says in the syllabus based on the profs discretion with a valid reason that if you miss a midterm, the midterm weighting will be added on to the final weighting”
Winter 2016
Geomatics to now be offered under the math faculty for 2016-17, students in the Geomatics in the environment faculty can transfer given few prerequisites 105 points, 19 comments
u/Huex3: “… Space Using Remote Sensing GEOG 281 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) GEOG 310 Geodesy and Surveying GEOG 371 Advanced Remote Sensing Techniques GEOG 381 Advanced Geographic Information Systems GEOG 387 Spatial Databases GEOG 471 Remote Sensing Project (1.0 …”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2026–27The official entry
- Requirements for Fall 2026Waterloo’s requisite checker
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