Soft­ware plays an impor­tant role in mine sur­vey­ing by ensur­ing effi­cien­cy and accu­ra­cy. After all, in accor­dance with Rules for car­ry­ing out sur­vey­ing work dur­ing the devel­op­ment of ore and non-ore min­er­al deposits, it is rec­om­mend­ed to car­ry out com­pu­ta­tion­al and graph­ic doc­u­men­ta­tion using com­put­er tech­nolo­gies. Mine sur­vey­ing oper­a­tions include mea­sure­ments, map­ping, estab­lish­ment of geo­det­ic points, mon­i­tor­ing of con­struc­tion works, and pro­vid­ing data for the devel­op­ment of engi­neer­ing projects.

One of the key aspects of soft­ware in mine sur­vey­ing is geo­det­ic com­pu­ta­tion, which includes pro­cess­ing GPS data, mea­sur­ing dis­tances, ele­va­tions, and angles, as well as per­form­ing com­plex math­e­mat­i­cal cal­cu­la­tions to deter­mine the pre­cise loca­tion of objects on a site. Soft­ware allows these process­es to be auto­mat­ed, help­ing sur­vey­ors work faster and with a low­er prob­a­bil­i­ty of errors.

In addi­tion, soft­ware used in mine sur­vey­ing assists in data analy­sis and doc­u­men­ta­tion cre­ation. It enables the col­lec­tion and pro­cess­ing of data obtained from sur­vey­ing equip­ment, as well as the gen­er­a­tion of graphs, tables, and progress reports. This sim­pli­fies doc­u­men­ta­tion man­age­ment and ensures the avail­abil­i­ty of accu­rate data for report­ing and analy­sis. Mine sur­vey­ors use a wide range of soft­ware solu­tions to per­form their tasks. There­fore, the fol­low­ing sec­tion dis­cuss­es typ­i­cal soft­ware solu­tions com­mon­ly applied in mine sur­vey­ing prac­tice.

Geodetic software

Geo­det­ic soft­ware con­sists of pro­grams specif­i­cal­ly designed for per­form­ing geo­det­ic cal­cu­la­tions, mea­sure­ments, and data pro­cess­ing. Such soft­ware typ­i­cal­ly includes func­tions for cal­cu­lat­ing coor­di­nates, ele­va­tions, angles, and dis­tances, as well as tools for cre­at­ing graphs, tables, and reports.

The most pop­u­lar soft­ware solu­tions include:
Trim­ble Busi­ness Cen­ter — a pow­er­ful geo­det­ic soft­ware pack­age for pro­cess­ing, ana­lyz­ing, and man­ag­ing sur­vey­ing data. It sup­ports a wide range of geo­det­ic tools, includ­ing GPS data pro­cess­ing, cre­ation of dig­i­tal ter­rain mod­els, coor­di­nate cal­cu­la­tions, and map and plan gen­er­a­tion and analy­sis.
Top­con MAG­NET Office and Leica Geo Office — com­pre­hen­sive geo­det­ic soft­ware solu­tions that pro­vide tools for GPS data pro­cess­ing, geo­det­ic mea­sure­ments, dig­i­tal ter­rain mod­el cre­ation, and cal­cu­la­tions of coor­di­nates, ele­va­tions, and oth­er sur­vey­ing para­me­ters.
Carl­son Sur­vey — a wide­ly used geo­det­ic soft­ware appli­ca­tion spe­cial­iz­ing in the pro­cess­ing and analy­sis of sur­vey­ing data. It pro­vides tools for GPS data pro­cess­ing, mea­sure­ments, map and plan cre­ation, coor­di­nate and ele­va­tion cal­cu­la­tions, as well as land man­age­ment tasks.
Surfer — soft­ware designed for the cre­ation and analy­sis of geo­log­i­cal and geo­det­ic maps. It offers tools for 2D and 3D visu­al­iza­tion, inter­po­la­tion and cal­cu­la­tion of sur­vey­ing data, cre­ation of dig­i­tal ter­rain mod­els, and oth­er ana­lyt­i­cal func­tions.
GEM­I­NI — soft­ware devel­oped for sur­vey­ing mea­sure­ments and geo­det­ic data pro­cess­ing. It pro­vides tools for GPS mea­sure­ments, dig­i­tal ter­rain mod­el gen­er­a­tion, and coor­di­nate cal­cu­la­tions.

CAD software

Com­put­er-Aid­ed Design (CAD) is a tech­nol­o­gy that enables the use of com­put­ers for the cre­ation, mod­el­ing, edit­ing, and analy­sis of geo­met­ric objects. CAD soft­ware pro­vides tools for accu­rate mod­el­ing of real-world objects and the cre­ation of dig­i­tal pro­to­types.

Main func­tions of CAD soft­ware:
2D mod­el­ing is used to cre­ate two-dimen­sion­al draw­ings and plans, while 3D mod­el­ing allows users to cre­ate three-dimen­sion­al mod­els that include depth and spa­tial char­ac­ter­is­tics of objects.
Edit­ing and trans­form­ing objects (rotat­ing, scal­ing, or reshap­ing), giv­ing users the flex­i­bil­i­ty to make changes to their projects.
Cre­at­ing dimen­sion­al lines and anno­ta­tions that help deter­mine the dimen­sions and dis­tances between ele­ments and accu­rate­ly repro­duce objects on a real scale.
Using char­ac­ter and com­po­nent libraries to effec­tive­ly use stan­dard project ele­ments and tem­plates.
Import and export of data for­mats (DWG, DXF, STEP, STL, etc.), which facil­i­tates the process of data exchange with oth­er pro­grams and employ­ees.
Automa­tion of cer­tain tasks using cer­tain com­mands and scripts.

The most com­mon­ly used CAD pro­grams:
Auto­CAD is one of the most pop­u­lar CAD pro­grams devel­oped by Autodesk. It has a wide range of fea­tures for 2D and 3D mod­el­ing, edit­ing, ren­der­ing and ani­ma­tion. Auto­CAD is used in many fields, includ­ing archi­tec­ture, engi­neer­ing, and con­struc­tion.
Micro­Sta­tion is a CAD pro­gram devel­oped by Bent­ley Sys­tems. It is wide­ly used in the field of infra­struc­ture design, includ­ing min­ing struc­tures, roads, rail­ways, bridges and build­ings. Micro­Sta­tion pro­vides pow­er­ful tools for 2 D and 3 D mod­el­ing, analy­sis and doc­u­men­ta­tion of projects.
Solid­Works is a CAD pro­gram spe­cial­ized in 3 D mod­el­ing and design of mechan­i­cal com­po­nents and sys­tems. It pro­vides ample oppor­tu­ni­ties for mod­el­ing, analy­sis, sim­u­la­tion and cre­ation of tech­ni­cal draw­ings.
CATIA is a com­pre­hen­sive CAD/CAM/CAE plat­form devel­oped by Das­sault Sys­tèmes. CATIA has exten­sive capa­bil­i­ties for 3 D mod­el­ing, analy­sis, sim­u­la­tion and project data man­age­ment.
Fusion 360 is a cloud-based CAD/CAM plat­form devel­oped by Autodesk. It com­bines 3D mod­el­ing, image pro­cess­ing, sim­u­la­tion, CAM func­tions and col­lab­o­ra­tive work in a web envi­ron­ment.
Bric­sCAD is a CAD pro­gram that pro­vides sim­i­lar capa­bil­i­ties to Auto­CAD, but at a more afford­able price. It sup­ports 2D and 3D mod­el­ing, cre­at­ing tech­ni­cal draw­ings, ren­der­ing and ani­ma­tion. Bric­sCAD also has appli­ca­tion sup­port, expand­ing its func­tion­al­i­ty.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Geo­graph­ic Infor­ma­tion Sys­tem (GIS) enables mine sur­vey­ors and geo­de­sists to ana­lyze and visu­al­ize sur­vey­ing data on maps. GIS plat­forms may include func­tions for dis­tance mea­sure­ments, cre­ation of dig­i­tal ter­rain mod­els, object posi­tion­ing, and spa­tial data analy­sis. Con­sid­er­ing the diver­si­ty and mul­ti-for­mat nature of GIS sys­tems, below are sev­er­al exam­ples of GIS soft­ware com­mon­ly used in sur­vey­ing and mine sur­vey­ing activ­i­ties:

QGIS — an open-source and free GIS soft­ware pack­age that pro­vides a wide range of tools for ana­lyz­ing and visu­al­iz­ing geo­graph­ic data. It sup­ports numer­ous data for­mats and has a large user com­mu­ni­ty that con­tributes plu­g­ins and exten­sions.
ArcGIS — devel­oped by Esri, ArcGIS is one of the most wide­ly used and fea­ture-rich GIS plat­forms. It pro­vides tools for mea­sure­ment, analy­sis, visu­al­iza­tion, and man­age­ment of geo­graph­ic data. ArcGIS also offers numer­ous mod­ules and exten­sions tai­lored to spe­cif­ic pro­fes­sion­al needs.
Map­In­fo Pro­fes­sion­al — GIS soft­ware specif­i­cal­ly designed for geo­graph­ic data analy­sis and visu­al­iza­tion. It includes pow­er­ful tools for map cre­ation, spa­tial analy­sis, and pro­cess­ing of vec­tor and raster datasets.
GRASS GIS (Geo­graph­ic Resources Analy­sis Sup­port Sys­tem) — an open-source GIS plat­form focused on geo­graph­ic data analy­sis and pro­cess­ing. It con­tains numer­ous mod­ules for geo­desy, car­tog­ra­phy, ter­rain analy­sis, and geo­pro­cess­ing.
GeoServ­er — open-source soft­ware for pub­lish­ing and shar­ing geospa­tial data over the Inter­net. It sup­ports web map cre­ation, geo­da­ta access, and inte­gra­tion with var­i­ous GIS ser­vices.
Map­box — a plat­form for build­ing and dis­play­ing inter­ac­tive maps and GIS appli­ca­tions. It pro­vides advanced tools for cre­at­ing high-qual­i­ty cus­tomized maps, geo­da­ta visu­al­iza­tion, and inte­gra­tion with exter­nal sys­tems.
Google Earth Pro — an enhanced ver­sion of Google Earth that offers extend­ed geo­graph­ic visu­al­iza­tion capa­bil­i­ties. It includes tools for mea­sure­ments, ani­mat­ed tours, data import/export, and oth­er fea­tures use­ful in sur­vey­ing activ­i­ties.
Glob­al Map­per — GIS soft­ware with exten­sive func­tion­al­i­ty for work­ing with geo­det­ic data. It sup­ports visu­al­iza­tion, edit­ing, analy­sis, and pro­cess­ing of geo­graph­ic infor­ma­tion, includ­ing DEM mod­el­ing and ter­rain para­me­ter cal­cu­la­tions.

Software for tacheometry

Tacheome­ters are geo­det­ic tools used to mea­sure dis­tances, angles, and ele­va­tions. Some tacheome­ter man­u­fac­tur­ers pro­vide accom­pa­ny­ing soft­ware that allows sur­vey­ors to mon­i­tor and process data obtained from the tacheome­ter.

Leica Cap­ti­vate — soft­ware designed for use with Leica total sta­tions. It pro­vides exten­sive capa­bil­i­ties for instru­ment con­trol, data pro­cess­ing, and report gen­er­a­tion. Cap­ti­vate allows sur­vey­ors to col­lect point data, mea­sure dis­tances and angles, cre­ate 3D mod­els, and per­form cal­cu­la­tions.
Trim­ble Access — soft­ware for data col­lec­tion and field con­trol using Trim­ble total sta­tions. It offers an intu­itive inter­face for col­lect­ing point data, mea­sur­ing angles and dis­tances, and cre­at­ing tra­vers­es and sur­vey net­works.
Sokkia MAG­NET Field — sur­vey­ing soft­ware devel­oped by Sokkia. It pro­vides a con­ve­nient inter­face for col­lect­ing geo­det­ic data, includ­ing point mea­sure­ments, tra­verse cre­ation, and coor­di­nate cal­cu­la­tions.
Top­con MAG­NET Field — devel­oped by Top­con, this soft­ware is intend­ed for col­lect­ing and pro­cess­ing data from Top­con total sta­tions. It includes tools for point mea­sure­ments, topo­graph­ic net­work cre­ation, data edit­ing, and report gen­er­a­tion.
Spec­tra Pre­ci­sion Sur­vey Office — soft­ware designed for pro­cess­ing and ana­lyz­ing data obtained from Spec­tra Pre­ci­sion total sta­tions. It pro­vides tools for data adjust­ment, coor­di­nate cal­cu­la­tions, map gen­er­a­tion, and report­ing.

Software for laser scanning

Laser scan­ning soft­ware is used for pro­cess­ing, ana­lyz­ing, and visu­al­iz­ing data obtained from laser scan­ners. These spe­cial­ized pro­grams enable sur­vey­ors, engi­neers, and archi­tects to work effi­cient­ly with high­ly accu­rate and detailed 3D mod­els of objects and environments.Below are some com­mon exam­ples of laser scan­ning soft­ware:

Leica Cyclone — pow­er­ful soft­ware for pro­cess­ing and ana­lyz­ing data from Leica laser scan­ners. It pro­vides tools for scan reg­is­tra­tion, point cloud pro­cess­ing, 3D mod­el­ing, mea­sure­ment, and geo­met­ric analy­sis.
FARO SCENE — soft­ware for pro­cess­ing and ana­lyz­ing data from FARO laser scan­ners. It sup­ports scan reg­is­tra­tion, point cloud pro­cess­ing, 3D mod­el cre­ation, mea­sure­ments, data analy­sis, and report­ing.
Trim­ble Real­Works — designed for pro­cess­ing and ana­lyz­ing data from Trim­ble laser scan­ners. It offers tools for scan reg­is­tra­tion, point cloud han­dling, 3D mod­el­ing, mea­sure­ment, and geo­met­ric analy­sis.
Autodesk ReCap — devel­oped by Autodesk, this soft­ware sup­ports pro­cess­ing of laser scan­ning data, point cloud man­age­ment, and 3D mod­el cre­ation and analy­sis.
Bent­ley Pointools — soft­ware for pro­cess­ing and visu­al­iz­ing laser scan­ning data. It pro­vides tools for scan reg­is­tra­tion, 3D mod­el cre­ation, geo­met­ric analy­sis, and visualization/animation out­puts.
Z+F Laser­Con­trol — soft­ware devel­oped by Zoller + Fröh­lich for pro­cess­ing and ana­lyz­ing data from their laser scan­ners. It sup­ports scan reg­is­tra­tion, point cloud pro­cess­ing, 3D mod­el­ing, and mea­sure­ment tasks.

In gen­er­al, soft­ware in sur­vey­ing works plays an impor­tant role in increas­ing the effi­cien­cy and accu­ra­cy of mea­sure­ments, data analy­sis and doc­u­men­ta­tion. It auto­mates process­es, sim­pli­fies the work of sur­vey­ors and ensures the avail­abil­i­ty of accu­rate and con­nect­ed data for the suc­cess­ful imple­men­ta­tion of con­struc­tion projects.