Calibration of survey equipment

Legal traceability

Surveyors have a legal obligation to ensure that their equipment is standardised (s. 24 of the Survey and Mapping Infrastructure Regulation 2014). For distance measurement, this means that measurements are traceable to the national standard. This can be achieved by doing a comparison test on an electronic distance measurement (EDM) calibration range which has a valid Regulation 13 certificate under the National Measurement Act 1960.

To assist surveyors, we maintain electronic distance measurement equipment (EDME) calibration baselines throughout Queensland.

EDME comparison procedure and booking sheets

We recommend that surveyors use the following procedure and booking sheets to achieve legal traceability of length:

• EDME comparison procedure (PDF, 1.7MB)
• EDME comparison booking form (PDF, 1.2MB)
• Meteorological observation booking sheet (PDF, 503KB).

Calibration baselines

Use these links to find information on baseline location, design, access and Regulation 13 certificate.

• Caboolture
• Eureka
• Gold Coast
• Goonyella
• Leyburn
• Mackay
• Mica Creek
• Townsville
• Tungamull
• Walkamin

Warning notices

For enquiries regarding baselines, software and calibrations, contact the appropriate Regional Calibration Officer listed on the baseline information pages.

EDM calibration processing software

Landgate (Western Australian Land Information Authority) have developed a new EDM calibration software called Medjil, which has replaced Baseline. The Baseline software is no longer supported and has been decommissioned.

Some key difference between Medjil and Baseline are as follows:

• Medjil has a different least squares adjustment process and the uncertainties are handled more rigorously. This may result in slightly different results between each software.
• Medjil requires the baseline alignment to be from the first to the last pillar of a baseline. The alignment of Townsville and Leyburn have been changed in Medjil as a result.
• Manual entry of raw observations will not be supported. Observation data must be uploaded in a Comma Separated Values (CSV) text file format. The Department strongly encourages electronic recording of observation data wherever possible. Refer to the Medjil technical manual for the input file format.
• Wet bulb temperature is not supported in Medjil, Relative Humidity will need to be recorded.

When using Medjil you will require the instrument specific values, which can be obtained from the relevant manufacturer. It is the responsibility of the user to ensure the values used are correct.

Medjil

Medjil is an online portal on the Landgate website.

Guides to using Medjil

Watch the two-part video guide on how to use Medjil, Landgate's online successor to the Baseline Processing Software. Part 1 provides a practical walkthrough from account creation through to producing an EDM Instrument Calibration Report. Part 2 explains how to interpret an EDM Instrument Calibration Report, including relevant Least Squares Adjustment theory in an approachable way.