Conquer the CST Level 1 Land Surveyor Certification 2026 – Map Out Your Success!

In land surveying, the needle of the surveyor's compass typically points towards Magnetic North. This is a fundamental aspect of navigation and surveying, as Magnetic North is the direction that a compass needle aligns itself with due to the Earth's magnetic field.

Understanding this concept is crucial because Magnetic North is different from True North (the direction along the Earth's surface towards the North Pole) and can vary significantly depending on your geographical location and local magnetic anomalies. This deviation from True North is called magnetic declination, which must be taken into account for precise surveying work.

In practical surveying applications, measurements taken with a compass need to be adjusted for this magnetic declination if the final results are to be aligned with True North or another reference framework, such as Grid North, which is based on a flat map projection system.

Thus, the correct understanding of the compass function is essential for achieving accurate orientation and measurements in land surveying tasks.