What and How: Datum Devices and Keeping Track of Your Seaside Home

Datum has a lot of confusion as it is a general term most commonly associated with data, as per the online dictionaries. However, the datum that we are talking about here is the geographical points that are set on the earth and used as a reference for measuring the level of a structure from a fixed point of depth. As a layman, it is pretty intense to understand this concept so let us take an easier, lucid approach.

 

Datum monitoring is a method where you set a device on to a place of which you need to know the depth or location on earth. For instance, assuming that you have a home that faces the sea and is very near to the waters, you install a datum device on the lowest plane of your home that is near to the sea. The device takes reference of a universal measure that is already defined by scientific calculations such as the mean sea level. With such references, the device gives you the data about measure of the sea level that rises and rests intermittently. Small waves and tides do not cause the device to alter their measurement but a considerable rise would reflect on the readings of the datum instrument.

 

The above explanation gives an overview of a vertical datum monitoring device while there is another kind of the device known as horizontal monitoring device. Just as a vertical one provides data in the fluctuations of vertical geographical arrangements, a horizontal datum tracking device provides information about the fluctuations in the topography of land. In simple terms, any change in land due to man-made disasters or the natural ones such as earthquakes is recorded by the device and provides data regarding it. This is also important to ascertain the location of a place via satellites as each device fixed at a particular location has a peculiar latitude and longitude that helps determine the location of a place with the help of GPS and satellites.

 

It is not always the case that only research teams and science organizations would be able to use this system. Certainly, if your home is near the sea, you really need to think about the sea level more than the scientists because it is you who stays there and it is you who is at risk if the sea level rises beyond your imagination. Therefore, many people that reside on the seaside or have property there also install the datum recording devices to keep track of their aqua neighbours, the sea. If a property is situated at an earthquake prone area, there too, keeping track of your homes with the help of datum recording systems is helpful.

Brad Muller talks about datum monitoring.