Volume calculation surveys are commonly employed in construction projects to establish the amount of earthwork needed for grading, excavation, or filling the site. They can also be used to monitor changes in land or material volumes over time, such as in landfills.
To collect data points across the subject area, usually, total stations or GPS receivers are used. These data points determine the boundaries and contours of the land or material, which are then processed to create a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) that represents the surface of the land or material in a digital format. Once the DTM is created, volume calculation software is used to analyze the data and calculate the volume accurately.