State Forest Service — Assistant Conservator of Forests (state PSC exams) · India · State Public Service Commissions (e.g. TNPSC, MPPSC, UPPSC, HPPSC, KPSC, MPSC)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersMeasuring and mapping forest land: chain, compass and plane-table survey, levelling and contouring, area computation, GNSS and the reading of topographic maps. General surveying is covered in the Agricultural Engineering track (surveying-levelling); this subject applies it to forest boundaries and compartments.
In the exams: IFoS Forestry Paper II Section A (surveying and forest engineering); PRC Forest Engineering and Utilization (survey); state Range Forest Officer exams
How our questions for State Forest Service spread across the units of Forest Surveying & Mapping. Difficulty: 3 easy, 26 medium, 0 hard.
| Levelling and contouring | 5 | |
| Demarcation of forest boundaries and compartments | 5 | |
| Plane-table survey | 4 | |
| Chain and tape survey | 3 | |
| Compass survey: bearings, declination, closing error | 3 | |
| Topographic maps and map reading | 3 | |
| National mapping agencies and systems | 3 | |
| Computation of areas and volumes | 2 | |
| GNSS in forest survey and its accuracy under canopy | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
In chain triangulation, a well-conditioned triangle has no angle smaller than about:
D. 30°
Angles between about 30° and 120° keep small length errors from distorting shape.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Punmia et al.; Bannister et al.; Ghilani and Wolf; Iliffe and Lott; NSSDA 1998
Fore and back bearings of a line differ by 172° instead of 180°. The most likely cause is:
D. Local attraction
Local attraction from iron or magnetic rock deflects the needle at one station; declination affects both bearings equally.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Punmia et al.; Bannister et al.; Ghilani and Wolf; Iliffe and Lott; NSSDA 1998
A traverse leg is 200 m long with a whole-circle bearing of 60°. What are its latitude and departure?
C. +100.0 m and +173.2 m
Latitude = L cos θ = 200 × 0.5 = 100.0; departure = L sin θ = 173.2. Swapping cosine and sine is the common error.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Punmia et al.; Bannister et al.; Ghilani and Wolf; Iliffe and Lott; NSSDA 1998
Locating the position of the plane-table station itself from sightings to three plotted points is the:
D. Three-point resection problem
Resection with three visible points; Lehmann's rules guide the trial-and-error solution.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Punmia et al.; Bannister et al.; Ghilani and Wolf; Iliffe and Lott; NSSDA 1998
On a 1:50,000 map, contours at a 20 m interval are 4 mm apart. What is the slope?
A. 10%
4 mm × 50,000 = 200 m horizontal; 20/200 = 10%.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Punmia et al.; Bannister et al.; Ghilani and Wolf; Iliffe and Lott; NSSDA 1998
Two road cross-sections of 12 and 18 m² are 20 m apart. What is the earthwork volume by the average end-area method?
A. 300 m³
20 × (12 + 18)/2 = 300 m³.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Punmia et al.; Bannister et al.; Ghilani and Wolf; Iliffe and Lott; NSSDA 1998
Where is the legal description of a forest boundary found?
B. In the notification or deed creating it
The governing instrument and its schedule define the boundary; maps drawn later do not override it.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Punmia et al.; Bannister et al.; Ghilani and Wolf; Iliffe and Lott; NSSDA 1998
A compartment in forest management is:
A. A permanent unit of management and record
Sub-compartments are temporary stand units within compartments.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Punmia et al.; Bannister et al.; Ghilani and Wolf; Iliffe and Lott; NSSDA 1998
Sub-compartment boundaries usually differ from compartment boundaries because they:
D. Follow stand differences that change over time
Sub-compartments reflect current species, age and condition.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Punmia et al.; Bannister et al.; Ghilani and Wolf; Iliffe and Lott; NSSDA 1998
Which national mapping agency, founded in 1767, carried out the Great Trigonometrical Survey of South Asia?
C. Survey of India
The Ordnance Survey dates from 1791 and the USGS from 1879.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Punmia et al.; Bannister et al.; Ghilani and Wolf; Iliffe and Lott; NSSDA 1998
Ten here, 29 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to State Forest Service in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
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