These website tools can make it very easy to determine the surface area of your water resource.Ī pond surface area could be estimated by walking the perimeter of the pond and stopping at various waypoint locations along the pond shoreline. Geographical Information Websites: There are also geographical information programs on the internet, like Google Earth or Bing Maps, which use satellite imagery to display a map of your pond or lake.The software can connect the waypoints and calculate the area inside the resulting shape. Various locations, or "waypoints," can be stored in the GPS unit for use with mapping software that either accompanies the unit or can be purchased separately. GPS units allow you to determine your exact location on earth using multiple satellites in space. They are now routinely used for outdoor recreation (hunting, hiking, camping, etc.) and navigation. Handheld Global Positioning Systems (GPS): Handheld GPS systems have become quite common over the past five years as they have become more affordable.This method requires more measurement and effort, but the final area estimate will probably be within ±5 to 10 percent of the actual pond area. This would be most easily done during winter when the pond is frozen and the transects could be easily laid out and measured. Note that instead of horizontal transects, this method requires measurement of the distance between each vertical transect. A new trapezoid is defined anywhere the shoreline makes a rapid change in direction. Multiple Trapezoids Method: A more accurate method to determine the area of an odd-shaped pond is to divide the pond into multiple trapezoid shapes.Depending on the number of width and length measurements made, the final area will probably be within about ☒0 percent of the actual pond surface area. You can convert square feet into acres by dividing it by 43,560 ft2 per acre. If you do your measurements in feet, your result will be in square feet. The area is then calculated by multiplying the average width times the average length. The more measurements that you make, the more accurate your result will be. Make certain you get both the longest and shortest distances in calculating the average length, and the widest and narrowest distances for determining the average width. Average Length and Width Method: Take numerous measurements to determine the average length and average width.You should strive to use the most accurate method that you can reasonably accomplish. The three methods are described in order from least to most accurate. Keep in mind that the accuracy of your pond surface area estimate may be very important, especially for the safe use of aquatic herbicides. Three methods can be used in this case depending on the degree of accuracy you desire. Many ponds have an irregular shape where the surface area cannot be adequately estimated using the formulas for common geometric shapes. For example, a pond that is 200 feet long on one side, 300 feet long on the opposite side, and 100 feet wide would have an area = 250 feet X 100 feet = 25,000 ft2 or 0.57 acres. The area of this shape is best estimated using a formula for a trapezoid by taking the average length of the two unequal sides and multiplying by the width of the pond. Many ponds may be roughly rectangular in shape, but one side may be significantly shorter than the other. So, a pond that measures 150 feet long and 100 feet wide would have an area = 150 feet X 100 feet = 15,000 ft2 or 0.34 acres. This value can be converted to acres by dividing by 43,560 ft2/acre. Multiply the length times the width to get the square feet of surface area. Shape area is estimated by simply measuring the length and width of the pond sides in feet. For example, a pond that is 450 feet around the shoreline would have an area = (450 feet)2 / 547,390 or 0.37 acres. Square the shoreline distance and divide by 547,390 to get the pond area in acres. Pond shape can be estimated by measuring the distance around the pond shoreline in feet. The simplest method-using basic equations for common shapes-can be applied if your pond closely resembles a circle, square, rectangle, or trapezoid in shape. The effort necessary to estimate pond surface area is directly related to your pond's shape and uniformity. Pond area and water volume should be calculated based on some simple measurements. The majority of pond owners visually estimate their pond area, which usually results in an overestimate of the true pond surface area. The importance of getting an accurate estimation of your pond surface area cannot be overestimated.
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