Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations how to measure size of pond

We had a what we were told about a 5 acre pond built two years ago. I have had people tell me it looks like everything from 3 to 7 acres. It is very uneven shoreline ( not perfectly round) with some large fingers on it. I would love to know how to measure and know for sure how large the pond is. Thanks for any info.: Vince

my brother in law measured my pond with a gps system and downloaded info. into his computer and it draws map and gives the size of lake.not sure what software he has,but it's pretty nice because it gives distance on all coves and width.

Vincent, Im not exactly sure how the pros do it but I know there are alot of ways to get a decent accurate answer.

If you have a range-finder you could draw an overhead sketch of your pond. Then every twenty feet measure and record the distance across the pond...record the distance, standing point and the point the you measured to on your rough sketch. Then connect them by a line so you dont have a bunch of confusing points. Doing this you can get a real good estimate of your pond size. To get the area you have to do a little math. Too much detail for this post, but if you do have a rangefinder and want to do this just let me know when you get your data and I can calculate it.

Another option if you dont have a rangefinder but have a boat, is to do almost the same thing as above, but instead you use your boat, a timer, and then a speed gauge to calculate distance; recording as you go along. For instance, if you were going 10mph and it took 5 minutes to get across...then it would be roughly 880ft across. That's just an example. However, this method takes alot longer and is far less accurate.

Your other option is to hire a civil engineer and get him to survey the place. Not sure how much they cost per hour....but they could probably get it done fairly quickly

Chris

I have done it 3 ways and gotten 3 different answers; all within 5%. 1. Calculate your stride and walk the edges. 2. Use a flexible 500 ft. tape and measure around the edges. 3. Use a rangefinder. They aren't that expensive any more.

After measuring, do the math whether its triangular, circular or?.

This site has a pond area estimator at the bottom of the page:
http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/documents/fish/aquaguides/2_304.pdf

Vincent:
You might try a farm fertilizer dealer. Some of the larger ones in this area (100 miles east of St. Louis) now have them mounted on three wheelers and such for measuring field acreages. Many of them will measure areas for a small fee.
Jeff

Oops! I must be getting old. ATVs and 4 wheelers. 3 wheelers have been out of style for years now!

For a quick look, I use a rangefinder, and measure odd shaped lakes in sections. With a hand drawn map, measure each section, then plot actual distances on graph paper. A fairly accurate map will emerge, then you can count the squares, and calculate surface area.