SURE 110 - Fundamentals of Surveying

BASICS OF
SURVEYING

Robert Burtch
Surveying Engineering Department
Ferris State University

DEFINITION
† The art and science of making such
measurements as are necessary to
determine the relative position of points
above, on, or beneath the surface of the
earth, or to establish such points in a
specified position
† Surveyor needs understanding of
„ rigorous mathematical to analyze and
adjust
„ scientific principles underlying and
affecting measurements

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SURE 110 - Fundamentals of Surveying

BRANCHES OF SURVEYING

† Geodetic Surveying † Plane Surveying

„ Branch of surveying „ Branch of surveying
in which account is in which the surface
taken of figure and of the earth is
size of earth considered a plane
surface

PHASES OF SURVEYING

† Field Work
„ Data procurement phase
† Office Work – data are
„ Analyzed
„ Reduced to useful form by mathematical
calculations
„ Adjusted
„ Frequently converted to graphical mode of
expression

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SURE 110 - Fundamentals of Surveying

KINDS OF SURVEYS
† Property surveys
„ Determine boundary lines, location of
property corners, acquisition of data to
prepare land subdivisions
† Route surveys
„ Designing and constructing engineering
projects associated with transportation and
communications
† Industrial surveys
„ Surveys in aircraft and other industries
where accurate dimensional layouts
necessary

KINDS OF SURVEYS
† Topographic surveys
„ Collect field data to prepare topographic
maps
† Hydrographic surveys
„ Map shorelines of water bodies, chart
bottom areas of streams, lakes, harbors,
etc., measure flow of rivers, assess other
issues related to navigation and water
resources
† Aerial surveys (photogrammetry)
„ Use photographs mounted in specially
designed planes

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SURE 110 - Fundamentals of Surveying

KINDS OF SURVEYS
† Mine surveys
„ Determine position of underground works
and surface mines, fix position and
direction of tunnels and shafts, define
surface boundaries
† Construction surveys
„ Performed during building of structure or
project to fix elevations, horizontal position,
and dimensions
† Control surveys
„ Provide basic horizontal and vertical
position data for engineering mission

KINDS OF SURVEYS
† Final (“As Built”) survey
„ Tie in features that have just been
constructed to provide final record of
construction and to check that construction
has proceeded according to design plan

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SURE 110 - Fundamentals of Surveying

BASIC SURVEY
MEASUREMENTS: DEFINITIONS
† Direction of gravity used as
reference direction
„ Vertical – means direction of gravity
„ Horizontal – means direction
perpendicular to gravity

SURVEY GEOGRAPHIC
REFERENCE † Latitude (φ)
„ Lines run east-west
parallel to equator
„ Max angle 90°
„ South latitudes
negative
† Longitude (λ)
„ Lines run north south,
converge at poles
„ 0° - Greenwich
„ Measured east and
west - 180° max angle
„ West longitude
negative

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SURE 110 - Fundamentals of Surveying

† Oblate Spheroid
DEFINITIONS „ Ellipsoid of
Revolution
„ Solid obtained by
rotating an ellipse on
its shorter axis
„ Idealized figure of
earth

DEFINITIONS
† Level surface (geoid)
„ Continuous surface that is at all points
perpendicular to the direction of gravity
„ Can be thought of as the surface of large
body of water at complete rest (unaffected
by tides, etc.)
† Elevation
„ Vertical distance above or below a given
reference level surface
† Difference in elevation
„ Vertical distance between two level
surfaces containing the two points

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SURE 110 - Fundamentals of Surveying

† Vertical line
DEFINITIONS „ Line following direction
of gravity
„ Vertical line passing
through several different
points on surface of
earth do not intersect at
a common point
„ Vertical lines not
necessarily normal to
surface of the earth
† Deflection of vertical
„ Angle between
perpendicular to geoid
and ellipsoid

DEFINITIONS
† Horizontal line
„ Line perpendicular to vertical line at a point
† Horizontal plane
„ Plane perpendicular to vertical line at point
„ Only 1 horizontal plane through a given
point
† Vertical plane
„ Plane containing vertical line at the point
„ Infinite number of vertical planes as a
given point

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SURE 110 - Fundamentals of Surveying

DIRECTION
† Azimuth- clockwise † Bearing – angle
angle from north to measured from north
line or south to east or
west

ACCURACY & PRECISION

† Accuracy –
closeness between
measurement and
“true” value
† Precision –
closeness to one
another of a set of
repeated
observations

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SURE 110 - Fundamentals of Surveying

ERRORS

† No measurement free of error (except

counting)

† Mistakes or blunders
„ Not really errors because they are usually
so gross in magnitude
„ Most common reason – carelessness
„ Must be discovered and eliminated

ERRORS
† Systematic error
„ Occur according to a system which can be
expressed mathematically
„ Magnitude and sign can be determined
„ Follow definite pattern
„ Can be caused by observer, instrument,
environment
† Random error
„ Error left after systematic error removed
„ May tend to cancel themselves

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SURE 110 - Fundamentals of Surveying

UNITS OF LENGTH

† Imperial units † SI units (meters)

(feet) „ Le Systeme
„ Usually Internationale d’Unites
subdivided into (International System
decimal units in of Units
surveying „ Normally subdivided
„ Use of inches into decimeter,
centimeter, millimeter

NORMAL PREFIXES FOR

METER
† deci (d) 10-1
† exa (E) 1018
† centi (c) 10-2
† peta (p) 1015
† milli (m) 10-3
† tera (t) 1012
† micro (µ)10-6
† giga (g) 109
† nana (n) 10-9
† mega (m) 106
† pico (p) 10-12
† kilo (k) 103
† femto (f) 10-15
† hecto (h) 102
† atto (a) 10-18
† deka (da) 101

† Ex: kilometer = 1,000m † Ex: millimeter = 0.001m

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METRIC SYSTEM
† 1791 French Academy of Sciences
recommended metre to be
1/10,000,000th part of polar quadrant
passing through Paris
† 1799 Academy of Sciences developed
new standard – Metre of the Archives –
made of platinum 1 meter in length
† 1999 General Conference of Weights
and Measures adopts “International
Prototype Metre” – platinum & iridium
bar

METRIC SYSTEM

† 1960 National Prototype Meter –

1,650,763.73 wavelengths of Krypton 86
atom in a vacuum
† 1983 Conference Generale des Poids et
Mesures redefined meter as length of
the path traveled by light in a vacuum
during a time interval of 1/299792458 of
a second

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FEET-METER CONVERSION

FEET-METER CONVERSION
† Ferdinand Hassler brought iron meter
bar to U.S. in 1805 for work with Coast
Survey
† 1866 Congress legalized use of metric
system
† 1893 – Mendenhall Order
„ Superintendent of Weight & Measures
„ 1 meter = 39.37 inches (exact)
„ 1 U.S. Yard = (3600/3927) meter (exact)

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FEET-METER CONVERSION
† 1959 U.S. & U.K. agreed that Imperial
units used in both countries should be
the same
„ Defined 1 Yard = 0.9144 metre (exact)
„ 1 ft = 0.3048 m (exact)
„ 1 inch = 25.4 mm (exact)
„ Did not change relationship established by
Congress – kept for surveying and called
U.S. Survey foot

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