Fieldwork No.

06B
Inclined Stadia Sights

Name :Cole, James Michael D Weather :Sunny

Group No. :2 Place :Hillside, USC
Designation :Instrument man Time, Start : 1:30 pm
Instructor :Engr. Oliver Dave L. Mag-uyon End : 3:30 pm
Class Schedule :MW, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Objective:
To measure horizontal and vertical distances and elevation of points by stadia method.

Instruments:
Theodolite Stadia Rod Marking Pins

Procedure: Horizontal and Vertical Distances by Stadia

1. Set up and level the instrument such as at point A(refer to sketch for sample
set-up). Measure the actual height of instrument above the occupied point and
record this as the HI.
2. Direct the rodman to hold the rod vertically at another point such as I and
take a foresight on the rod. Observe through the telescope and record the
upper, middle, and lower hair readings.
3. Read the vertical angel () and record this quantity with the proper sign. An
angle of elevation is positive(+) angle and an angle of depression is negative(-)
angle.
4. Make sightings to 4 more points such as 1, 3, 4, 5. Tabulate all measured and
computed values accordingly.
Fig. 2-1 Inclined Stadia Sights

+

(a) Angle of elevation

-

(b) Angle of depression

Fig 2-2 Schematic Diagram for Inclined Sights

Fig. 2-3 Formula Derivation for Inclined Sights

tan m = 0.006
m = 0 17’ (too small and is negligible)

By Ratio and Proportion

f d
 ;
i s cos
f
d  s cos ;
i
d  ks cos
H  (d  f  c) cos but C  f  c
H  ( ks cos  C) cos
 H  ks cos2   C cos (horizontal distance)
V  (d  f  c) sin 
V  ( ks cos  C) sin 
V  ks sin cos  C sin but sin2 = 2sincos
1
sin 2  sin  cos
2
1
V  ks sin 2  C sin  (vertical distance)
2

Remarks:

1. The determination of horizontal distances and differences in elevations

by the stadia method is common in traverse and leveling for topographic
surveys, field completion surveys employing photogrammetric procedures,
and in route and hydrographic surveys.

2. Using the stadia method, horizontal distances may be determined with a

1
relative accuracy to about . Similarly, differences in elevation can be
500
obtained to within plus or minus 3 cm.

3. The stadia interval (s) is usually determined by setting the lower stadia
hair on a whole meter mark and then reading the location of the upper
stadia hair. By this process, the stadia interval is mentally computed more
easily and with less chance of mistakes than if the lower stadia hair were
allowed to take a random position on the rod

4. Whenever possible, it is convenient to read the vertical angle when the

rod reading and HI are opposite in sign, if equal in magnitude the two
quantities cancel each other and may be omitted from the computation of
elevation.

5. Whenever the stadia interval is in excess of the length of the rod used,
the separate half intervals are observed and their sum is taken.

Data and Results:

Distances Upper Reading Middle Reading Lower Reading V
P1 3.5 3.44 3.37 -5
P2 0.88 0.82 0.75 -5
P3 4.77 4.71 4.65 -5
P4 1.76 1.71 1.65 5
P5 0.96 0.88 0.79 5

H V
P1 6.45 m 0.02 m
P2 6.45 m 0.024 m
P3 5.95 m 0.023 m
P4 5.46 m 0.021 m
P5 8.44 m 0.032 m
Sample Computations:
Point 1

Point 2

Point 3

Point 4

Point 5

Conclusion:
In this field work, we determine the inclined stadia sight using the Stadia Leveling.
We used the instrument called theodolite. The theodolite is used in calculating the elevation
and it is essential and better compared to a transit because it provides horizontal and
vertical angles that can be used on getting the horizontal and vertical distances.

In our data, P1, P2, and P3 has an angle of depression while P4 and P5 has an angle of
elevation. In vertical distances (V), P1 has 0.2 m, P2 has 0.024 m, P3 has 0.023 m, P4 has
0.021 m, and P5 has 0.032 m. The vertical distances of each points are close to each other.
In horizontal distances (H), P1 and P2 has the same distance of 6.45 m, P3 has 5.95 m, P4
has 5.46 m and P5 has 8.44 m. Even though the points were randomly placed there are some
points that are the same.

There are many possible errors in this activity. These errors are personal errors –
the rod man didn’t achieve its work by maintaining the bubble at the center, parallax error;
natural errors – the weather when this fieldwork activity was conducted was sunny.
Positively we had some umbrellas to give shade to the instrument which we mitigated the
error of this activity. To estimate errors, one must be aware in obtaining the theta () as
this can affect the final calculations.
Sketch: