LATITUDES AND DEPARTURES

The Latitude of a line is its projection onto the reference meridian or a North- South line.
Latitudes are sometimes referred to as Northings or Southings. Latitudes of lines with Northerly
bearings are designated as being North (N) or positive (+) ; those in Southerly direction are
designated as South (S) or negative (-).

Lat= dCosα

On the other hand, the Departure of a line is its projection onto the reference parallel
or an East- West line. Departures are East (E) or positive (+) for lines having Easterly bearings and West
(W) or negative (-) for lines having Westerly bearings.

Dep= dsinα

The algebraic signs of latitudes and departures are thus assigned on the basis of the
direction of the bearing angles.

ERROR OF CLOSURE

There is no such thing as mathematically perfect survey. Small errors in both

distances and angles will always be present even in closed traverses observed using
instruments and methods of high precision. Linear Error of Closure (LEC) is usually a short line
of unknown length and direction connecting the initial and final stations of the traverse.

If the linear error of closure is excessive, it indicates that a mistake has been committed
during the field measurement or in plotting and computing the traverse data. The first step
then would be to check all the calculations to make sure that the mistake is not in the
calculations.

The linear error of closure does not indicate the precision of the measurements until it is
compared with the total length of the traverse, it is called the Relative Precision.
 In solving the Linear Error of Closure:

Lat= dCosα ΣSL CD=ΣED+ ΣWD RP= LEC/D

Dep= dSinα ΣED LEC= √ CL^2 +CD^2

D= Σd ΣWD Tanθ= -CD/-CL

ΣNL CL= ΣNL

Where:

LEC= linear error of closure

CL= closure in the latitude or the algebraic sum of north and south latitudes

CD= closure in the departure or the algebraic sum of the east and west departures

Θ= bearing angle of the side error

RP= relative precision

D= total length perimeter