DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

ECE: 2211 SURVEYING II NOTES

By Daniel Nyangweso

Lecture 2b
Further Examples and Illustrations
Direction

A direction is angle from a meridian to a line. It is similar to a horizontal angle in a traverse

except the backsight is always along the meridian.

There are two different ways to express line direction: bearing and azimuth.

Bearing

A bearing is an angle from the North or South end of the meridian turned to the East or West. A
bearing has three parts:

 Prefix - N or S indicating which end of the meridian is

turned from.
 Angle
 Suffix - E or W indicating turning direction from the
meridian to the line.

N 66°40' E - from the North end of the meridian, turn 66°40' to the East.

Example

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
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 Bearing AB = N 66°40' E

Bearing AC = S 55°32' E

Bearing AD = S 44°21' W

A bearing falls in one of four quadrants so the angle does not exceed 90°. The angle is to the
right (clockwise) in the NE and SW quadrants, to the left (counter-clock NW quadrants. A due
North direction can be expressed as either N 00°00' E or N 00°00' W; due East as N 90°00' E or
S 90°00' E; similarly for dues South and West.; similarly for dues South and West.

A back-bearing is reverse of a bearing, that is, Bearing BA is the back-bearing of Bearing AB.
Because the meridians are parallel at both ends of the line, the bearing angle is the same but
quadrant is reverse. This is true only when meridians are parallel. Where meridians converge, the
forward and back bearing angles will differ by the total convergence. More on this later.

Bearing AB = N 66°40' E

Bearing BA = S 66°40' W

Azimuth

An azimuth is an angle to the right (clockwise) from the meridian to the line. In most cases the
azimuth is turned from the north meridian end; earlier control surveys used the south end. An
azimuth varies from 0° to 360°.

Example

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
DEPARTMENT
 Azimuth AB = 66°40'

Azimuth AC = 124°28'

Azimuth AD = 224°21'

Azimuth AE = 322°26'

A back-azimuth is reverse of a azimuth: Azimuth CA is the back-azimuth of Azimuth AC.

Because the meridians are parallel at both ends of the line, the back-azimuth and forward
azimuth differ by 180°. As with bearings, this is true only when meridians are parallel. Where
meridians converge, the forward and back azimuths will differ by (180° ± total convergence).
More on this later.

Example

Azimuth AC = 124°28'

Azimuth CA = 124°28' + 180°00' = 304°28'

Converting Between Bearings and Azimuths

Since Bearings and Azimuths are both referenced to a meridian it is simple to convert one to the
other.

To convert from bearings to azimuths:

Quadrant From Bearing To Azimuth

NE NβE β

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
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 SE SβE 180° - β
SW SβW 180° + β
NW NβW 360° - β

Example

Azimuth AB = 66°40'

Azimuth AC = 180°00' - 55°32' = 124°28'

Azimuth AD = 180°00' + 44°21' = 224°41'

Azimuth AE = 360°00' - 37°34' = 322°26'

To convert from an azimuth, α, to a bearing:

Quadrant To Bearing
NE NαE
SE S (180° - α) E
SW S (α - 180°) W
NW N (360° - α) W

Example

Bearing AB = N 64°40' E

Bearing AC = S (180°00'-124°28') E = S 55°32' E

Bearing AD = S (224°21' - 180°00') W = S 44°21' W

Bearing AE = N (360°00' - 322°26') W = N 37°34' W

Rather then memorize tables, drawing a sketch will help determine correct conversion logic to
use.

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
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Angles and Directions
Angles to Directions

Starting with a direction for one traverse line, directions of the others can be computed from the
horizontal angles linking them. The process of addition or subtraction is dependent on the type of
horizontal angle (interior, deflection, etc), turn direction (clockwise or counterclockwise), and
direction type (bearing or azimuth).

Example

The bearing of line GQ is S 42°35' E. The angle right at Q from G to S is 112°40'. What
is the bearing of the line QS?

Sketch:

Add meridian at Q:

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
DEPARTMENT
 At Q, the bearing to G is N 42°35' W.

Subtracting 42°35' from 112°40' gives the angle from North to the East for line QS.

Bearing QS = N 70°05" E

Example

The azimuth of line WX is 258°13'. At X the deflection angle from W to L is 102°45' L.

What is the azimuth of line XL?

Sketch:

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
DEPARTMENT
 A deflection angle is measured from the extension of a line. The azimuth of the
extension is the same as that of the line. To compute the next azimuth , the deflection
angle is added directly to the previous azimuth.

Because this is a left deflection angle, you would add a negative angle.

Add meridian at X:

Azimuth XL = 258°13' + (-102°45') = 155°28'

Notice how a sketch makes it easier to see the angle and direction relationships.

Directions to Angles

Given directions of two adjacent lines, it is a simple matter to determine the angle between the
lines.

Example

The bearing of line HT is N 35°16' W , the bearing of line TB is N 72°54' E. What is the
angle right at T from B to H?

Sketch

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
DEPARTMENT
 Label the back-direction at T and angle to be computed, δ.

Based on the sketch, the desired angle is what’s left over after both bearing angles are
subtracted from 180°00'.

δ = 180°00' - (72°54' + 35°16') = 71°50"

Example

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
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 The azimuth of line MY is 106°12', the azimuth of line YF is 234°06'. What is the angle
right at Y from F to M?

Sketch

Label the back-azimuth at Y and angle to be computed, ρ.

ρ = 286°12' - 234°06' = 52°06'

In the following examples shown, all calculations are shown with an additional significant
figure. Because these are generally intermediate computations, carrying an additional digit
minimizes roundoff error in subsequent calculations.

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
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When reporting results of an intermediate calculation, those should be stated to the correct
number of significant figures so as not to imply an accuracy beyond that of the measurements.

A. Traverse with bearings

Lat and Dep will always compute as positive; mu

correct mathematical sign based on the bearing q

Line AB

Because the bearing is South and West, the Lat and Dep are -176.357' and -438.548'
respectively.

Line BC

Because the bearing is North and West, the Lat and Dep are +203.395' and -73.093'
respectively.

Line CD

Because the bearing is North and East, the Lat and Dep are +192.357' and +198.651'
respectively.

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
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Line DA

Because the bearing is South and East , the Lat and Dep are -219.312' and +313.065'
respectively

In tabular form:

Line Bearing Length (ft) Lat (ft) Dep (ft)

AB S 68°05'35"W 472.68 -176.357 -438.548
BC N 19°46'00"W 216.13 +203.395 -73.093
CD N 45°55'20"E 276.52 +192.357 +198.651
DA S 54°59'15"E 382.24 -219.312 +313.065
sums: 1347.57 +0.083 +0.075
Distance Lat err Dep err
too far N too far E

B. Traverse with azimuths

Lat and Dep will always compute

correct sign when using azimuths

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
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 Line ST

Line TU

Line UV

Line VS

Dep (ft) Dep (ft)

Line Azimuth Length (ft) Lat (ft)
Dep (ft)
ST 309°05'38" 347.00 +218.816 -269.311
TU 258°34'22" 364.55 -72.226 -357.324
UV 128°04'44" 472.74 -291.560 +372.123
VS 60°21'26" 292.94 +144.885 +254.602
sums: 1477.23 -0.085 +0.090
Distance Lat err Dep err
too far S too far E

Crossing Traverse

A four-sided parcel has two obstructed lines.

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
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In order to create a closed traverse, the survey crew measures a crossing traverse which connects
all four points.

As long as a traverse closes back on its beginni

closer condition is still:

regardless of how many times it may cross itse

Given this traverse data, determine its closure a

Rather than write out each Lat and Dep computation separately, we can simply set up the table
and record the computations in it.

Line Azimuth Length (ft) Lat (ft) Dep (ft)

EF 133°02'45" 455.03 -310.780 +332.737
FG 24°33'35" 228.35 +207.691 +94.912
GH 241°05'15" 422.78 -204.403 -370.084
HE 349°25'20" 213.85 +307.534 -57.430
sums: 1419.28 +0.042 +0.135
Distance Lat err Dep err
too far N Too far E

ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
DEPARTMENT
ECE 2211 LECTURE 2: NOTES AUTHOR DANIEL NYANGWESO, DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY GEGIS
DEPARTMENT