PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY – URDANETA CAMPUS

Module in CE 211-ENGINEERING SURVEYS Module No. 14

TOPIC OUTLINE is the most commonly used SI

unit of area. One hectare of
land is equal to 10,000 square
meters (sq.m).
A. Area computation by
Triangles There are different
B. Area computation by methods used in determining
Coordinates area. Some of these methods
include the use of triangles,
C. Area computation by DMD
trapezoidal rule, Simpson’s
Method one-third rule, the coordinate
D. Area Computation by DPD method, the DMD or DPD method,
Method coordinate square, and by a
planimeter.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

AREA BY TRIANGLES
1. To be able to determine
the area by using the The triangle method is a
principle of triangles.
useful and fairly accurate
2. To determine the Area by
using the Coordinate method of computing the area of
method. traverses that have only a few
3. Compute for the DMD or DPD of sides. This method is well
of each course. suited for determining areas of
4. Calculate the area of the small tracts of land and was
closed traverse by using
the DMD or DPD method. popularly used before the
engineer’s transit was
invented.
OVERVIEW
The following are the commonly
used cases:
An important objective of
most land surveys is the
determination of the area of I. KNOWN BASE AND ALTITUDE
tracts of land. The method of
determining areas of land by - The area of a triangle
plane surveying differs from whose base and altitude are
that the actual area of the known or measured maybe
land surface but is taken as computed by the ff formula:
its of projection upon a
horizontal plane.
Areas of land also come in
different shapes. Some areas
maybe in the shape of a regular
geometric figure such as a
figure, triangle, or
parallelogram. Others may be
quite irregular and maybe
bounded entirely by curved
boundaries. The hectare (Ha.) A = ½ bh

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PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY – URDANETA CAMPUS
Module in CE 211-ENGINEERING SURVEYS Module No. 14

A = area of the tract

b = base or any side of the
triangle
h = altitude or the
perpendicular distance from the
corner opposite the base.
II. TWO SIDES AND INCLUDED
ANGLE MEASURED
- When the lengths of two sides
and the included angle of any
triangle are known, its area is
given by the ff:
A = ½ absinC
AREA BY COORDINATES
The method of coordinates
is another useful method for
computing area of any closed
figured bounded by straight
lines. It is applicable for
calculating areas of either
small or large sizes of land.
Essentially, the calculation
involves determining the areas
of the individual triangles or
trapezoids formed by projecting
lines upon a coordinate axis.
The coordinates used are the
total latitudes and total
departures for the corners of
the closed traverse.

A = area of the tract

a,b = sides of the triangle
C = angle between sides a and
b.

III. THREE SIDES MEASURED

 The area of a triangle

whose three sides are known can
be computed by the ff:

Area of ABCD = Area of

A = √[s(s − a)(s − b)(s − c)] trapezoid aABb + Area of
trapezoid bBCc – Area of
A = area of the tract Trapezoid aADd – Area of
s = half of the perimeter where Trapezoid cDCc
a, b and c are the sides of the
triangle. To be suitable for
determining the area of a
The area of any field in the closed traverse having any
shape of a geometric figure can number of sides, the following
be found by dividing it into a general form is used:
series of triangles.
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PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY – URDANETA CAMPUS
Module in CE 211-ENGINEERING SURVEYS
The algebraic signs must be
considered carefully during
computation. It will be noticed
that some areas may be positive
values while others negative.
The sign of the resulting
quantity is immaterial and id
disregarded.
DOUBLE
MERIDIAN DISTANCE
The meridian distance of a line
is defined as the shortest
distance from the midpoint of
the line to the reference
meridian. In figure, the
meridian distances of courses
AB, BC, CD, DE, EA are GG’,
FF’, HH’, II’, and JJ’
respectively.
Meridian distances east of the
reference meridian are
considered to be positive and
that west of the meridian,
negative.
The double meridian distance of
a line is the meridian distance
of the line multiplied by two.
DMD’s are used in computing the
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Module No. 14
area of a field enclosed by a
traverse.
RULE 1: The DMD of the first
course is equal to the
departure of the course.
RULE 2: The DMD of any other
course is equal to the DMD of
the preceding course, plus the
departure of the preceding
course, plus the departure of
the course itself.
RULE 3: The DMD of the last
course is numerically equal to
the departure of that course,
but which the opposite sign.
COMPUTATION OF AREA: (BY
DMD METHOD)
 Compute latitudes and
departures of all courses.
 Compute error of closure in
latitudes and departures.
 Balance the latitudes and
departures by applying
either compass/transit rule.
 Compute for the DMD of all
courses.
 Compute their double areas
by multiplying each DMD by
the corresponding latitude.
(Double area = DMD * Lat)
 Determine algebraic sum of
the double areas.
 Divide the algebraic sum of
the double areas to obtain
the area of the whole tract.
DOUBLE
PARALLEL DISTANCE
By using the latitudes of the
successive courses instead of
the departures, parallel
distances can also be computed
in a manner similar to meridian
distances. The parallel
PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY – URDANETA CAMPUS
Module in CE 211-ENGINEERING SURVEYS Module No. 14

distance of a line is defined

as the distance from the
midpoint of the line to the LEARNING ACTIVITY
reference parallel or the east
-west line. Similarly, the DPD
of a line is equal to twice its
parallel distance. PROBLEM 01: A surveyor sets up
a transit at P which is located
RULE 1: The DPD of the first in the middle portion of a
course is equal to the latitude four-sided tract of land and
of the course. reads direction and measures
distances, as given below, to
RULE 2: The DPD of any other the five corners. Find the area
course is equal to the DPD of of the tract in square meters
the preceding course, plus the by using Triangles.
latitude of the preceding
course, plus the latitude of
the course itself.

RULE 3: The DPD of the last

course is numerically equal to
the latitude of that course,
but which the opposite sign.

PROBLEM 02: Given the following

COMPUTATION OF AREA: adjusted latitudes and adjusted
(BY DMD METHOD) departures of a closed
traverse, determine the area of
the traverse by the coordinate
 Compute latitudes and method. Assume that the origin
departures of all courses. of the coordinate system passes
 Compute error of closure in thru station 1.
latitudes and departures.
 Balance the latitudes and
departures by applying
either compass/transit
rule.
 Compute for the DPD of all
courses.
 Compute their double areas
by multiplying each DPD by
the corresponding departure
(Double area = DPD * Dep)
PROBLEM 03: In the figure and
 Determine algebraic sum of the accompanying tabulation are
the double areas. given the adjusted latitudes
 Divide the algebraic sum of and adjusted departures of a
the double areas to obtain closed traverse.
the area of the whole
tract.

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PANGASINAN STATE UNIVERSITY – URDANETA CAMPUS
Module in CE 211-ENGINEERING SURVEYS Module No. 14

Calculate the area by using:

a) DMD method.
b) DPD method

REFERENCES

Elementary Surveying
Alfeo La Putt

Prepared by:

ENGR. JEDRIC HIÑOLA

Faculty, Civil Engineering
Department
College of Engineering and
Architecture