Professional Documents
Culture Documents
is the science and art of measuring
distances and angles on or near the surface of
the earth.
Angles and Determination of Direction
• In surveying, the
direction of a line is
described by the
horizontal angle that
it makes with a
reference line.
• This reference line is
called a meridian
Angles and Determination of Direction
A meridian (or line of longitude) is an
• Imaginary arc on the Earth's surface from the
North Pole to the South Pole that connects all
locations running along it with a given
longitude
• The position of a point
on the meridian is given
by the latitude.
Angles and Determination of Direction
There are three types of meridians
• Astronomic‐ direction determined from the
shape of the earth and gravity; also called
geodetic north
• Magnetic ‐ direction taken by a magnetic
needle at observer’s position
• Assumed ‐ arbitrary direction taken for
convenience
Angles and Determination of Direction
Parallels of latitude
Meridians of longitude
Angles and Determination of Direction
Angles and Determination of Direction
Units for expressing the magnitude of plane
angles are: sexagesimal, radians, centesimal
Sexagesimal system
– Degrees, minutes, seconds
–Circle divided into 360 degrees
–Each degree divided by 60 minutes
–Each minute divided into 60 seconds
Angles and Determination of Direction
Angular Units
• Radians
– 1 radian = 1/2π of a circle =
0.1592*360 = 57°17’44. 8”
• Grads (Centesimal System)
–The circumference of circles is
divided into 400 parts
Bearings/Azimuths
• The bearing of an object is the angle between
some fixed direction and the direction of the
object.
• Bearings are referred to
– astronomic,
– magnetic, or
– assumed meridian