CHAPTER 14

Least Squares Adjustment

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The survey network adjustment function allows you to either simulate network adjustments, or adjust survey measurements for a horizontal
control network using the least squares adjustment method.

The method of least squares is based on the theory of probability, simultaneously adjusting the angular and linear measurements to make the
sum of the squares of the residuals a minimum. This method is valid for any type of traverse survey, regardless of the relative precision of
angle and distance measurements, since each measured quantity can be assigned a relative weight.

This function is a good tool for calculating a homogeneous set of coordinates for a mapping, engineering or mining project. As the control
network is extended, it is normal to come across different techniques of measurements, or different equipment used to obtain those
measurements. The survey network adjustment will make use of any combination of observations, including traversing, triangulation,
intersections or resections.

It is very important to note that these adjustments are performed in two dimensions (2D), such as northings (Y), and eastings (X) only, not in
the Z plane. Any adjustment for level would have to be done independently of the adjustment for northing and easting.

Exercise 1 – Least Squares Adjustment

This section will cover using the survey network adjustment, taking advantage of the least squares method of either adjusting, or simulating a
survey network.
What you will learn

In this exercise you will cover the following topics:

o Information needed for adjustment

o Errors and standard deviation
o Entering of observations
o Interpreting the results

 Entering observed data

Before any adjustment can be carried out, the stations that you wish to adjust must exist inside of a Surpac surveying database.
This first section will involve loading the survey stations into your surface database.
Note – If you do not have the Surface database that was created in the earlier chapters, run the macro lsdb.tcl, which will create an empty
database. This will create a surface database called LEAST_SQUARES.
The first step is to load the station information that is to be adjusted into your database.
1. In your file manager, locate the file LEASE.TXT and right hand click on the file. Select the EDIT option.

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This shows the 8 survey stations that will be used in the adjustment. They need to be loaded in your station database before you can
proceed to the next stage.

2. Close the text editor.

3. Make sure you are connected to your survey database, and that the surveying menu is displayed.

4. Select Survey database > Import data

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5. Enter a format file name of LEASE, and then click on the Apply button.
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6. Click on the Apply button for the confirmation form.

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7. Remove the include tick for the stability table, and then click on the Apply button.
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8. Click on the Apply button on the select fields form without making any changes.
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9. Enter that text file name of LEASE.TXT, and then click on the Apply button.

Surpac will load the stations into your database without any errors.

You can now view the stations on screen to see how they are positioned relative to each other.

10. Select Stations > Display stations from database

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11. Enter an area name of LEASE, and select a colour of your choice, then click on the Apply button.
 Note - If you do not enter the area name, all of stations in your database will be displayed.

12. Once the stations have been displayed, hit Cancel on the station form.

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You can now commence the adjustment using the LEASE station that you have just loaded into your database.
 Survey Network Adjustment
1. Select Surface surveys > Network adjustment
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The adjustment option at the top of the form will adjust the angles and directions or distances that you supply.

The simulation option will calculate "pseudo" observations between the stations that you specify, making it possible to design a
network, which will yield new points of a given precision (i.e. Error Ellipses of a given size) or new points, where the bearing and
distance between them is of a given precision
2. Select the adjustment option at the top of the form.

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3. Select to save the stations to the database.

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This will adjust the LEASE stations that are currently in your database. There is no undo function to the adjustment, so it is a good
idea not to save the station for the first adjustment, which will allow you to check the results before any permanent changes are made
to your station coordinates.

If you are running a Simulation, it is meaningless to save the resulting coordinates to a database, as the observations are only
simulated.

4. Remove the tick next to use existing input file, as at this stage you do not have one that you can use.
5. Enter a name for the input file, in this case LEASE1.

All of the observation data that you enter into the adjustment form will be saved to this input file. This file can then be used again at a
later date if required. This is a handy function especially if you have some extra observation data you wish to incorporate into your
adjustment. Instead of having to enter all of your observed data, you will only need to add the new observations.

6. Click on the Apply button to continue.

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The survey network observations form is very large and will be dealt with a piece at a time.
 The top section of the form contains inputs will be placed onto the top of the text file report that Surpac will generate after the
adjustment. These fields can be left blank if required, except for the file name, which must be filled out.

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7. Fill out the adjustment notes at the top of the form.

Next you must select whether the adjustment will be carried out on a spheroid or a plane, and the maximum iterations that will be
used.

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When selecting the Plane option, all data is processed as it is entered with no adjustments made for curvature of the earth. This is the
option that you would use if adjusting for a local mine grid.

The maximum iterations will determine the number of times the process is repeated to calculate the new coordinates. The adjustment
will be repeated until all adjustments to the coordinates of the provisional stations are less that 1 metre, or until the maximum number
of iterations are exceeded.
8. Leave the spheroid as plane, and the number of iterations as 3.

Next you will enter the names of the stations that you will be performing the adjustment for.

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The station entry section is split into two parts, either fixed or unfixed.

The fixed stations are those that will not be altered by your adjustment. These stations must exist in the database.

The unfixed stations will be changed during the adjustment. Provisional coordinates (or initial coordinates) for the unfixed stations
must also be contained within the database. Generally the provisional coordinates come from your original surveys.

9. Enter the fixed and unfixed stations as shown in the previous image.
10. Click on the Direction tab in the middle of the form.
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The directions part of the form allows you to enter any known directions between stations. These directions are known bearings. The
information for the known directions can come from many sources, such as previous traversing, previous adjustments, G.P.S.
observations GYRO observation or even astronomical observations.

The direction value id a bearing and is entered in the form of degrees, minutes and seconds (DDD.MM.SSss).

In this exercise there are no known directions.

11. Click on the Distances tab.

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The distance information that is entered here is HORIZONTAL distance information, that also has a standard deviation and parts per
million associated with it. These values can be found in the manufacturers manual for your specific EDM unit.

12. Enter the distance information as shown on the following table.

Setup Foresight Distance Std Dev PPM

LP2 LP3 1397.084 +0.005 + 3.0 ppm

LP3 LP4 626.437 +0.005 + 3.0 ppm

LP4 LP5 466.100 +0.005 + 3.0 ppm

 LP5 LP6 570.714 +0.005 + 3.0 ppm

LP6 LP7 942.180 +0.005 + 3.0 ppm

LP7 LP8 405.144 +0.005 + 3.0 ppm

LP8 LP1 401.209 +0.005 + 3.0 ppm

LP1 LP2 1285.210 +0.005 + 3.0 ppm

13. Click on the Angles tab.

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 Enter the observation in the form backsight, setup, foresight. The angle is entered in degrees, minutes and seconds (DDD.MM.SSss),
and also includes a centring error, and a standard deviation.

The centring error is an estimate of the error of placing the theodolite and its target over or under a station. A suitable value for this is
usually found in the manual for your theodolite.

This is a critical piece of data in any network adjustment where the lines are shorter than 1000m. If the theodolite or its target has a
centring error, the overall precision of the network can be affected, especially the computed bearing and distance between new
stations.

The standard deviation must also be entered. This can also generally be obtained from your theodolite manufacturers manual. It is
important to note that if you are to optimistic about the precision of your observations, then you will put a strain on the network, which
may result in the coordinates of the new points being seriously in error.

14. Enter the angle information as shown on the following table.

Backsight Setup Foresight Angle Centring Std Dev

LP1 LP2 LP3 217.4250 + 0.005 + 3.0

ppm

LP2 LP3 LP4 299.3238 + 0.005 + 3.0

ppm

LP3 LP4 LP5 191.2305 + 0.005 + 3.0

 ppm

LP4 LP5 LP6 224.2621 + 0.005 + 3.0

ppm

LP5 LP6 LP7 151.2250 + 0.005 + 3.0

ppm

LP6 LP7 LP8 269.5655 + 0.005 + 3.0

ppm

LP7 LP8 LP1 180.0129 + 0.005 + 3.0

ppm

LP8 LP1 LP2 265.3353 + 0.005 + 3.0

ppm

LP3 LP4 LP2 267.0349 + 0.005 + 3.0

ppm
 LP3 LP2 LP4 26.3624 + 0.005 + 3.0
ppm
15. Once all of the information has been entered click on the Apply button to begin the adjustment.

Two files will be created by the adjustment. The fist file is a *.adj file which contains all of the inputs that were entered. This file can be used
again if required by simply selecting that you wish to use an existing input file at the beginning of the adjustment.
The second file that is created is the *.not file report which contains all of the adjustment information. Each part of the adjustment will be
covered in detail.
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 Survey Network Adjustment Results
The first part of the report covers the information that was entered at the top of the adjustment form, and also the stations that were involved
in the adjustment, as shown in the previous image.
The next part of report contains all of the observed data between stations that was entered.

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The next section of the report covers the EDIT ERRORS.
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These errors show any observations where the difference between the computed and observed bearings and distances is greater than 3 times
the standard deviation.
In most cases, these errors are created by a lack of precision in the choice of the provisional coordinates of the unfixed stations in the network.
If a particular station is mentioned in a number of edit errors, its provisional coordinates should be recalculated.
The next section refers to the SOLUTION OF NORMALS, and this refers to a list of the final adjustment to the provisional coordinates.

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The final coordinates are given in the next section of the report.

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These are the coordinates that were placed into your database, overwriting the previous values.
Following the final coordinates, are the corrections made to each of the observations.
 
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At the bottom of the corrections to observations is a list, which gives you an indication of the validity of the adjustment.

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The things to note are the number of redundancies, which should always be greater than zero, otherwise there is no point in doing the
adjustment.
The next section gives information covering the standard error ellipses and relative error ellipses for each station. The standard error ellipses
list is an estimate of the precision of the coordinates of the new stations with a 46% confidence limit.

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The direction of the major axis is an indicator of the direction of the strength of the network.
The relative error ellipses are listed when there are two or more new stations in the adjustment.

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The information given shows the standard deviation of the bearing and distance between any pair of intervisible new stations.
The final part of the report is the station summary. This gives the computed bearings and distances between all intervisible stations in the
network.
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