CIEN 30013

FUNDAMENTALS OF
SURVEYING

Instructor:
Engr. Edna P. ARROJADO
 TOPICS:
• 1. Introduction to Surveying
• 2. Measurement of Horizontal Distances
• 3. Measurement of Vertical Distances
• 4. Measurement of Angles & Directions
• 5. Leveling
• 6. Traverse/ Traversing
• 7. Area Computation
 Textbook & Lab Manual

• Elementary Surveying
• (3rd/ Latest Edition)
• By: Juny Pilapil La Putt
 SURVEYING
- the art and science of determining angular and linear
measurements to establish the form, extent, and
relative position of points, lines, and areas on or near
the surface of the earth or on other extraterrestrial
bodies through applied mathematics and the use of
specialized equipment and techniques.
 Kinds of Surveys:
1. Plane Surveying
2. Geodetic Surveying
1. Plane Surveying
- is that type of surveying in which the earth is
considered to be a flat surface, and where distances
and areas involved are of limited extent that the
exact shape of the earth is disregarded. With regard
to horizontal distances and directions, a level line is
considered as mathematically straight, the direction
of the plumb line is assumed to be the same at all
points within the limits of the survey, and all angles
are considered to be plane angle.
2. Geodetic Surveying
- are surveys of wide extent which take into
account the spheroidal shape of the earth.
These surveys employ principles of geodesy,
are of high precision, and the related
calculations involve the solving of equations
derived from advanced mathematics
particularly spherical trigonometry, calculus,
and some applications of the theory of least
squares.
 Scope and Application:
• Engineering
• Scientific
• Commercial
• Architectural
• Geographic
• Navigational
• Exploratory work
 Types of Surveys:
• Cadastral Survey
• City Surveys
• Construction Surveys
• Forestry Surveys
• Hydrographic Surveys
• Industrial Surveys
• Mine Surveys-
• Photographic Surveys
• Route Surveys
• Topographic Surveys
1. Cadastral Survey
• - are usually closed surveys w/c undertaken
in urban and rural locations for the purpose of
determining property lines and boundaries,
corners and areas. These surveys are also
made to fix the boundaries of municipalities,
towns, and provincial jurisdictions.
2. City Surveys
• - are surveys of the areas in and near a city
for the purpose of planning expansions or
improvements, locating property lines, fixing
reference monuments, determining the
physical features and configuration of the
land, and preparing maps.
3. Construction Surveys
- these are surveys which are undertaken at
a construction site to provide data regarding
grades, reference lines, dimensions, ground
configuration, and the location and elevation
of structures which are of concern to
engineers, architects, and builders.
4. Forestry Surveys
• - a type of survey executed in connection with
forest management and mensuration, and the
production and conservation of forest lands.
5. Hydrographic Surveys
• - refer to surveying streams , lakes, reservoirs,
harbors, oceans, and other bodies of water. These
surveys are made to map shore lines, chart the shape
of areas underlying water surfaces, and measure the
flow of streams. They are of general importance in
connection with navigation, development of water
supply and resources, flood control, irrigation,
production of hydro-electric power, subaqueaous
constructions and recreation.
6. Industrial Surveys
• - sometimes known as optical tooling. It refers
to the use of surveying techniques in ship
building , construction and assembly of
aircraft, lay-out and installation of heavy and
complex machinery, and in other industries
where very accurate dimensional layouts are
required.
7. Mine Surveys-
• are surveys which are performed to determine
the position of all underground excavations
and surface mine structures, to fix surface
boundaries of mining claims, determine
geological formations, to calculate excavated
volumes, and establish lines and grades for
other related mining work.
8. Photographic Surveys
- a type of survey which makes use of
photographs taken with specially designed
cameras either from airplanes or ground
stations. Measurements are obtained from
photographs which are used in conjuction
with limited ground surveys.
9. Route Surveys -
• involves the determination of alignment,
grades, earthwork quantities, location of
natural and artificial objects in connection
with the planning, design and construction of
highways, railroads, pipelines canals,
transmission lines, and other linear projects.
10. Topographic Surveys
• - are those surveys made for determining
the shape of the ground, and the location and
elevation of natural and artificial ffeatures
upon it. The features shown include such
natural objects as hills, mountains, rivers,
lakes, relief of the ground surface, etc; and
works of man, such as roads, buildings, ports,
towns municipalities, and bridges.
II. Measurements:
2.1 Type of Measurements:
• Direct Measurement
• Indirect Measurement
a. Direct Measurement
• – a direct measurement is a comparison of
the measured quantity with a standard
measuring unit or units employed for
measuring quantity of that kind.
 Indirect Measurement
• Indirect Measurement – when it is not
possible to apply a measuring instrument
directly to a quantity to be measured as
indirect measurement is made. In this type
of measurement, the observed value is
determined by its relationship to some other
known values.
2.2 Units of Measurement
• Linear, Area, and Volume Measurements
• Mega - 1 000 000
• Kilo - 1 000
• Hecto - 100
• Deca - 10
• Deci - 0.1
• Centi - 0.01
• Milli - 0.001
• Micro - 0.000 001
• Nano- 0.000 000 001
• 1 hectare - 10 000 sq meter
• 1 are - 100 sq meter
 Angular Measurements

• Radian - an angle subtended by an arc of

a circle having a length equal to the radius the
radius of the circle.
• 2 pi rad = 360 deg
a.) Sexagesimal Units

• degree = 1/360th of a circle

• minute = 1/60th of a degree
• second = 1/60th of a minute
Example:
• 90 deg 54’ 40”
 b.) Centesimal Units- (Europe)
• Grad = 1/ 400th of a circle = 0.9 degree
• centesimal minutes = 1/100th of grad
• centesimal seconds = 1/100th of c
• Example
• 194 g 50c 82cc = 194.5082 grads
 2.3 Significant Figures
• 1. Zeroes between other significant figures are
significant
• Ex. 12.03, 35.06, 4009
• 2. For values less than one, Zeroes immediately to
the right of significant figure are not significant.
• Ex. 0.00325, 0.000468, 0.0230 – 3 significant
figures
• 3. Zeroes placed at the end of decimal numbers are
significant.
• Ex. 169.30, 366.00, 11.000 – 5 significant figures
• Example:
• 1. One significant Figure:
• 8 0.4
• 5,000,000 0.0008
• 2. Two significant Figures:
• 52 0.28 0.00036
• 42,000 2.7 0.010
• 3. Three significant Figures:
• 736 7.36 20.1 0.00210
• 73.6 2.01 0.0201 0.00000736
• 4. Four Significant Figures:
• 8765 0.8765 0.0008765
0.0008760
• 87.65 87.00 8.036
• 5. Five Significant Figures:
• 12345 0.12345 10.340 10.000
• 1.2345 0.00012345 0.012340
 2.4 Rounding off numbers
• When the digit to be dropped is 5, the nearest
even number is used for the preceding digit.
• Digit is less than 5. When the digit to be dropped
is less than 5, the number is written without the
digit.
• Ex. 84.844, rounded of to the nearest hundredth
becomes 84.84,
• rounded of to the nearest tenths becomes 84.8
•
• Digit is equal to 5. When the number to be dropped
is exactly 5, the nearest even number is used for the
preceding digit.
• Ex 34.275, rounded off to the nearest hundredths
becomes 34.28.
• Also 42.385 would be 42.38
• Digit is greater than 5. When the digit to be dropped
is greater than 5, the number is written with the
preceding increased by one.
• Thus, 123.266, rounded off to the nearest
hundredths becomes 123.27, correspondingly,
• 123.27 rounded off to the nearest tenths would be
123.3
III. ERROR
• Error is defined as the difference between
the true value & the measured value of a
quantity. Errors are inherent in all
measurements and result from unavoided
sources.
• Mistakes are inaccuracies in measurements
which occur because some aspect of a
surveying operation is performed by a
surveyor with carelessness, inattention,
poor judgment, and improper execution.
 Types of errors
• Systematic Error (can be eliminated – for sources are usually
known) – This type is one which will always have the same sign
and magnitude as long as field conditions remain constant and
unchanged. I t is also called a cumulative error.
• Accidental Error (improper execution) – these errors are purely
accidental in character. The occurrence of such errors are
matters of chance as they are likely to be positive or negative,
and may tend in part to compensate or average out according
to laws of probability. There is no absolute way of determining
or eliminating them since the error for an observation of a
quantity is not likely to be the same as for a second
observation.
General Classification of Sources of
Error

• 1. Instrumental Error
• 2. Natural Errror
• 3. Personal Errors
1. Instrumental Error
• Steel tape with incorrect length
• Leveling Rod with painted graduations not
perfectly spaced.
• Using Rod which is warped
• Improper adjustment of the plate bubbles of
a transit or level.
2. Natural Error
• Effect of temperature variation on the length
of tape
• Deflection of the line of sight due to the
effect of earth’s curvature or atmospheric
refraction.
• Measuring a line with a tape being blown by
a strong wind.
• Measurement of a horizontal distance to a
sloping or uneven ground
3. Personal Errors
• Error in determining a reading on a rod which is
out of plumb during sighting.
• Error in the measurement of a vertical angle when
the cross hairs of the telescope are not positioned
correctly on the target.
• Making an erroneous estimate of the required pull
to be applied on a steel tape during measurement.
Accuracy & Precision

• Accuracy – accuracy indicates how close a given

measurement is to the absolute or true value of
the quantity measured.
• Precision – refers to the degree of refinement
and consistency with which any physical
measurement is made. It is portrayed by the
closeness to one another of a set of repeated
measurements of a quantity.
 Theory of Probability:
• Probability is defined as the number of times something will
probably occur over the range of possible occurrences.
• The theory of probability is based upon the
following assumptions relative to the occurrences
of errors:
• Small errors occur more often than large ones and that they
are more probable.
• Large errors happen infrequently and are therefore less
probable; for normally distributed errors, unusually large
ones may be mistakes rather than accidental errors.
• Positive and negative errors of the same size happen with
equal frequency; that is, they are equally probable.
• The mean of an infinite number of observations is the most
probable value.
 Most Probable Value
• From the theory of probability a basic
assumption is that the most probable value of a
group of repeated measurements made under
similar conditions is the arithmetic mean or the
average. Most probable value refers to a
quantity which, based on available data, has
more chances of being correct than has any
other.
• mpv =x =[sum (x)]/n = (x1+x2+x3+....+xn)/n
Problem Example #1-1:
• A surveying instructor sent out five groups of
students to measure a distance between two points
marked on the ground. The students came up with
the following five different values: 465.52, 464.8,
466.02, 465.93, 464.76 meters. Assuming these
values are equally reliable and that variations result
from accidental errors, determine the most probable
value of the distance measured.
Problem Example #1-2:
• The angles about a point have the following
observed values: 87deg 07’ 50”, 125deg
17’20”, and 147deg 35’20”. Determine the
most probable value of the three angles.
 Residual
– sometimes referred to as the deviation, is defined as the
difference between any measured value of a quantity and its
most probable value or
– v=x–x
• where:
• v = residual in any measurement
• x = measurement made of a particular quantity
• x = the most probable value of the quantity
measured
 Probable Error
• The Probable Error is a quantity which, when
added to and subtracted from the most
probable value, defines a range within which
there is a 50% chance that the true value of the
measured quantity lies inside (or outside) the
limits thus.
• PEs = +- 0.6745[Sv2/(n-1)]1/2
• PEm = +- 0.6745[Sv2/n(n-1)]1/2
• Where:
• PEs = probable error of any single
measurement of a series
• PEm = probable error of the mean
• Sv2 = summation of the squares of the
residuals
• n = number of observations
 Example 1-3:
• Measurement = 235.50m
• PEs/ PEm = 0.10m
• Therefore it means:
• The probable limits of precision for
this particular case:
• 235.50 +/- 0.10m
Relative Precision
• The total amount of error in a given measurement
should relate to the magnitude of the measured
quantity in order to indicate the accuracy of a
measurement. In surveying measurements, ratio of
the error to the measured quantity is used to define
the degree of refinement obtained.
• Relative error, sometimes called relative precision, is
expressed by a fraction having the magnitude of the
error in the numerator and the magnitude of a
measured quantity in the denominator. It is necessary
to express both quantities in the same units, and the
numerator is reduced to unity or 1 in order to provide
an easy comparison with other measurements.
Example 1-4:
• PEm = 0.10m
• mpv = 235.50m
• RP = 0.10/ 235.50
• or 1/2355
• 1:2355
Weighted Measurement
• It is not always possible to obtain
measurements of equal reliability under similar
conditions. Many surveying measurements are
made under different circumstances and
conditions and therefore have different
degrees of reliability.
Example 1-5:
• A distance AB is measured five times as
610.03, 610.01, 610.05, 610.04 and 610.02
meters. The measurements were given
weights of 3, 2, 1, 2, and 3, respectively, by the
head tapeman. Determine the weighted mean
for distance AB.
Summation of Errors:
– If several measured quantities are added , each of
which is affected by accidental errors, the probable
error of the sum is:

• PE = +/- [PE12 + PE22 + PE32 +…… PEn2]1/2

• Where:
– PEs = probable error of the sum
– PE1, PE2, etc = probable error of each
measurement
Example 1-6:

The four approximately equal sides of a tract of

land were measured and the measurements
included the following errors: +/-0.085m,
+/- 0.014m, +/-0.175m, and +/-0.205m,
respectively. Determine the probable error
for the total length (or perimeter) of the
tract.
Product of Errors:

– For a measured quantity which is determined as

the product of two other independently measured
quantities such as Q1 & Q2 (w/ their
corresponding probable errors), the probable
error of the product is:
• PE = +/- [(Q1xPE2)2 + (Q2xPE1)2 ]1/2
• Where:
– PEp = probable error of the product
– PE1&PE2 = probable error corresponding to
each quantity measured