GEE141

Fundamentals of Surveying
Measurement of Vertical Distances

Contents:
1. Adjustment of the Dumpy Level

1.1. Adjustment of Cross Hairs

1.2. Adjustment of Level Vial

1.3. Adjustment of the Line of Sight

2. Alternate Procedure for Two-Peg Test

2.1. Procedure of Testing

2.2. Making the Adjustment

3. Curvature and Refraction

Adjustment of the Dumpy Level.

The manufacturer does not guarantee that the dumpy level will always remain in perfect
adjustment. Although it is made and assembled with great care and precision, it still has to be
checked occasionally to determine if it has remained in proper adjustment. No amount of careful
handling will assure us that it will become loose and worn out after continued use in the field.

1. Adjustment of the Cross Hairs. The reticle or the cross hair ring is adjusted to see to
it that the horizontal cross hair lies in a plane perpendicular to the vertical axis of the
instrument. If this particular requirement is not satisfied, an error will occur each time
a reading is made.

a. Procedure of Testing. The instrument is first approximately leveled then one of

the horizontal cross hair is focused and sighted on some well defined stationary
axis using the tangent screw to see if the point sighted appears to move along the
hair throughout its length. If the point sighted remains on the horizontal hair, the
cross hairs are in adjustment; if it departs from the cross hair, an adjustment is
necessary.

b. Making the Adjustment. The adjustment is made by loosening two pairs of

capstan headed screws which hold the reticle. An adjustment pin is inserted into
one of the holes of the screws to turn it slowly while using the pin as a lever. The
reticle is then turned as necessary by trial or tapped lightly with a light object to
allow it to move into a correct position.

2. Adjustment of the Level Vial. The purpose of this adjustment is to make the axis of
the level vial perpendicular to the vertical axis of the instrument.

a. Procedure of Testing. Align the level vial along an opposite pair of leveling
screws and carefully center the bubble. Rotate the telescope through 90 degrees
and again center the bubble by manipulating the other opposite pair of leveling
screws. Then turn the telescope through another 0 degrees (in the same direction
as the first rotation) such that this time it is positioned again along the first pair of
opposite screws. After the bubble is brought exactly to center, turn the telescope
about (end for end). If the level vial is in adjustment, the bubble will remain
centered; if not, a field adjustment is necessary.
 b. Making the Adjustment. This time bring the bubble halfway back to the center
by raising or lowering one end of the level vial by means of a capstan screw. By
manipulating the leveling screws, now bring the bubble exactly to center. Repeat
the procedure of testing and continue undertaking the corresponding adjustment
until the bubble remains centered at any time the telescope is rotated end for end.
If the adjustment has been performed correctly, the bubble should remain centered
before and after reversal of the telescope. Three or four trials may be necessary to
finally adjust the level vial.

3. Adjustment of the line of sight. The line of sight is adjusted to make it parallel to the
axis of the level vial. There is always the possibility that the line of sight of a dumpy
level will be inclined either above or below the horizontal. Such a condition will
introduce corresponding errors when determining differences in elevation. When this
adjustment is made the line of sight is truly horizontal when the bubble is centered on
the level vial. To check and adjust the line of sight, a procedure known as the “two-
peg” test is employed. There are two ways by which the test is undertaken.

a. Procedure of Testing. Two pegs, 60 to 90 meters apart are established on the

ground. It is preferable that the two pegs have a considerable difference in
elevation in order to arrive at more accurate test results.

The instrument is set up and leveled in a location such that the eyepiece is 20cm
or less in front of the rod held on the rod held at point A by sighting through the
objective end of the telescope. In this procedure the cross hairs will not be visible,
but the field of view will be so small that its center may be determined easily by
holding a pointed pencil on the rod. The telescope is then turned toward the rod
now held over the other peg at B and a rod reading, b is taken on it.

1st Set-up of Instrument

 The instrument is next moved, set up, and leveled near B where a second set of
rod readings, c and d, are taken on the rod held at B and A, respectively.

2nd Set-up of Instrument

b. Making the Adjustment. Before making the any adjustment, the bubble is first
brought to the center of the level vial. The adjustment is then made by moving the
cross-hair ring vertically until the line of sight cuts the rod horizontally. If the line
of sight is inclined upward, the capstan screw on the top at the reticle is loosened
and the capstan screw at the top bottom is tightened. The opposite is done if the
line of sight is inclined downward. Two or three trials may be necessary to obtain
the final adjustment.

Alternate Procedure for two-peg test.

In previous lesson the test and adjustment of the line of sight of the dumpy level was illustrated
by a procedure called the two-peg test. This lesson will show another procedure by which the
two peg-test is employed to check the line of sight and how to obtain the necessary data for
making the adjustment when it is needed. It is base upon the principle that if the line of sight of
the instrument is not horizontal, it will deviate up or down in direct proportion to the horizontal
distance from the instrument to the rod.

1. Procedure of Testing. Two pegs designated as A and B are set 60 to 90 meters apart on
fairly level ground. The instrument is first set up and leveled at a point M which is
equally distant from both pegs. The rod readings a and b are taken on A and B,
respectively. Then the rod readings a and b are taken on A and B, respectively. The true
difference in elevation between the two pegs is

1st Set-up of Instrument

The instrument is then moved and set up at point P within 2 to 3 meters from A. It is
preferable but not necessary to set up on line with the two pegs. The distances from P to
A (or d1) and from P to B (or d1 + d2), respectively, and the difference in elevation
calculated as follows

From the figure, the error in the reading on the far rod at B can be determined by
proportion as follows

The correct rod reading d’ at the far rod (held at B) for a horizontal line of sight is

2nd Set-up of Instrument

 Making the adjustment. The adjustment is then made with the instrument still in
position at point P. The horizontal cross hair is moved up or down accordingly by means
of the capstan-headed screws. One screw is loosened slightly and the opposite one is
tightened a similar amount, thus moving, apparently, the position of the horizontal cross
hair on the leveling rod. This is continued until the desired reading (d’) is obtained.
Several trials may be necessary to get an exact reading. The horizontal pair of capstan
screws should be left untouched to avoid disturbing the previous adjustments made.

Curvature and Refraction.

The effect of earth curvature and atmospheric refraction are taken into account in leveling work
since the measurements are made in vertical planes and these effects are represented in figure.
Due to the earth’s curvature, a horizontal line departs from a level line by 0.0785 m in one
kilometer, varying as the square of the length of the line. This expression for earth curvature is
based on the mean radius of the earth which is about 6371 km. In the given figure the vertical
distance between the horizontal line and the level line (or BD) is a measure of the earth’s
curvature.
In physics, we learned that when a ray of light passes through air strata of different densities, it is
refracted or bent downward towards the denser medium. This bending is referred to as refraction.
The effect of refraction is greatest when the line of sight passes near the ground or when it skims
through bodies of water where temperature differences are large. It is here that large variations in
air densities occur. During summer, heat waves or boiling air indicates rapidly changing
refraction.

Atmospheric refraction varies with atmospheric conditions. Under ordinary conditions, it is

approximately equal to 0.0110 m in one kilometer, also varying directly as the square of the
length of the line. This is about one-seventh the effect of curvature of the earth. In figure, it can
be seen that due to refraction, a ray of light which apparently is the straight-line AB actually
follows the curved path AC. The point observed through the level (at A) appears to be point B
but is actually point C. The angular displacement resulting from refraction is variable. It depends
upon the angle the line of sight makes with the vertical and the surrounding atmospheric
conditions.

The combination of the earth curvature and the atmospheric refraction causes the telescope’s line
of sight to vary from a level line by approximately 0.0785 minus 0.0110 or 0.0675m in one
kilometer, varying as the square of the sight distance in kilometers. This may be represented by a
mathematical equation as follows.

h’ = 0.0675K2

Where h’ is the departure of a telescope line of sight from a level line (in meters) and K is the
length of the line of sight (in kilometers). The value 0.0675 is called the coefficient of refraction.
Its value actually varies to a certain degree for different elevations, but is taken with an average
value of 0.0675.

For surveys of ordinary precision, corrections for the combined effects of curvature and
refraction may be omitted. The correction is only necessary in precise leveling work and where
the difference in length of backsight and foresight distances is great. If the backsight distance
were exactly equal to the foresight distance for each set up of the instrument, the errors caused
by atmospheric refraction and the earth’s curvature would cancel each other. Since refraction
changes rapidly with changes in temperature, it is advisable to undertake precise leveling during
cloudy days or at mid-afternoon on sunny days when ground and air are uniformly warm.