COMPUTATION OF AREA

Different methods for the calculation of Areas in the field of

Surveying
PRESENTATION OUTLINE…

•Introduction
•Unit Conversion
•Methods to Compute Area
•Computation of Area from Field Notes
•Computation of Area
•Computation of Volume
 INTRODUCTION
• One of the primary objects of land surveying is to
determine the area of the surveyed land and to
determine the quantities of earthwork.
•The computation of area is very essential to determine
the catchment area of river, dam and reservoir. Its also
important for planning and management of
any engineering project.
•For initial reports and estimates, low precision methods
can be used.
•When a high level of accuracy is required, a professional
engineer or a land surveyor should be employed.
•The area is expressed in ft2, m2, km2, acres,
hectares……..
 UNIT CONVERSION

➢ 1 Square metres = 10.764 Square feet

➢ 1 Square km = 106 Square metres

➢ 1 Hectare = 104= 10000 Square metres = 2.471 acres

➢ 1 acres = 0.40467 hactare

➢ 1 Square mile = 640 acres

➢ 1 acre = 40 guntas

➢ 1 Gunta = 1089 square feet

 COMPUTATION OF AREA

 One of the main objectives of the surveying is to

compute the areas and volumes.
 Generally, the lands will be of irregular shaped
polygons.
 There are formulae readily available for regular
polygons like, triangle, rectangle, square and other
polygons.
 But for determining the areas of irregular polygons,
different methods are used.
 METHODS TO COMPUTE AREA
• The method of computation of area depends on the
shape of the boundary of the surveyed area and
accuracy required.
• If the plan is bounded by straight boundaries, it can be
tackle by subdividing the total area into simple
geometrical shapes, like triangle, rectangle,
trapezoidal etc… and the area of the figure are
computed from the dimensions.
• If the boundaries are irregular, they are
replaced by short straight boundaries and the area is
computed using approximate method. While if the
boundaries are very irregular, the area can be
determined by using planimeter.
 COMPUTATION OF AREA FROM FIELD NOTES
• During the survey work the whole area is divided into
some specific geometrical shapes like, square,
rectangular, triangle etc… and then the total area can
be computed directly.
• The chain line is running approximately in the centre of
the area to be calculated. Then by using the cross-staff
or optical square, mark perpendicular offset on the
chain line.
• Offset on the chain line are measured with a chainage
and then the area is calculated by forming regular
geometrical shapes.
COMPUTATION OF AREA
 They are:
 (1) Graphical method

 (2) Ordinate method

 (3) Planimeter

 Out of these three methods, the ordinate

method is popularly used, in land surveying
for computing catchment area, drainage area,
cross section of rivers, channels etc.
Under this method the given area is split into
two with a base line run at the centre.
 COMPUTATION OF AREA

➢The surveyed area may be calculated from plotted plan by following rules.

1) Mid ordinate rule

2) Average ordinate rule
3) Trapezoidal rule
4) Simpson’s one third rule
1) MID ORDINATE RULE
• The method is used with the assumption that the boundaries
between the edge of the ordinates are straight lines.
• The base line is divided into a number of divisions and the
ordinates are measured at the mid points of each division.

O1 h1 O2 h2 O3 h3 O4 h4 O5

d l
 ➢ The area is calculated from following formula,
Area = ∆ = Common distance x Sum of mid ordinates
= (h1 x d) + (h2 x d) + …… + (hn x d)
= d (h1+ h2+….. +hn)

➢ Where,
n = Number of divisions
d = common distance between ordinates
h1, h2, … hn = Mid ordinates

In some books you will find O1, O2, … On = Mid ordinates

2) AVERAGE ORDINATE RULE

➢ This rule also assume that the boundaries between the edges of
the ordinates are straight lines. The offsets are measured to each
of the points of the divisions of the base line.
➢The area is given by following equation,
Area = ∆ = average ordinate x Length of the base
L = n xd, where n = no of divisions and d= interval

 O1 + O2 + .......On 
= L
 n +1 
L
= O
n +1

10
3) TRAPEZOIDAL RULE
➢ This rule is based on the assumption that the figures are trapezoids. The
rule is more accurate than the previous two rules which are
approximate versions of the trapezoidal rule.

O1 O2 O3 O4 O5

d l
 • The area of the first trapezoid is given by
O1 + O 2
Δ1 = d
2

• Similarly, the area of the second trapezoid is given by

O 2 + O3
Δ 2= d
2

• So, the total area of the figure is given by

∆ = ∆1 + ∆2 + …. ∆n

O1 + O2 O2 + O3 On-1 + On
Δ= d+ d + ....... + d
2 2 2
Total area = (O1 + 2O2 + 2O3 + 2O4 +… + 2On-1 + On) x (d/2)
= (O1 + On + 2(O2 + O3 + O4 +…+ On-1)) x (d/2)

= (Common distance/2) x [(1st ordinate + last ordinate) + 2(sum

of other ordinates)]
4) SIMPSON’S ONE THIRD RULE
➢ This rule assumes that the short lengths of boundary between the
ordinates are parabolic arcs. So this rule is some times called the
parabolic rule.
➢This method is more useful when the boundary line departs
considerably from straight line.

1 2
D
F E

O1 O3
O2
A C
B
d d
Here, O1, O2, O3 = Three consecutive ordinates
d = Common distance between the ordinates
Now, Area of AF2DC = Area of AFDC + Area of segment F2DEf Area of
trapezium
O1 + O 3 2d
2
Area of segment = (2/3) x a=rea of parallelogram F13D
= (2/3) x E2 x 2d

2 O1 + O3  3
=  O2 −  2d
3 2  1 2
D
F E

O1 O3
O2
A C
B
d d
• So, the area between the first two divisions,

O1 + O3 2 O1 + O3 
Δ1 =  2d + O2 −  2d
2 3 2 
d
= (O1 + 4O 2 + O3 )
• Similarly, the are3a between next two divisions,

d
Δ =
+ 4O4 + O5 )
(O
2 3
Total area 3
d
= (O1 + 4O2 + 2O3 + 4O4 + ...... + On )
3
d
= O1 + On + 4(O2 + O4 + .....)+ 2(O3 + O5 + ....)
3
= (Common distance/3) x [(1st ordinate + last ordinate) + 4(sum of
even ordinates) + 2(sum of odd ordinates)]

➢Limitation:
The rule is applicable only when the number of divisions is even or the
number of ordinates are odd sometimes one or both end ordinates may
be zero.
However they must be taken into account while
applying rules.
COMPUTATION OF AREA

 WORKOUT PROBLEMS

 1. The following offsets were taken from a chain line

to an irregular boundary line at an interval of 10 m.
0, 2.50, 3.50, 5.00, 4.60, 3.20, 0 m. Compute the
area between the chain line, the irregular boundary
line and the end offsets by:
(a) Avg Ordinate rule
(b) Trapezoidal Rule
(c) Simpson’s Rule
 COMPUTATION OF AREA

 (a) Trapezoidal Rule

Here d = 10

(b) Simpson’s Rule

D = 10
 COMPUTATION OF AREA

 2. The following offsets were taken from a survey

line to a curved boundary line:

 Find the area between the survey line, the curved

boundary line and the first and last offsets by
(a) Trapezoidal Rule
(b) Simpson’s Rule.
 COMPUTATION OF AREA

 Here, the intervals between the offsets are not

regular throughout the length.

 So these section is divided into three

compartments.

Let,
Δ1 = Area of the 1st section
Δ2 = Are of the 2nd section Δ3 = Area of the 3rd
section
 COMPUTATION OF AREA

 Here,

d1 = 5 m d2 = 10 m
d3 = 20 m
Trapezoidal Rule:

.
 COMPUTATION OF AREA

 (b) By Simpson’s Rule

.
➢The following offsets were taken from a chain line to an
irregular boundary line at an interval of 15m.
2.00, 2.40, 3.10, 2.60, 3.70, 4.20, 3.90,
compute the area between the chain line, the boundary line
and the end offsets by: (1) The mid ordinate rule
(2) The average ordinate rule (3) The trapezoidal rule
(4) Simpson’s rule
➢The following perpendicular offsets were taken from a chain line to
an irregular boundary:
Chainage : 0 10 15 25 40 50 55
Offset : 10.1 12.5 14.5 13.6 12.2 9.8 11.9
calculate the area between the chain line, the boundary line and the end
offsets.
The following perpendicular offsets were taken at 10 m intervals from a
survey line to an irregular boundary edge:
3.25,5.6,4.2,6.65,8.75,6.2,3.25,4.2,5.65
Calculate the area between the survey line and the boundary by-
i) Average ordinate rule
ii)Trapezoidal rule
iii) Simpsons rule
 Planimeters

Digital Planimeter Optical Polar Planimeter

 Planimeters

Note : the accuracy of the results obtained from using planimeter in the
measurement of areas depends mainly on the original accuracy drawn map, as
well as on the experience of the operator when tracing boundary of the
figure.
Parts of a Amslar Polar Planimeter (mechanical)

Before we start with how to use planimeter, first let us know about the parts of a
planimeter.
Following are the parts of a planimeter:
Tracing arm
Tracing point
Anchor arm
Weight and needle point
Clamp
Hinge
Tangent screw
Index
Wheel
Dial
Vernier
Tracing Arm
Tracing arm is an arm which manages the position of tracing point at one end with the help of hinge.
Tracing Point
Tracing point is the movable needle point which is connected to tracing arm. This point is moved over the outline of area to be measured.
Anchor Arm
Anchor arm is used to manage the anchor position or needle point position on the plan. Its one end is connected to weight and needle
point and other end to the integrating unit.
Weight and Needle Point
It is also called as anchor. A fine needle point is located at the base of heavy block. This needle point is anchored at required station on the
plan.
Clamp
Clamp is used to fix the tracing arm in standard length without any extension.
Hinge
The tracing arm and anchor arm are connected by hinge to the integrating unit. With the help of this hinge the arms can rotate about their
axes.
Tangent Screw
Tangent screw is used to extend the tracing arm up to required length.
Index
Index is a location where all the measuring arrangements like wheel, dial are located.
Wheel
Wheel is fixed in the integrating unit which helps to measure the
tracing length. It is used to set zero on the scale.
Dial
Dial is nothing but scale which is to be set zero at the initial level
using setting wheel.

Vernier
Vernier is attached to the wheel as rounded drum
with graduations on it. It is divided into 100 parts.
How to Use Planimeter in Surveying?
 Planimeter is used to compute the area of given plan of any shape.
 In the first step anchor point is to be fixed at one point. If the given plan area is small,
then anchor point is placed outside the plan. Similarly, if the given plan area is large
then it is placed inside the plan.
 After placing the anchor point, place the tracing point on the outline of the given plan
using tracing arm. Mark the tracing point and note down the reading on Vernier as
initial reading IR.
 Now move the tracing needle carefully over the outline of the given plan till the first
point is reached. The movement of tracing needle should be in clockwise direction.
Note down the reading on Vernier after reaching the first point and it is the final
reading FR .

T
A
 Now the area of the plan which boundary is traced by the planimeter is
determined from the below formula.
 Area = M (FR –IR + 10N + C)
 Where, IR = initial reading
 FR= final reading
 N = no. of completed revolutions of wheel during one complete tracing. N is
positive if dial passes index in clockwise, N is negative if dial rotates in anti-clock
wise direction.
 M and C = constants which values are provided on the planimeter. Constant C is
used only when the anchor point is placed inside the plan.
 For Anchor point outside the figure , then Area = M (FR –IR + 10N)
 The Volumes are then calculated by:

The volume of earth work is calculated by following two method

after
calculation of cross sectional area,
1. Trapezoidal (Average-End-Area) Method
2. Prismoidal Method
Using Contour Maps in some cases.
20
Average-End-Area Method
1) Trapezoidal rule (Average end area rule) :

A1 A2 A3 A4 An-2 An-1 An

Volume, Vd = (d/2) x [A1+An+ 2(A2+A3+…..+An-1)]

= (Common distance/2) x [(1st section area + section

last area) + 2(sum of area of other
section)]
Prismoidal Method
2) Prismoidal formula

 Volume, V = (d/3) x [A1+An+ 4(A2+A4+…..+An-1) + 2 (A3+A5+…..+An-2)]

 Limitation:

 The prismoidal formula is applicable when there are

odd number of sections. If the number of sections
are even, the section is treated separately and
area is calculated according to the trapezoidal
rule.
Calculating Volumes from
Contour Map