31-01-2024

Levelling
(Geodesy – I)
CE - 206
Dr. Ashootosh Mandpe
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering

What you will learn in Today’s Lecture

Levelling
Definitions, technical terms, uses, details of levels such as
dumpy, tilting and auto levelling staff, Temporary and
permanent adjustments of dumpy and auto level, corrections
curvature, refraction, combine and sensitiveness, reciprocal
levelling, collimation and rise & fall method, errors, precautions.

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Levelling:
 Levelling in surveying is primarily used to determine
the relative height of various points on, above, and
below the ground's surface.
 It is a method of calculating the difference in elevations
or levels between two points on the earth's surface.
Distance is always measured from a reference point
with known parameters (elevation, height above MSL,
etc.). This aspect of vertical distance measurement is
referred to as levelling in surveying.

Principle of Levelling:
 The principle of levelling is to obtain a horizontal
line of sight with respect to which vertical distances
of the points above or below this line of sight are
found.

Objective of Levelling:
 To Find the elevation of a given point with respect to
some assumed reference line called a datum.
 To establish the point at the required elevation with
respect to the datum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScaQqpW5X5k

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Terms used in Levelling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SiSn_tcXZA&t=61s

Terms used in Levelling:

 Level Surface: A level surface is a curved surface in which all the points are at the
same distance from the earth's surface. The continuous surface that is perpendicular
to the earth's mean spheroid is known as a level surface.
 Level Line: Line lying on a level surface.
 Horizontal Plane: It is a plane tangential to the level surface at any point under
consideration.
 Horizontal Line: It is a straight line tangential to a level line.
 Vertical Line: It is a line normal to the level line at a point. Plumb line can be regarded
as a vertical line.
 Datum: It is an arbitrary level surface from which elevation of points may be referred.

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Terms used in Levelling:

 Vertical Angle: The angle between two connected lines in a vertical plane is called
vertical angle
 Mean Sea Level: It is a reference point and is obtained by averaging the elevations of
high and low tides, at several points, for a long period of time, about 19 years
 Benchmark: It is a fixed reference point of known elevation with respect to the datum
 Line of collimation: It is a line joining the intersection of crosshairs of the diaphragm
to the optical center of object glass and its continuation. It is also known as the line of
sight.
 Height of instrument: It is the elevation of the line of collimation with respect to a
datum.

Terms used in Levelling:

 Elevation or Reduced level: The height or depth of any point above or below any
datum. It is denoted as R.L.
 Foresight (F.S.): It is the last staff reading taken denoting the shifting of the
instrument.
 Intermediate sight (I.S.): It is staff reading taken on a point whose elevation is to be
determined. All staff reading between B.S. and F.S. are Intermediate sight.
 Change Point (T.P): It is a point on which fore and back sight is taken.

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Methods of Levelling:
Three principal methods are used for determining difference in elevation, namely,
1. Barometric Levelling: It is also a type of indirect levelling technique. In this
method, elevations are determined from the changes in atmospheric pressure.
Atmospheric pressure decreases with increase in elevation.

2. Trigonometric Levelling: It is one of the indirect methods of levelling. This is the

method of levelling in which the difference in elevations is determined indirectly
from the horizontal distance and the vertical angle.

Methods of Levelling:

3. Direct Levelling/ Spirit levelling:

 This is the most common type of levelling in surveying.
 In this method, a spirit level fixed to the telescope of a levelling instrument is used to
make the line of sight horizontal. Then all the vertical distances are measured with
respect to this horizontal line of sight.
 These vertical distances are used to determine the difference in elevations of various
points.
 Spirit levelling is another name for direct levelling.

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Levelling Instruments:
The following instruments are
essentially required for levelling
1. Level
2. Levelling Staff

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Level:
A purpose of level is to provide a horizontal line of sight. Essentially, a level
consist of following four parts:
a) A telescope to provide line of sight
b) A level tube to make the line of sight horizontal
c) A levelling head to bring the bubble in its centre of run
d) A tripod to support the instrument
Types of Level:
1. Dumpy level 2. Tilting level 3.Wye level 4. Automatic level

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Dumpy Level:
The Dumpy level is a simple, compact, and stable instrument. The
telescope is rigidly fixed to its supports. Hence it cannot be rotated
about a horizontal axis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shbhc4NiZbw

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Dumpy Level:

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Use of Dumpy Levels in Surveying:

The dumpy level is mainly used in surveying for the following
purposes:
 To determine relative height and distance among different
locations of a surveying land.
 To determine relative distance among different locations of
a surveying land.

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A Sectional View of Dumpy Level

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Tilting Level:
It is also known as I.O.P. level (Indian Office Pattern). At this level,
the telescope tilts about its horizontal axis, hence it is called the
tilting level.

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Tilting Level:
• Tilting level consist a telescope which enabled for the horizontal
rotation as well as rotation about 4 degree in its vertical plane.
• Centering of bubble can be easily done in this type of level. But,
for every setup bubble is to be centered with the help of tilting
screw. The main advantage of tilting level is it is useful when the
few observations are to be taken with one setup of level.

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Tilting Level:

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Wye Level:
• The essential difference between the wye level and other levels is that
in the wye level, the telescope is carried by two vertical wye supports.
The telescope can be rotated, moved, or even raised in wyes.

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Wye Level:
 Y level or Wye-level consists y-shaped frames which supports the
telescope. Telescope cane be removed from the y-shaped supports by
releasing clamp screws provided.
 These y-shaped frames are arranged to vertical spindle which helps to
cause the rotation of telescope.
 Compared to dumpy level, adjustments can be rapidly tested in y- level.
But, there may be a chance of frictional wear of open parts of level.

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Wye Level

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Automatic Level:
 It is also known as a self-aligning level. It is a recent development.
The fundamental difference between auto level and other levels is
that the leveling is not done manually but is leveled automatically. It
is achieved by an inclination-compensating device.

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Automatic Level

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Levelling Staffs:
Levelling staffs are scales on which these distances are measured.
Levelling staffs are of two types
1. Self Reading staff 2. Target staff

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Self-Reading Staff:
The self-reading staff can be read
directly by the level man looking
through the telescope.
There are usually three forms of self
reading staff:
 Solid staff
 Folding staff
 telescopic staff

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Target Staff :
 A target staff having a sliding target equipped with
Vernier. The rod consists of two sliding lengths, the
lower one of approx. 7 ft and the upper one of 6 ft.
The rod is graduated in feet, tenths and hundredths,
and the Vernier of the target enables the readings to
be taken up to a thousandth part of a foot.
 For very precise works and sight target staff are
used. A movable target is provided in this staff.

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Relative Merits of Self-Reading staff and Target Staff:

1. With the self-reading staff, readings can be taken quicker than with the target
staff.
2. In the case of target staff, the duties of a target staff-man are as important as
those of the leveler and demand the services of a trained man. In the case of a self-
reading staff, a man can hold the staff concentrating more on keeping the staff in
plumb.
3. The reading with target staff can be taken with greater fineness. However, the
refinement is usually more apparent than real as the target man may not be
directed accurately to make the line of sight bisect the target.Staff

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Types of Adjustments :
Each surveying instrument needs two types of adjustments
1. Temporary adjustments/ station adjustments: are those which are
made at every instrument setting and preparatory to taking
observations with the instrument .
2. Permanent adjustments: are made only when the fundamental
relations between some parts or lines are disturbed.

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Temporary Adjustments/ Station Adjustments:

Temporary adjustments for a level consist of the following:
a) Setting up the level: the operation includes
a) Fixing the instrument on the stand
b) Levelling the instrument approximately by leg adjustment
b) Levelling up:
a) Three screw head
b) Four screw head
c) Elimination of parallax: Parallax can be eliminated in two steps
a) Focusing the eye piece
b) Focusing the objective

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Permanent Adjustment of Level:

The establishment of a desired relationship between the fundamental
lines of a leveling instrument is termed permanent adjustment. So,
permanent adjustment indicates the rectification of instrumental error.
 The fundamental lines
 The line of collimation
 The axis of the bubble tube
 The vertical axis
 The axis of the telescope

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Permanent Adjustment of Level:

The following relationship between the lines is desirable
1. The line of collimation should be parallel to the axis of the bubble
2. The line of collimation should coincide with the axis of the telescope

The axis of the bubble should be perpendicular to the vertical axis. That
is, the bubble should remain in the central position in all directions of the
telescope.

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Direct Leveling:
Based on the observation points and instrument positions
direct leveling is divided into different types as follows:
1. Simple levelling
2. Differential levelling
3. Fly levelling
4. Profile levelling
5. Precise levelling
6. Reciprocal levelling

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Simple Levelling:
It is a basic form of levelling in which
the leveling instrument is placed
between the points at which elevation
is to be found. Leveling rods are
placed at those points and sighted
through a levelling instrument.

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Differential Levelling:
Differential leveling is performed when the distance between two points
is greater. In this process, a number of interstation are located, and
instrument is shifted to each station, and observed the elevation of inter
station points. Finally, the difference between the original two points is
determined.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKfb6wOeoc4

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Fly Levelling:
Fly leveling is conducted when the
benchmark is very far from the
workstation. In such cases, a
temporary benchmark is located at
the workstation which is located
based on the original benchmark.
Even if it is not highly precise it is
used for determining approximate
level.
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Profile Levelling:
Profile levelling is generally adopted to find the elevation of points along a
line such as for roads, rails or rivers, etc. In this case, readings of
intermediate stations are taken, and a reduced level of each station is found.
From this cross section of the alignment is drawn.

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Precise Levelling:
Precise leveling is similar to differential leveling but, in this case, higher
precision is required. To achieve high precision, serious observation
procedure is performed. The accuracy of 1 mm per 1 km is achieved.
Reciprocal Levelling:
When it is not possible to locate the leveling instrument in between the
inter visible points, reciprocal leveling is performed. This case appears in
case of ponds or rivers etc. In case of reciprocal leveling, instrument is set
nearer to 1st station and sighted towards 2nd station.

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Trigonometric Levelling:
The process of leveling in which the elevation of point or the difference
between points is measured from the observed horizontal distances and
vertical angles in the field is called trigonometric leveling.

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Steps in Levelling:
There are two steps in levelling:
a. To find by how much amount the line of sight is above the benchmark, is
ascertained by direct levelling.
b. To ascertain by how much amount the next point is below or above the line of
sight

 A backsight is taken on the rod held at the benchmark. Then,

H.I. = Elevation of B.M. + B.S.
H.I. is the height of the instrument,
B.M. is Benchmark
B.S. is Backsight

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Hand Signals during Observations:

When levelling is done at construction site located in busy,
noisy areas, it becomes difficult for the instrument man to
give instructions to the man holding the staff at the other end,
through vocal sounds. In that case, the hand signals are found
to be useful

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Hand Signals during Observations:

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Booking and Reducing Levels:

There are two methods of booking and reducing the elevation of the
points from the observed staff readings:
a. Collimation of Height of Instrument: This method consist of finding
H.I. for every setup of instrument, and then obtaining the R.L. of
point of reference with respect to H.I
b. Rise and Fall Method: This method consist of determining the
difference of level between consecutive points by comparing each
point with immediately preceding point.

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Collimation of Height of Instrument:

Consider the readings taken in the operation:

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Collimation of Height of Instrument:

consider the readings taken in the operation:
Reduce level can be computed using the following expression:
RL of a point = HI – FS = ( RLBM +BS) – FS
Arithmetic check: ΣBS – ΣFS= Last RL – first RL
Where:
RL: Reduce Level
HI: Height of Instrument
FS: Foresight
BS: Backsight
BM: Benchmarks

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Rise and Fall (RF) Method:

The rise or fall of the ground between successive rod stations is considered. For the same
instrument set up,
If 2nd rod reading > first rod reading ⇒ fall
If 2nd rod reading < first rod reading ⇒ rise
Then RL of 2nd station = RL of first station – fall or RL of first station + rise

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Problem 1:
The following staff readings were observed successively with a level, the
instrument having been moved after third, sixth and eighth readings:
2.228; 1.606; 0.988; 2.090; 2.864; 1.262; 0.602; 1.982; 1.044; 2.684
metres
Enter the above readings in a page of a level book and calculate the RL
of points if the first reading was taken with a staff held on a benchmark
of 432.384 m.

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Solution :
Since the instrument was shifted after 3rd, 6th and 8th readings, these readings will be
entered in the F.S. column and therefore, the 4th 7th and 9 readings will be entered on the
B.S. column also the first reading will be entered in the B.S. column and the last reading in
the F.S. column all other readings will be entered in the I.S. column the reduce level of
points may be calculated by rise and fall method as tabulated below

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Problem 2:
It was required to ascertain the elevation of two points P and Q and a
line of levels was run from P to Q. The leveling was then continued to a
benchmark of 83.500m the readings obtained being as shown below.
Obtain the R.L. of P and Q

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Solution :
To find the R.L. of P and Q, we will have to proceed from bottom to the top.
To find the H.I., therefore F.S. reading will have to be added to the R.L. of
the known point and to find the R.L. of the previous point, the B.S. will have
to be subtracted from the obtained HI as shown:

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Reciprocal Levelling :
 This method is very useful when the instrument cannot be set up
between the two points due to an obstruction such as a valley, river, etc.,
and if the sights are much longer than are ordinarily permissible.
 For such long sights the errors of reading the staff, the curvature of
earth, and the imperfect adjustments of the instrument become
prominent. Special methods like reciprocal levelling should be used to
minimize these errors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbXktq66uss

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Reciprocal levelling

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Reciprocal Levelling :
 In this method the instrument is set up near one point A, on one side on the valley, and
a reading is taken on the staff held at A (Fig. (a)) near the instrument and on the staff
at B on the other side of the valley.
 Let these readings be a and b, respectively. The near reading a is without error,
whereas the reading b would have an error due to curvature, refraction and
collimation.
 The instrument is then shifted near to B on the other side of the valley and the reading
is taken on the staff held at B and that on A. Let these readings be c and d (Fig. (b)).
 The near reading c is without error, whereas readings would contain an error due to
the reasons discussed above. Let h be the true difference of elevation between A and B.

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Reciprocal Levelling :
 In the 1st case (Fig. (a)),
h = (b – e) – a (i)
 In the 2nd case (Fig. (b)),
h = c – (d – e) (ii)

On adding the equation (i) & (ii)

 2h = (b – a) + (c – d) or

h = 1/2[(b – a) + (c – d)] and

e = 1/2[(b – a) – (c – d)]

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Curvature and Refraction Correction

Curvature Correction (Cc)
• When levelling is done in a large area,
the curvature of Earth is considered.

• The horizontal line is not a level line,

because of which the staff reading is
more than expected, this is called
curvature correction.

• The effect of curvature is to increase

the staff reading that is the error is The Curvature Correction(Cc)
positive and so the correction is is always negative
negative.

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Curvature and Refraction Correction

Curvature Correction (Cc)
• The Curvature Correction (Cc) is
mathematically expressed as,
Cc = d2/2R

Where,
• D = the length of the sight or the distance
from the instruments to the staff station in
kilometers
• R = the radius of the earth
= 6371 kilometres

So, Cc = 0.0785d2 The Curvature Correction(Cc)

is always negative
True staff reading
= observed staff reading - 0.0785d2

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Curvature and Refraction Correction

Refraction Correction (Cr)
• The rays of light passing through the
atmosphere of different densities bend down. It
results in this type of correction.

• The effect of refraction is 1/7th time the

curvature correction but is the opposite. Hence
the correction for refraction is additive to the
staff reading.

Cr = 1/7 x Cc

So, Cr = 1/7 x 0.0785d2 = 0.0112 x d2

The Refraction Correction(Cr)
is always positive
• True staff reading
= observed staff reading + 0.0112 x d2

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Curvature and Refraction Correction

Combined Correction (C)
• The effect of curvature is to increase the
staff reading and the effect of refraction is
to decrease the staff reading.
• One more thing is the curvature error is
more than the refraction error. So, the
combined effect is to increase staff reading.
Hence, the combined correction is
subtractive in nature.

• C = 0.0785d2 - 0.0112 x d2 = 0.0673 x d2

• Therefore, the true staff reading after both

the corrections is: Combined Correction is subtractive
• True staff reading in nature
= observed staff reading - 0.0673 x d2

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Reciprocal Levelling :
Problem: The following notes refer to the reciprocal levels taken with one level:

Staff readings on
Instrument station Remarks
A B

A 1.03 1.630 Distance AB = 800m

B 0.95 1.540 R. L. of A = 450m

Find:
1. True R.L. of B
2. Combined correction for curvature and refraction
3. The error in collimation adjustment of the instrument.

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Reciprocal Levelling :
Solution
(i) True R.L. of B
The instrument at A, Incorrect level difference
between A and B = 1.630 – 1.03 = 0.600 m
Instrument at B, Incorrect level difference
between A and B = 1.540 – 0.95 = 0.59 m
True difference of level between A and B =
mean of the two incorrect differences
= (0.6+0.59)/2 = 0.595 m (fall from A to B)
So, h = [(b – a) + (c – d)] /2
h = (1.630 – 1.03) + (1.540 – 0.95)/2 = 0.595 m
True R. L. of B = 450 - 0.595 = 449.405

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Solution
(ii) Combined correction for curvature and refraction
= 0.0673 D2
= 0.0673 (800/1000)2 = 0.043
(iii) The error in collimation adjustment of the instrument
Reading of A = 1.03 m; Fall from A to B = 0.595 m
Required reading of level = 1.03 + 0.595 = 1.625 m ;
The actual staff reading at B (touching horizontal line) = 1.625 + 0.043 = 1.668 m
But the observed reading at B = 1.630 m;
Error in collimation adjustment = 1.668 – 1.630 = 0.038 m
The error of collimation is negative since the observed reading is less than the actual.

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Thank You!

If you get any queries, feel free to contact me at

‘as_mandpe@iiti.ac.in’

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