Area by off sets from a

straight line
Tracts of land are not always bounded by straight line and
it is often necessary to determine areas that are
sometimes bounded by irregular lines or curves.

Off sets are short distances measured perpendicular to a

reference or a base line. They are usually taken at regular
intervals if the curved boumdary does not vary
significantly.

The measurement of offsets depends to a great extent on

existing conditions of the terrain.
There are two common rules used in determining areas of
irregular or curved boundaries. One such rule is the
Trapezoidal Rule and the other is Simpson’s One-third Rule.
Trapezoidal Rule

Is that the ends of the offsets in the boundary line are assumed
to be connected by straight lines, thereby forming a series of
trapezoids.

When the offsets are taken fairly close together and when the
curves are flat, no considerable error to introduced by this
assumption.
  offsets are assumed to be spaced at regular intervals, and the area of the
The
whole tract equals the areas of the enclosed trapezoids. Thus, in Figure 45-1,
the area bounded by the irregular boundary (from C to D), the base line (AB),
and the end offsets () is determined as follows.

In Eq. 1 It will be noted that the first and the last offsets occur only once and
the other intermediate offsets occur twice; also, the interval between offsets
(d) occurs as a factor in every term. By factoring out d, and simplifying the
above equation, the area is obtained by the following equation.
In Eq. 2 Applies to n consecutive offsets spaced at a distance d apart. The
equation may be expressed conveniently in the form of the following rule; add
the average of the end offsets to the sum of the intermediate offsets. The
product of the quantity thus determined and the common interval between
offsets is the required area. If the interval between offsets is not equal the
following equation is used.
Simpson’s One-Third Rule

Is based on the assumption to the curved boundary consist of a series of

parabolic arm where each arc is continuous over three adjacent