SURVEYING

FUNDAMENTALS
LECTURE6_ ERROR THEORY
D R . Z U B E I D A A L I A L A D WA N
 LET’S MEASURE

Please measure your desk table Length (cm)!!

• 24 Mohammad
• 24.3 Areej & Hadeel
• 23.5 Aya
• 24.5 Mohammad Systemic Error
• 24.8 Mohammad
• 24.8 Bayan Observations!
• 24.5 Anwar Random Errors +=-
• 9.3 Yusuf
• 32.0 Sally Blunders

Most Probable Value Mean 24.3

 INTRODUCTION

• Surveying is a process that involves observations and

measurements with a wide range of electronic, optical and
mechanical equipment some of which are very sophisticated.
• Despite the best equipment and methods used, it is still
impossible to take observations that are completely free of
small variations caused by errors which must be guided
against or their effects corrected.
The error in an observation the observed value true value.

It can be unconditionally stated that

(1) no observation is exact,
(2) every observation contains errors,
(3) the true value of an observation is never known,
and, therefore,
(4) the exact error present is always unknown.
 TRUE VALUE

• Impossible to know!!!

• Most Probable Value; Mean

 RESIDUALS

• The quantity that is actually used to express variation in the

measurement.
• Error is the difference between a measured or calculated value
and the true value.
 RESIDUALS

• Residuals are theoretically identical to errors,

with the exception that residuals can be
calculated whereas errors cannot because true
values are never known. Thus, residuals rather
than errors are the values actually used in the
analysis and adjustment of survey data.
 SOURCES OF ERRORS

Natural errors are caused by variations in wind, temperature,

humidity, atmospheric pressure, atmospheric refraction, gravity, and
magnetic declination.
Ex. a steel tape length varies with changes in temperature.
Instrumental errors result from any imperfection in the construction
or adjustment of instruments and from the movement of individual
parts.
Ex. the graduations on a scale may not be perfectly spaced, or the scale may be warped. The
effect of many instrumental errors can be reduced, or even eliminated, by adopting proper
surveying procedures or applying computed corrections.
Personal errors arise principally from limitations of the human
senses of sight and touch.
Ex., a small error occurs in the observed value of a horizontal angle if the vertical crosshair in a
total station instrument is not aligned perfectly on the target, or if the target is the top of a rod that
is being held slightly out of plumb.
 TYPES OF ERROR

Systematic Random
Gross error
Error Error

Mistake that arise Arise in This variation results

mainly due to measurement and from observational
inexperience, follows errors which have no
ignorance or some fixed law and known functional
carelessness of their sources are relationship based upon
observer. well known. a deterministic system.
 GROSS ERROR

•Reading the tape wrongly.

•Pointing on the wrong survey target.
•Record the wrong value of a reading by transporting numbers (e.g.,
recording 87.31 m as 78.31 m).
• Reading an angle counterclockwise, but indicating it as a
clockwise angle in the field notes.
 GROSS ERRORS

• They must be detected by careful and systematic checking of

all work, and eliminated by repeating some or all of the
measurements.

Gross errors can be

eliminated only by careful
methods of observing
booking and constantly
checking both operations
GROSS ERROR
 SYSTEMATIC ERROR

• These errors are cumulative in effect and are caused by badly

adjusted instrument and the physical condition at the time of
measurement must be considered in this respect. Expansion of
steel, frequently changes in electromagnetic distance(EDM)
measuring instrument, etc are just some of these errors.

If, for example, the expansion of a steel tape is essentially linear with
respect to temperature, and the coefficient of thermal expansion is known,
a functional relationship between the temperature and the expansion of the
tape can be established.
 SYSTEMATIC ERROR

• Systematic errors have the same magnitude

and sign in a series of measurements that are
repeated under the same condition, thus
contributing negatively or positively to the
reading hence, makes the readings shorter or
longer.
Also called
Biases or
Cumulative
Errors!
 SYSTEMATIC ERROR

• Conditions producing systematic errors

conform to physical laws that can be modeled
mathematically. Thus, if the conditions are
known to exist and can be observed, a
correction can be computed and applied to
observed values.
 SYSTEMATIC ERROR

• An example of a constant systematic error is the use of a 100-

ft steel tape that has been calibrated and found to be 0.02 ft too
long. It introduces a 0.02-ft error each time it is used, but
applying a correction readily eliminates the error.
• An example of variable systematic error is the change in
length of a steel tape resulting from temperature differentials
that occur during the period of the tape’s use. If the
temperature changes are observed, length corrections can be
computed by a simple formula.
 REMOVING SYSTEMATIC ERRORS

This type of error can be eliminated from a measurement :

• Using corrections(e.g. effect of tension and temperature
on steel tape)
• Calibration of the observing equipment and quantify
the error allowing corrections to be made to further
observations.
• Observational procedures by re-measuring the
quantity with an entirely different method using
different instrument.
 STEEL TAPE SYSTEMATIC ERRORS
When temperature or tension differ from the standard temperature or tension used
at standardization.
 EXERCISE

• A surveyor uses a steel measuring tape that is exactly 50.000

m long at a temperature of 20∘C
• What is its length on a hot summer day when the temperature
is 35∘C? (α steel=1.2×10−5 K−1)
CORRECTION DUE TO PULL/TENSION
CORRECTION DUE TO TEMPRETURE
SAG ERROR
 RANDOM ERROR

• Random errors are those that remain in measured values after

mistakes and systematic errors have been eliminated.
• They are caused by factors beyond the control of the observer,
obey the laws of probability, and are sometimes called
accidental errors.
• The magnitudes and algebraic signs of random errors are matters
of chance. There is no absolute way to compute or eliminate
them, but they can be estimated using adjustment procedures
known as least squares
• Random errors are also known as compensating errors, since
they tend to partially cancel themselves in a series of
observations.
 RANDOM ERROR
• After all mistakes are detected and removed, and the
measurement are corrected for all known systematic errors, there
will still remain some variation in the measurements.
• Although every precaution may be taken certain unavoidable
errors always exist in any measurement caused usually by human
limitation in reading/handling of instruments.
• Random errors cannot be removed from observation but
methods can be adopted to ensure that they are kept within
acceptable limits.

Compensating
Errors
 NATURE OF RANDOM ERRORS

•A plus or minus error will occur with the same

frequency.
•Minor errors will occur more often than large ones.
•Very large errors will rarely occur (see mistake).
 RANDOM ERROR

• In order to analyze random errors or variable,

statistical principles must be used and in
surveying their effects may be reduced by
increasing the number of observations and
finding their mean. It is therefore important to
assume those random variables are normally
distributed.
 GENERAL LAWS OF PROBABILITY

Some general laws of probability can be stated:

1. Small residuals (errors) occur more often than large ones; that is,
they are more probable.
2. Large errors happen infrequently and are therefore less probable;
for normally distributed errors, unusually large ones may be mistakes
rather than random errors.
3. Positive and negative errors of the same size happen with equal
frequency; that is, they are equally probable. The most probable value
for a group of repeated observations, made with the same equipment
and procedures, is the mean.
NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

•A plus or minus error will

occur with the same
frequency, so
•Area within curve is equal
on either side of the mean.
NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
STANDARD DEVIATION
NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
 ACCURACY & PRECISION

• Accuracy refers to the closeness between

measurements and their true value.
• Precision is the closeness to one another of a
set of repeated observations of a random
variable.
ACCURACY & PRECISION
ACCURACY & PRECISION
ACCURACY & PRECISION
ACCURACY & PRECISION
 MEASURES OF PRECISION

• Statistical terms more

commonly used to express
precisions of groups of
observations are standard
deviation and variance
 
DURING A PHYSICS LECTURE!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86vsAM1JEkU
 MEASUREMENT COMPONENTS

• All measurements consist of two components: the

measurement and the uncertainty statement.
1320.55 m ± 0.001 m
• The uncertainty statement is not a guess, but is based on
testing of equipment and methods.
• Uncertainty is the positive and negative range of values
expected for a recorded or calculated value, i.e. the ± value
(the second component of measurements).
• Measurement analysis is determining measurement
uncertainties
STANDARD DEVIATION
STANDARD DEVIATION
STANDARD DEVIATION
 INTERPRETATION OF STANDARD
DEVIATION
• It has been shown that the standard deviation establishes the
limits within which observations are expected to fall 68.3% of
the time.
• In other words, if an observation is repeated ten times, it will
be expected that about seven of the results will fall within the
limits established by the standard deviation, and conversely
about three of them will fall anywhere outside these limits.
• Another interpretation is that one additional observation will
have a 68.3% chance of falling within the limits set by the
standard deviation.
THE 50, 90, AND 95 PERCENT ERRORS

• the probability of an error of any percentage likelihood can be

determined. The general equation is

• See the figure of Relation between error and percentage of

area under normal distribution curve
Relation between error and percentage of
area under normal distribution curve
After extracting appropriate multipliers from the
previous Figure, the following are expressions for errors
that have a 50%, 90%, and 95% chance of occurring:

probable error

Two sigma error

The so-called three-sigma error is also often
used as a criterion for rejecting individual
observations from sets of data. there is a 99.7%
probability that an error will be less than this
amount. Thus, within a group of observations, any
value whose residual exceeds 3sigma is
considered to be a mistake, and either a new
observation must be taken or the computations
based on one less value.
 EXERCISE

Suppose that a line has been

observed 10 times using the same
equipment and procedures. The
results are shown in column (1) of
the following table. It is assumed
that no mistakes exist, and that the
observations have already been
corrected for all systematic errors.
Compute the most probable value
for the line length, its standard
deviation, and errors having 50%,
90%, and 95% probability.
WEIGHT
WEIGHT
 NATURAL ERRORS

• One of the three sources of the surveying measurements

errors is caused by environmental conditions or significant
changes in environmental conditions.
• Wind speed, air temperature, atmospheric pressure, humidity,
gravity, earth curvature, and atmospheric refraction are
examples of natural error sources.
NATURAL ERRORS
"Percent," "parts per million (ppm)," is a term used in industry and
in calibration to describe accuracy or uncertainty specifications in
measurement instruments.
PARTS PER MILLION (PPM)
EXERCISE
CURVATURE & REFRACTION
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lnHGqWr6MM
 REDUCTION TO MEAN SEA LEVEL
In plane surveying,
horizontal distances
are reduced to sea
level when it is
required to count
them into equivalent
distance at another
elevation, such as the
plane coordinate
system or the average
elevation of a survey
for which the
variation in elevation
over the area is large.
 ERROR PROPAGATION

• Measured have uncertainties associated with them.

• Calculations involves a function of the measured values.
• Partial derivative of function with respect to the measured
values…
• The process of evaluating errors in the computed values is
called Error Propagation
ERROR PROPAGATION
 ERROR PROPAGATION
Measured
Calculated values
value
ERROR PROPAGATION
Error or Standard
Deviation
 Different
errors/standard
deviations
Measurements
from different
sources
Scales up or down
with distance!
EXERCISE