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Introduction
Weights can be assigned to observations according to their relative quality Example: Interior angles of a traverse are measured half of them by an inexperienced operator and the other half by the best instrument person. Relative weight should be applied. Weight is inversely proportional to variance
qij !
W x1x2
2 W x2 /
. . 1 .
W x1xn
W x1xn W x 2 xn / 2 W xn
Cofactor Matrix
We can also define a cofactor matrix which is related to the covariance matrix. 1 Q! 27 W0 The weight matrix is then:
2 W ! Q 1 ! W 0 7 1
Reference Variance
It is an arbitrary scale factor (a priori) A convenient value is 1 (one) In that case the weight of an independent observation is the reciprocal of its variance
1 wi ! 2 Wi
Same answer by weighted mean. The value 152.5 appears twice so it can be given a relative weight of 2. 151.9 2 v 152.5 y! ! 152.3 3
w z
z!
i !1 n
i i
w
i !1
Example - Continued
Now, compute the weighted mean.
Notice that the value is much closer to the more precise observation.
wi vi2 S0 !
i !1
n 1
n
wi vi2 Si !
i !1
wi (n 1)
n
wi vi2 SM !
i !1 n
(n 1) wi
i !1
Angle Example
This example asks for an adjustment and uses the concept of a correction factor which has not been described at this point. We will skip this type of problem until we get to the topic of least squares adjustment.
Example - Continued
Weights: (note that weights are multiplied by 12 to produce integers, but this is not necessary)
Compute weighted mean: 12 v 25.35 6 v 25.41 4 v 25.38 2 v 25.30 M! 12 6 4 2 608.78 M! ! 25.366ft 24 What about significant figures?
Example - Continued
Compute residuals
wi vi2
i !1
n 1
n
! 0.090ft
wi vi2 SM !
i !1 n
! 0.018ft
(n 1) wi
i !1
Example - Continued
Standard deviations of weighted observations:
Summary
Weighting allows us to consider different precisions of individual observations So far, the examples have been with simple means Soon, we will look at least squares adjustment with weights In adjustments involving observations of different types (e.g. angles and distances) it is essential to use weights