FUNDAMENTALS OF

SURVEYING
I N S T R U C TO R :
K R I S T I N E M AY M AT U R A N , C E

CO R J E S U CO L L E G E , I N C .
CO L L E G E O F E N G I N E E R I N G A N D T E C H N O LO GY
 References
N ATHAN SON , J., LAN ZAFAMA , M. T., & KISSAM, P. (2 0 1 1 ). SU RVEYIN G
FU N DAMEN TALS AN D P RAC TIC ES (6 TH ED.). P EARSON ED U C ATION , IN C .
WWW.PEARSONHIG HERED.COM

KAVANAG H, B . F., & MASTIN , T. B . ( 2 0 1 4 ) . SU RVE Y IN G : P RIN C IP L ES AN D

AP P L IC ATION S ( 9 TH E D.) . P EARSON , IN C .
Chapter 1 - Basics of Surveying
TOP IC S:
INTROD U C TION OF THE SU RVEYIN G
TYP ES OF SU RVEYIN G
MEASU REMENTS AN D ERRORS
THE 9 5 P ERC EN T ERROR
AC C U RAC Y AND P REC ISION
Introduction
•Surveying involves the measurement of distances and angles.
◦ The distances may be horizontal or vertical in direction, or aka elevation.
◦ Similarly, the angles may be measured in a horizontal or vertical plane.
◦ Horizontal angles are used to express the directions of land boundaries and other lines.
•There are two fundamental purposes for measuring distances and angles.
◦ Measure – to determine the relative positions of existing points or objects on or near the
surface of the earth.
◦ Lay out – to mark the desired positions of new points or objects that are to be placed or
constructed on or near the earth’s surface.
 Types of Surveying: Surveying Applications
•Property Survey •Control Survey
A property survey is performed to establish the positions of There are two kinds of control surveys: horizontal and
boundary lines and property corners. It is also referred to as a vertical.
land survey, title survey, or a boundary survey.
•In a horizontal control survey, several points are placed in the
•Topographic Survey ground by the surveyor, using wooden stakes or more
A topographic survey is performed to determine the relative permanent markers such as iron bars and concrete
positions (horizontal and vertical) of existing natural and monuments. These points, called stations, are arranged
constructed features on a tract of land. Such features include throughout the site or area under study so that they can be
ground elevations, bodies of water, vegetation, rock outcrops, easily seen and surveyed.
roads, buildings, and so on.
•The relative horizontal positions of these points are
•Construction Survey established, usually with a very high degree of precision and
A construction survey, also called a layout or location survey, accuracy; this is done using traverse or global navigation
is performed to mark the position of new points on the satellite systems (GNSS) survey methods.
ground. These new points represent the location of building
corners, road centerlines, and other facilities that are to be •In a vertical control survey, the elevations of relatively
built. These positions are shown on a site plan, which is permanent reference points are determined by precise
essentially a combination of the property survey and topo leveling methods. Marked or monumented points of known
survey, along with the newly designed facilities. This may elevation are called elevation benchmarks (BMs).
also be called a plot plan.
 Types of Surveying: Surveying Applications
•Route Survey
A route survey is performed to establish horizontal and
vertical control, to obtain topographic data, and to lay out the
positions of highways, railroads, streets, pipelines, or any
other “linear” project.
•Other Types of Surveys
Hydrographic survey
Reconnaissance survey
Photogrammetric surveying
Cadastral survey
Mine surveys
Bridge surveys, tunnel surveys, and city surveys.
Field Notes
•All surveys must be free from mistakes or blunders.
◦ A potential source of major mistakes in surveying practice is
the careless or improper recording of field notes.
•Blunders in field records can and must be avoided.
◦ The art of eliminating blunders is one of the most important
elements in surveying practice.
•One of the most important rules for avoiding costly blunders
in surveying work is to be neat, thorough, and accurate in
recording the results of field measurements, sketches, and
related observations.
•The quality and appearance of the field notes are a direct
reflection of the entire surveying effort.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
•A geographic information system (GIS) is a
configuration of computer hardware and software
capable of storing, manipulating, analyzing, and
displaying (mapping) a large amount and wide
variety of geographically referenced data.
•One of the key features of a GIS is its ability to
layer several kinds of information on top of each
other, at the same location. The layers can be
viewed as a set of “transparencies” that can be
depicted individually or in combination.
Measurements and Errors
◦ Angles ◦ Distance
Sexagesimal system: 1 rotation = 360° (Degrees) U.S. Customary System
1 Degree = 60 Minutes 1 foot (ft) = 12 inches (in.)
1 Minute = 60 Seconds 1 yard (yd) = 3 feet
Centesimal system: 1 rotation = 400g (Grads) 1 mile (mi) = 5280 feet = 80 chains (ch)
1 chain = 66 feet
1g (Grads) = 100c (Centigrads)
1 rod (rd) = 0.25 chain = 16.5 feet
cc cc
1 = 100 (Centi-centigrads)
1 chain = 100 links = 4 rods
Radian: 1 rotation = 2π rad 1 link (lk) = 0.01 chain = 7.92 inches = 0.66 feet
S.I. System
Other:
1 kilometer (km) = 1000 meters (m)
In astronomical observations, angles may be 1 millimeter (mm) = 0.001 meter
measured in terms of hours, minutes, and 1 centimeter (cm) = 0.01 meter
seconds of time (as a function of the rotation of 1 decimeter (dm) = 0.1 meter
the earth). 1 m = 10 dm = 100 cm = 1000 mm
For military use, the mil is used, where one full
circumference is equal to 6400 mils.
Measurements and Errors
◦ Area
1 square mile (mi2) = 640 acres (ac)
1 acre = 10 square chains (sq ch) = 43,560 square
feet (ft2)
1 square yard (yd2) = 3 ft * 3 ft = 9 square feet (ft2)
1 hectare (ha) = 100 ares = 10,000 square meters
(m2)
1 km2 = 100 hectares = 1,000,000 m2

◦ Volume
U.S. Customary System: ft3, yd3
1 yd3 = 3 ft * 3 ft * 3 ft = 27 ft3
S.I. System: m3
Measurements and Errors
•MISTAKES AND ERRORS Examples of Blunder:
◦ The difference between a measured distance •The reading on a level rod may be taken as 4.90
or angle and its true value may be due to when it actually was 3.90.
mistakes and/or errors.
◦ These are two distinct terms. It is necessary to•Writing 5.30 instead of 3.50
eliminate all mistakes and minimize all errors •Omitting a vital piece of information such as the
when conducting a survey of any type. fact that a certain measurement was made on a
Blunders steep slope instead of on a horizontal surface.

•A blunder is a significant mistake caused by •And when measuring a distance with a tape,
human error. It may also be called a gross error. there may be a miscount of the number of full
tape lengths in the measurement.
•Generally, it is due to the inattention or
carelessness of the surveyor, and it usually •To stake out the wrong lot on a block or even on
results in a large difference between the the wrong street.
observed or recorded quantity and the actual or With this, the surveyor must be continually alert
true value. and constantly examine and check the observed
quantities to eliminate careless mistakes.
Measurements and Errors: Systematic Errors
•BASIC TYPES OF ERRORS ◦ For measurements made with levels, the axis
•Systematic Errors of the spirit bubble with which the instrument
Repetitive errors that are caused by is leveled and the line of sight through the
imperfections in the surveying equipment, by telescope may not be parallel as they should
the specific method of observation, or by be.
certain environmental factors, are systematic ◦ Transits, theodolites, and even electronic
errors. They are also referred to as mechanical distance measuring instruments (EDMIs) are
or cumulative errors.
also subject to systematic errors. The
•Example of Systematic Error: horizontal axis of rotation of the transit, for
◦ Suppose that a 30-m steel tape is the correct instance, may not be exactly perpendicular to
length at 20°C and that it is used in a survey the vertical axis. And changes in barometric
when the outdoor air temperature is, say, air pressure may affect the electronic distance
35°C. Because steel expands with increasing measuring (EDM) signal frequency, thereby
temperature, the tape will actually be longer
than it was at 20°C. causing an error in the recorded distance.
Measurements and Errors: Accidental Errors
•BASIC TYPES OF ERRORS
•Accidental Errors
An accidental or random error is the difference
between a true quantity and a measurement of
that quantity that is free from blunders or
systematic errors.
•One example of a source of accidental errors is
the slight motion of a plumb-bob string, which
occurs when using a tape to measure a distance.
Sometimes the plumb bob will swing beyond
the true point and sometimes it will swing short
of the point.
Measurements and Errors: The 95 Percent Error
Most Probable Value •The 95 Percent Error, E95
•If two or more measurements of the same •E95 is a useful criterion for rating survey methods.
quantity are made, usually different values
are obtained due to random errors. •If it is said that the E95 in one taping operation, using a 100-ft
tape, is ± 0.01 ft (± is read as “plus or minus”), it means that
•As long as each measurement is equally the likelihood is 95% that the actual distance is within the
reliable, the average value of the different range of 100.00 ± 0.01 ft. Likewise, there will remain a 5%
measurements is taken to be the true or chance that the error will exceed 0.01 ft.
most probable value.
•The E95 is sometimes called the maximum anticipated error.
•Most Probable Value is the average, or σ ∆ 2
arithmetic mean of the number of 𝐸95 = 1.96 ×
𝑛(𝑛 − 1)
measurements.
Where Σ = sigma, “the sum of”
σ 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 Δ = delta, the difference between each individual
𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 = measurement and the average of n measurements
𝑛 (MPV)
where n = the number of measurements n = the number of measurements
Measurements and Errors: The 95 Percent Error
Example:
A distance was measured five times (by pacing)
as follows: 75.3, 76.2, 75.7, 75.5, and 75.8 m.
Compute the most probable distance and the 95
percent error of that procedure
Measurements and Errors: Adding Up Errors
How Accidental Errors Add Up Consider the problem of measuring and marking
𝑬 = 𝑬𝟏 × 𝒏 a distance of 900 ft between two points using a
100-ft long steel tape. Assume that the
where E = the total error of n measurements maximum probable error for measuring 100 ft
E1 = the error for one measurement was determined to be ±0.010 ft. What would be
n = the number of measurements the maximum probable error for measuring the
total distance of 900 ft with the same tape and
the same procedure?
Given:
E = ±0.010 ft
n = 9 (900 ft /100 ft per steel tape)
Solution:
𝐸 = 𝐸1 × 𝑛 = ±0.010 × 9
𝐸 = ±𝟎. 𝟎𝟑𝟎 𝐟𝐭
Measurements and Errors: Accuracy and Precision
•Surveying measurements must be made with precision to
achieve a maximum of accuracy with a minimum
expenditure
◦ Precision : Degree of perfection used in the survey
◦ Accuracy : Degree of perfection obtained in the results
Measurements and Errors: Relative Accuracy
•Relative Accuracy For horizontal Example If the survey were four
distances, the ratio of the error of A distance of 577.80 ft is
closure to the actual distance is times as long:
measured by a surveying crew.
called the relative accuracy. The true distance is later found
Estimated error of closure
to be 577.98 ft from another
C = E = E1 × n
source. What is the relative
accuracy of the measurement? C = 0.18 × 4
C = 0.36 ft
Solution 𝐷
The error of closure is Relative accuracy = 1:
𝐶
577.80 - 577.98 = -0.18 ft 4 × 577.80
= 1:
Then, 0.36
𝐷 = 1:6400
Relative accuracy = 1: 𝐶
577.80
= 1:
0.18
= 𝟏: 𝟑𝟐𝟎𝟎
Problem Plates Set 1
1. Convert the following angles to decimal degree form: 6. Convert the following areas as indicated:
a. 00° 45’ (use two decimal places) a. 75,500 ft2 to acres
b. 77° 23’ 49.5 (use five decimal places) b. 10.5 ac to hectares
c. 10.5 ha to acres
2. Convert the following angles to degrees, minutes, and d. 750 ac to square miles
seconds: e. 5.3 mi2 to square kilometers
a. 45.75° (to the nearest minute)
b. 123.1234° (to the nearest second) 7. Convert the following volumes as indicated:
a. 500 ft3 to cubic yards
3. Convert the angles to centesimal units. b. 150 yd3 to cubic meters
a. 45.75° (to the nearest minute)
b. 123.1234° (to the nearest second) 8. Round off the following numbers to three significant
figures: 45.036, 245,501, 0.12345, 261.49, and 34.009.
4. Convert the following angles to the sexagesimal system:
a. 23g 9. A distance was taped six times with the following
b. 75.245g results: 85.87, 86.03, 85.80, 85.95, 86.06, and 85.90 m.
c. 150.7654g Compute the 95 percent error for that survey.
5. Convert the following distances as indicated: 10. A group of surveying students measures a distance twice,
a. 67.35 ft to meters obtaining 67.455 and 67.350 m. a) What is the relative
b. 246.864 m to feet accuracy of the measurements? b) What would be the
c. 75 ch 3 rds 20 lk to feet relative accuracy if a survey three times as long were done
d. 1.23 mi to kilometers using the same precision?
 Chapter 2 –
Measurements and Computations
TOP IC S:
ROU G H D ISTANC E MEASU REMENTS: PAC IN G AN D MEASU RIN G WHEEL
MEASU REMEN T OF HORIZON TAL D ISTAN C ES: TAP IN G
ERRORS IN MEASU REMENT: TAPING MISTAKES, ERRORS, AN D CORREC TION S
ELEC TRON IC D ISTAN C E MEASU REMEN T (ED M)