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 Definition:

Traversing

A traverse is a series of consecutive lines whose lengths

and directions have been measured.

Why?
The purpose of establishing a traverse is to extend the
horizontal control. A survey usually begins with one
given vertical control and two ( or one and direction)
given in horizontal
You need more than two points to control the project,
have enough known points to map any point, and set-out
any object any where in a large project.

 Definition:

Traversing

A traverse is a series of consecutive lines whose lengths

and directions have been measured.

Why?
The purpose of establishing a traverse is to extend the
horizontal control. A survey usually begins with one
given vertical control and two ( or one and direction)
given in horizontal
You need more than two points to control the project,
have enough known points to map any point, and set-out
any object any where in a large project.

Procedure
Assume that you wanted to
map calculate coordinates
of the building, trees, and
the fence in the drawing,
you are given points A and
B only, cannot measure
angle and distance to
corner F or the trees!!

Grass

You need to construct new control points points of known

precise coordinates such as C, D, and E to measure from.
You do that with a traverse

Procedure
1. Walk around and decide which
are the best locations to have A
new control points
2. Construct the points, nails on
asphalt, concrete and bolts, etc.
3. Measure all the angles and all
B
the lengths of the traverse
4. Check if the angles and lengths
are accepted
5. If rejected, re-do the work
6. If accepted, adjust the errors
and compute coordinates.

D
Grass

Coordinate Computations
Assume that we were given a site to map, and the
coordinates of one point (A), and the azimuth of the
line (AB), we need more known (control stations)
We marked three more points around the site, the
four points make rectangle (or a square).
We then measured all the internal angles and the
length of all the sides (lines).
Using the given azimuth of AB and all angles, we
computed the azimuth of all the sides, we get the
following table:

Coordinate Computations
Point

Line

Length

Azimuth
)

E =
d sin( )

N =
d cos( )

A
AB

100.10

0 00' 00''

0.00

100.00

90 00' 00"

100.00

100.00

18000'00"

0.00

99.70

27000'00

- 99.70

399.80

0.30

200.00

450.10

300.00

450.10

300.00

350.10

200.30

350.10

0.00

A
Sum

350.00

-100.00

D
DA

200.00

0.00

C
CD

100.10

B
BC

0.10

Questions
Note that the coordinates of A when computed at the bottom of the table,
are not the same as given coordinates.
Also note the relationship between that error and the sum of Northings
and Eastings.
How do you explain that?
Assume that the traverse was a perfect square of 100 m side length and
oriented towards the north, what you notice in our measurements, and
how can you relate that to the error in A?

The concept of Linear Closing Error

B

c
Closing error = 0.32m
Notice that if the
corrections are ignored,
the value of the errors
will
Appear when you recompute the coordinates
.of the first point (A)

N=0.1

A
E=0.3

The concept of Angular Closing Error

Now let us assume the same perfect square of 90 angles
and 100 m sides. When measured all lengths were correct,
while the angle at B was in error by 10 when measured,
the surveyor reported 100. What happens?
B

Here is the
perfect traverse
that we are
trying to
measure:

The concept of Angle Misclosure

Here is how the measured traverse will look:
Line AB was
correct

Line BC was
correct, but
angle A was
wrong
The rest of the
lines and angles
are correct
A

The concept of Closing Error

Error in angles OR error in distances will result in
a closing error: last point will not be at the first
point.
The problem is that we do not know where the
errors are and how much each error?
Measurements are never exact, we always assume
that we have errors in angles and distances.
Before we learn how to compute the errors and
how to adjust for them, let us learn some issues
with traverse

Closed and Open Traverses

A closed traverse is the one that starts and
ends at known points and directions,
whether the shape is closed or not
A closed traverse can be a polygon {closed
shape} or Link {closed geometry-open
shape

Closed (polygon or link)

traverses

Link
Polygon

Open TRAVERSE
L2

L3

L4

L5
B

XObserved

XY

MX
M

L1

X=XB-XA

MY

YObserved

Observed Location

Open Traverses are not used in engineering

control applications, why?
The problem: there is no way to check the for
the errors; you will have to accept whatever
coordinates computed.

Y=YB-YA

True Location

Traverse Notations
We will only cover the closed Traverse with interior angles
measured.

Traverse Stations
Successive stations should be inter visible.
Stations are chosen in safe, easy to access places.
Lines should be as long as possible
To reduce the number of lines
Short lines will produce less accurate angles, the
traverse gets distorted as shown below.

T1

T3
T2

B
T4

Traverse Stations
Angles should be as equal as possible and better be 30 to
150, why????
Lines should be and as equal as possible, Why?
Stations must be referenced to retrieve them if lost. We
produce a descriptive card for each point

Descriptive card for a

traverse point

Traversing by Interior Angles

All internal angles and all horizontal distances are
measured
Each angle is measured in direct and reverse,
Each angle is observed at least three times.
A line of known direction should either be given or
assumed, what is a line with known direction?
If the line of known direction is not a member of the
traverse, the angle to a traverse member should be
measured. Why?

Closing Error In Traverses

We measure two values: angles and distances
Because of errors in both measurements, we
get angle misclosure and linear misclosure
( closing error).
Both types of errors result in error in closure,
we need a way to separate the error of angles
from the error in distances to check and
adjust them separately

The concept of Angle Misclosure

Here is how the measured traverse will look:
Line AB was
correct

Line BC was
correct, but
angle A was
wrong
The rest of the
lines and angles
are correct
A

Computations and Adjustments of

Angle Misclosure
The sum of internal angles of a polygon of (n) points =
(n - 2) * 180o
Angle misclosure = difference between the sum of the
measured angles and the geometrically correct total for the
polygon.
The misclosure is divided equally among the readings
keeping in mind the measuring accuracy, and should be done
at the beginning of the adjustment.

Judging The Angle Misclosure

Usually the standards give an equation of the form:

Max allowed angle misclosure c = k * n
where (n) is
the number of points and K is a constant defined according
to which standards used
If angles are accepted, correct by dividing the error equally
among the angles
For example: The Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee:
1.7, 3, 4.5, 10, and 12 for first-order, second-order class I,
second-order class II, third-order class I, third-order class II

The concept of Linear Closing Error

B

Assume that the

traverse in reallity
was a perfect
square.

A
N
A
E

,A will close at AAA is the linear closingerror

Assume that
there was an
error in
measuring the
length AB only, all
D
other lengths and
angles were
correct

EDA

ECD

ve-

ve-

A
B

If the traverse is
closed, then
E = 0
N = 0

and

EAB

EBC

ve+

ve+

EDA

ECD

ve-

ve-

N
C
E

If the traverse is
closed, then
E = 0

A
A

and

N = 0
,If the traverse is not closed
Then E = Ec

EAB

EBC

ve+

ve+

and N = Nc

Computations of Linear Closing

Error

If he closing error is (W) then

Ew = E and
Nw = N,

W = length of closing error = Ew2 + Nw2

Fractional Closing error = traverse precision = W /
L
Direction of the error = Azimuth =
tan-1 (Ew / Nw) = tan-1 (E / N)

Adjustment of Linear Misclosure

Compute and adjust the angle misclosure
Compute the linear misclosure:
Compute the azimuth of a traverse side
Compute the azimuth of all the sides
Compute the departure and latitude of all the sides
Compute the Misclosure in (E) direction =
sum of the departures.
Compute the Misclosure in (N) direction =
sum of the latitudes.
Compute the linear misclosure
If accepted, use the Compass (Bowditch) rule to adjust:

Compass (Bowditch) Rule

Correction in departure for AB = -

(
Correction in latitude for AB = -

E
L

) (L )

N
L

) (L )

AB

AB

Where:
L is the length of a line, and ( L) is the perimeter.

Advantages and disadvantages of this -

method

Computations of Coordinates
Add the corrections to the departure or the
latitude of each line to get
the adjusted
departure or latitude (maintain signs)
Compute the adjusted point coordinates using
the corrected departure or latitude:
Ei = E i-1 + E

Ni = N i-1 + N
Check that the misclosure is zero.

Example of Standards
Horizontal Control Accuracy Standards For Traverse
)By The Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee (FGCS) (
1st

2 nd

3 rd

Order
Class
Angular
Closure
Linear
Closure
(after
angul.
adj.)

1.7n

II

II

3.0n

4.5n

10.0n

12.0n

0.20L
or,
1/20,000

0.40L
or,
1/10,000

0.80L
or,
1/5,000

0.04L 0.08L
or,
or,
1/100,000 1/50,000

point

Length L

Azimuth
AZ

Departure
L sin (Az)

Latitude
L cos (Az)

Correction
Departure
(WN/L)* L

A
285.10

26 10.0

125.72

255.88

610.45

104
35.2

590.77

-153.74

720.48

195
30.1

-192.56

-694.27

203.00

358
18.5

-5.99

202.91

747.02

306
54.1

-517.40

388.5

WE =+0.54

WN =-0.72

A
Sum

P=2466.05

Latitude
(WE/ L)* L

Balanced
Departure
E

Latitude
N

Pnt.

Length

Azimuth

Departure
= L sin (AZ)

Latitude
= L cos (AZ)

Correction

Departure
(WE/ L)* L
L

Latitude

Balanced

Dep.

125.72

255.88

104 35

590.77

-153.74

0.13-

0.18

590.64

195
30.1

- 192.56

- 694.27

0.16-

0.21

192.72-

358
18.5

- 5.99

202.91

0.04-

0.06

-6.03

306 54.1

-517.4

388.5

0.14-

0.19

-517.54

A
Sum

10102.40

10523.58

9408.34

10517.54

9611.31

10000.00

10000.00

388.69

check
=L24
66.05

10716.29

202.97

E
647.02

10255.96

694.06-

D
203

10125.66
153.56-

C
720.48

10000.00

=(0.54/2466.06)x285.1
=(0.72/2466.06)x285.1
0.060.08
125.66
255.96

B
610.45

10000.00

(WN/ L)* L

AZ

26 10

Lat.

A
285.1

W =+0.54E

WN=0.72

-0.54

0.72

0.00

0.00

Other Methods
There are several methods that are used to adjust or
balance traverses;
1.

Arbitrary method

2.

Transit rule

3.

Least-Squares method

Traverse Area
D

A
Traverse area = 1 { Ei (Ni+1 - Ni-1)}
2
Multiply the X coordinate of each point by the difference
in Y between the following and the preceding points, half the sum
is the area
The formula will work for traverses lettered in a clockwise
direction, but it will give a correct area with a negative sign.
The formula should work if you switch the N and the E.

Example
Calculate the area of a traverse whose
corners are (100,100), (300,100
), (300,300), (100,300).