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Measurements & errors

The purpose of surveying is essentially the measurements
of point on surface of earth.
Thus , field measurements of distances and angles are
usually required to perform.
Tropic:- Error Theory
Type of measurements
Distance measurements
Angle measurements

Measurements & errors Measurements & errors

Distance measurements Angle measurements
Can be horizontal, slope or vertical (Linear Distance or
Horizontal Distance)
Horizontal angles (Compass)
Measured with tapes, or more commonly with EDMs
Vertical angles (Clinometers).
Horizontal distances are always required for plan plotting
purposes. Horizontal and vertical angles are measured with a

This generally requires the use of geometry/trigonometry to theodolite.

perform conversion from slope distances.
Vertical distances are most often measured with a surveyors
level.

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Measurements & Errors Measurements & Errors

Sources of Error
Three type of error, which may occur in surveying depending
on the sources are Instrumental, Personal and Natural.
Instrumental Error
Errors due to imperfections or faulty adjustment of the
instrument in with which measurements are taken
Personal Error
The errors occur due to imperfection of observer.
Natural Error
variation in natural environment through which
Type of Errors
A good surveyor should have a thorough knowledge of
different type of errors , their sources, characteristics and
behavior that help in assessing the standard of accuracy
of the work and in selecting the suitable methods and
techniques.
Errors may be classified into the following three;
Systematic errors All these error
Random errors or Accidental errors types can occur

measurements are made (eg. wind, temperature, humidity, Blunders in any

measurement
refraction, gravity and magnetic declination, etc) technique in
surveying

Blunders Systematic or Cumulative Errors

These error may be occur due to lack of
experience , carelessness , poor judgment, confusing
in the observations.
Can occur at any stage of survey (observing,
booking, computing or plotting)
Very damaging effects on results
Every measurement is immediately checked or
repeated
Eg: Miscounting the number of tape lengths, Record the wrong
value , strike the wrong key, Transpose digits (68 as 86),
Systematic arises from sources that act in a similar manner
on observations
The method of measurement, the instrument used and the
physical conditions at the time of measurement must all be
considered
Systematic errors are not revealed by taking the same
measurement with the same instruments.
The only way to check adequately for systematic error is to
re-measure the quantity by an entirely different method
using different instruments.
Eg: Erroneous length of chain, Variation of temperature,
Erroneous graduation of a instrument

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Random or Accidental Errors
No measurement can be free of errors
Accidental errors are those which remain after mistakes
& systematic errors have been eliminated.
Some random errors, by their nature, tend to cancel
themselves
Can eliminate or minimize the effects of random errors by
statistical procedures:
Eg: Variation of the pull applied to a tape or chain
Hence 1st time error can be +2cm and next time it can be 2cm
because the pull applied to chain is differ with previous time
Accuracy
Accuracy describes how closeness of a measurement
to the standard or true value. i.e., a highly accurate
measuring device will provide measurements very close
to the standard, true or known values.
In other words, accuracy indicates how close a
measurement is to the accepted value.
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Random or Accidental Errors
Random errors have the following characteristics;
Small errors occur more frequently than large ones
Positive and negative errors are more likely to occur
Very large errors seldom occurs
Eg. Consider the mean of a set of measurements as
the value to be used in later calculations
Precision
Precision is the degree to which several
measurements provide answers very close to each
other. It is an indicator of the scattering of the dataset.
The lesser the scatter, higher the precision.
Precision indicates how close together or how
repeatable the same results...
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Accuracy and precision