ELEMENTARY

SURVEYING
Submitted By: Mon Alfred B. Cabia
Submitted To: Roberto Cabrera
Lesso
n 36:

Traversing and
Traverse
Computation
 Latitude and
departures

Latitude

The latitude of a line is its

projection onto the reference
meridian or a north-south departures
line.
Latitude is sometimes
The departure of a line is
referred to as northings or
its projection onto the
southings.
Latitudes reference parallel or an
of lines with
east west line.
northerly bearings are
Departures are east (E)
designated as being north
or positive (+) for having
(N) or positive (+); those in
a easterly bearings and
a southerly direction are
west (W) or negative (-)
designated as south or
for lines having westerly
negative.
bearings.
 Latitude and
departures

The algebraic sign of latitude and departures are thus

assigned on the basis of the direction of the bearing angles.

Noted:

Latitude and departure are simply the x and y

components of a line in a rectangular grid system, as
commonly used in mathematics.
 Latitude and
departures

From the geometry of the

given figure given, it is
easily seen that the
magnitude of the latitude
is the product of its length
by cosine of its bearing
angle,
The corresponding
departure is numerically
equal to the length of the
line multiplied by the sine
The horizontal length of a
of its bearing angle.
line is designated by d and
its angle by .
 Latitude and
departures
The following equations may be
obtained for lines AB, CD, GH, and EF.

When the direction of a line is given in terms of azimuth from

north, the proper signs of the latitudes and departures are
automatically generated in the calculator or electronic digital
computer.

The common error committed in traverse computations is to

enter a latitude or departure with a wrong sign, or to enter a
latitude in a column designated for departure and vice versa.
 Latitude and
Illustrative Problems departures
LATITUDES AND
DEPARTURES
 Error of
closure

Error Of Closure
There is no such thing as mathematically perfect survey.
Small error in both distance and angles will always be present
even in closed traverses observed using instruments and
methods of high precision. In all probability a surveyed closed
traverse would not satisfy the geometric requirements of a
closed polygon. Until adjustments are made to these observed
quantities it will always be expected that the traverse will not
mathematically close.
When a closed traverse is plotted on paper the survey must
close on the starting point.
The closure must be effected not only graphically but also
mathematically.
For a closed traverse, this simply means that the
algebraic sum of the north and south latitudes should be
zero, and the algebraic sum of the east and west
departures should also be zero.
 Error of
closure

The difference between the north and south latitudes,

designated here as CL, is called the closure in latitudes, It
indicates how much the traverse computations fail to close in a
north-south direction.

The difference between the east and west departures,

designated here as CD is referred to as the closure in departure
and it indicates how far the closure misses in an east-west
The values of CL and CD assume the sign which is obtained by
direction.
adding algebraically all latitudes and all departures
respectively.
 Error of
closure

Linear error of closure (LEC)

The linear error of closure (LEC) is usually a short line of
unknown length and direction connecting the initial and final
station of the traverse.
It is approximately determined by plotting the traverse to
scale, or more exactly by computing the hypotenuse of a
right triangle whose sides are the closure in latitudes and
the closure in departures, respectively. This quantity reflects
the algebraic sum of all the accumulated errors of
measurement both in angles and distances when running
the traverse. The length of the linear error of closure and
the angle that this line makes with the meridian is
determined by the following equations.
 Error of
closure

If the linear error of closure is excessive, it indicates that a mistake

has been committed during the field measurement or in plotting and
computing the traverse data.

The first step then would be to check all the calculations to make
sure that the mistakes is not in the calculations themselves. The
field work should either be checked or repeated is after a
recomputation the error of closure still does not come within the
excepted limits.
The linear error of closure does not indicate the precision of the
measurement until it is compared with the total length of the
traverse. A convenient and more useful measure of precision is
defied by ratio of the linear error of closure to the perimeter or total
length of traverse. This is usually expressed as a fraction whose
Where:
numerator isRP unity and
= LEC/D denominator rounded off to the nearest
RP = relative precision
multiple of 100, as1/5000. Such a fraction states that the error of
RP,survey
shouldisbe expressed LEC = linear error of closure
in theparts,
the one part in 5,000 thus
same unit of linear measure. D = total length or perimeter of the
traverse

 Latitude and
Illustrative Problems departures
ERROR OF CLOSURE
Lesson
37:

Traversing and
Traverse
Computation
 Traverse
adjustment

TRAVERSE
ADJUSTMENT
The procedure of computing the linear error of closure and
applying corrections to the individual latitudes and
departures for the purpose of providing a mathematically
closed figure is referred to as traverse adjustment.
It is necessary that the traverse is geometrically consistent
before coordinates or areas are determined, or prior to
determining the location of the lines from the traverse
stations.
When a traverse adjustment is undertaken it must be borne
in mind that the adjustment to the latitudes and departure
will slightly alter the length and direction of the measured
sides of the traverse. Also, the adjustment should only
involve small or allowable errors which must be within the
range of the precision specified for the survey.
 Traverse
adjustment

TRAVERSE
ADJUSTMENT
It is not possible to determine the true magnitude of the
errors in angular and linear measurements for a traverse.
However, in surveying practice it is reasonably fair to
assume that errors are gradually accumulated and
corrections can be applied accordingly if conditions
surrounding the field measurements have been uniform.
There are some surveys where traverse adjustment is not
required, particularly when the latitudes and departures
are to be used only in plotting the positions of the
stations on a map and when the error of closure is too
small to be portrayed and when the error of closure is too
small to be portrayed to scale. Also, in some instances a
rough combination of traverse adjustment is employed
instead of exact mathematical application of only one
method.
 Traverse
adjustment

TRAVERSE
ADJUSTMENT
There are different rules and methods used in adjusting
a traverse. Some are performed graphically and other
analytically. Each of which will produce a closed figure.

These methods of adjustment are usually classified as

either rigorous or approximate.

The least squares methods provides the most rigorous

adjustment
The arbitrary method the compass rule the transit rule
and the Crandall method are all approximate methods
of traverse adjustment.
 Compass
rule

COMPASS RULE

The compass or Bowditch rule which was named after the

distinguished American navigator Nathaniel Bowditch (1773
1838), is a very popular rule for adjusting a closed traverse. Of
the several methods used for balancing latitudes and departures,
perhaps the most commonly used is this rule. It is simple to apply
and at the same time theoretically sound.

The compass rule is based on the assumption that all lengths

were measured with equal care and all angles taken with
approximately the same precision. It is also assumed that the
errors in the measurement are accidental and that the total error
in any side of the traverse is directly proportional to the total
length of the traverse.
 Compass
rule

COMPASS RULE
The compass rule may be stated as follows:

I. The correction to be applied to the latitude (or departure) of

any course is equal to the total latitude (or departure)
multiplied by the ratio of the length of the course to the total
length of the perimeter of the traverse.

These corrections are given by the following equations:

 Compass
rule

COMPASS RULE

All computed corrections should be added to check whether

their respectively sums equal the closures in latitude and
departure. It will be observed that during the process of
adjustment an excess or deficiency of 0.01 m may result when
rounding off computed values. This imbalance is usually
eliminated by applying an arbitrary correction such as revising
one of the computed corrections.
To determine the adjustment latitude of any course the
latitude correction is either added to subtract from the
computed latitude of the course. A simple rule to remember
is: if the sum of the north latitudes exceeds the sum of the
south latitudes, latitude corrections are subtracted from north
latitudes and added to corresponding south latitudes.
However, if the sum of the south latitudes applied in the
opposite manner. A similar procedure is used when adjusting
the departures. After all corrections have been applied
 Compass
Illustrative Problems rule
COMPASS RULE
Lesson
38:

Traversing and
Traverse
Computation
 Transit
rule

Transit rule

The method of adjusting a traverse by the transit rule is

similar to the methods using the compass rule. The main
difference is that with the transit rule the latitude and
departure corrections depend on the length of the latitude and
departure of the course respectively instead of both
depending on the length of the course.
The transit rule has no sound theoretical foundation since it is
purely empirical. It is not commonly used as the compass rule,
however, it is best suited for surveys where the sides of the
traverse are measured by the stadia or subtense bar method.
The rule is based on the assumption that the angular
measurements are more precise than the linear
measurements and that errors in traversing are accidental.
Since it is merely a rule of thumb it may not be applicable in
some instances.
 Transit
rule

Transit rule
For Example:
If a line runs along an east or west direction it will have no latitude
correction and if it runs along north or south direction it will have
no departure correction. This is due to the fact that the cosine of
90 degrees or 270 degrees and the sine of 0 degrees or 180
degrees are all equal to zero.
The transit rule may be stated as
follows:
I. The correction to be applied to
the latitude (or departure) of
any course is equal to the
latitude (or departure) of the
course multiplied by the ratio of
the total closure in latitudes (or
departure) of the traverse.
These correction are given y the
following equations:
 Transit
rule

Transit rule

Since the north latitudes are positive quantities and south

latitudes are negative quantities, arithmetical sum of all
latitudes is obtained if the summation of south latitudes is
subtracted from the summation of north latitudes. Similarly,
the arithmetical sum of all departures is subtracted from the
summation of west departures since east and west departures
are positive and negative quantities, respectively. Another way
of determining these arithmetical sums is simply to add the
absolute values of the required quantities.

Latitude and departure corrections are applied in a manner

similar to that described for the compass rule. However,
before any corrections are applied it is important to check first
if the sum of the computed corrections for the latitude (or
departure) equal the closure in latitude (or departure). A
perfect closure will always be assured if this is done
 Transit
Illustrative Problems rule
TRANSIT ADJUSTMENT
 Transit
rule

Illustrative Problems

TRANSIT ADJUSTMENT
Lesson
39:

Traversing and
Traverse
Computation
 COORDINATE
METHOD

Coordinate
method
When a survey is run and made to close on a distant terminal
station or point of known coordinates, it will be expected that
the computed coordinates, it will be expected that the
computed coordinates of the terminal station will differ from
its own coordinates. There will be an error of closure along
the x axis and also along the y- axis. This is due to inherit
errors in both angular and linear measurements during
traversing
The coordinate method of traverse adjustment may be
employed when the preliminary coordinates of station along
the traverse have been determined. This method of
adjustment is simply an application of the compass rule since
the corrections applied are proportionate to the length being
adjusted. The following formulas are used in this method of
adjustment:
COORDINATE
METHOD
 COORDINATE
Illustrative Problems METHOD
COORDINATE METHOD
 COORDINATE
Illustrative Problems METHOD
COORDINATE METHOD
 COORDINATE
Illustrative Problems METHOD
COORDINATE METHOD
END