Department of Geodetic Engineering

College of Engineering
Visayas State University

FUNDAMENTALS OF
SURVEYING
ESCI 121N

LECTURE NO.2

JP Ancheta
OUTLINE OF TOPICS

 ERRORS IN MEASUREMENTS
 TYPES AND SOURCES OF ERRORS
 MISTAKES AND BLUNDERS
 MOST PROBABLE VALUE
 CONCEPTS OF ERRORS

CONCEPTS OF ERROR

 Good observations require a combination of human skill

and mechanical equipment applied with the utmost
judgment.
 However, no matter how carefully made, observations
are never exact and will always contain errors
A B
50 m  Class C * can read up to a 1 meter
50. 204 m  Class B * can read up to 1 millimeter
50.204006  Class A * can read up to 1 micrometer
.
.
 CONCEPTS OF ERRORS

CONCEPTS OF ERROR

 an error is the difference between an observed value for

a quantity and its true value, or

𝐸 =𝑋−𝑋

• X = observed value
• 𝑋 = true value
 CONCEPTS OF ERRORS

CONCEPTS OF ERROR

Types:
 Systematic
 Accidental Errors
 CONCEPTS OF ERRORS

CONCEPTS OF ERROR

Systematic Error
 Result from factors that comprise the “measuring
system” and include the environment, instrument and the
observer.
 This type of error is one which will always have the same
sign and magnitude as long as field conditions remain
constant and unchanged. Also called cumulative error.
 Conforms to physical laws that can be modelled
mathematically, therefore its magnitude and sign can be
determined
 CONCEPTS OF ERRORS

CONCEPTS OF ERROR

Random Error
 are those that remain in measured values after mistakes
and systematic errors have been eliminated
 they are caused by factors beyond the control of the
observer, obey the laws of probability, and are
sometimes called accidental errors.
 They are present in all surveying observations
 There is no absolute way to compute or eliminate them,
but they can be estimated using adjustment procedures
known as least squares.
 CONCEPTS OF ERRORS

CONCEPTS OF ERROR

MISTAKES AND BLUNDER

 Are errors due to the carelessness, inattention,poor
judgement and improper execution.
 A LARGE mistake is referred to as blunder.

e.g.
• Recording 255 as 225
• reading the wrong graduations on the tape
 CONCEPTS OF ERRORS

CONCEPT OFS ERROR

Sources of Errors:
Instrumental Errors – these errors are due to imperfections
in the instruments used, either from faults of their
construction of from improper adjustments between the
different parts prior to their use.
Natural Errors – these errors are caused by variations in
the phenomena of nature such as changes in magnetic
declination, temperature, humidity, wind, refraction, gravity
and curvature of the earth.
Personal Errors – These errors arise principally from
limitations of the senses of sight, touch and hearing of the
human observer which are likely to be erroneous or
inaccurate.
 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

ACCURACY AND PRECISION

 Accuracy is the closeness or nearness of the

measurements to the “true” value of the quantity
being measured.
 Precision is the closeness with which the
measurements agree to each other or the
consistency of the measurements made.
 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

ACCURACY AND PRECISION

a) good accuracy but poor precision

b) poor accuracy and poor precision
c) Good accuracy and good precision
 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

MOST PROBABLE VALUE

 True value of an observation can never be known.

However, its most probable value can be calculated if
redundant observations have been made
 Redundant observations are measurements in excess
of the minimum needed to determine a quantity
 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

MOST PROBABLE VALUE

Find the MPV of the ff. observed values:

Trial Distance
1 451.20
2 449.95
3 448.99
4 451.13
5 450.98
6 451.10
 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

MOST PROBABLE VALUE

MPV is derived using the principle of least square, which is based on the theory of
probability.

• 𝑀 = sum of observation
• 𝑀 = MPV
• n = number of observations
 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

RESIDUALS

 Having determined the MPV of a quantity, it is possible to

calculate residuals.
 It is the difference between the MPV and any observed
value of a quantity, or

• v = residual
• 𝑀 = MPV
• M = measured quanity
 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

RESIDUALS

Find the Residuals of the ff. observed values:

Trial Distance
1 451.20
2 449.95
3 448.99
4 451.13
5 450.98
6 451.10
 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

MEASURE OF PRECISION

Standard Deviation or Standard Error

 The magnitude of dispersion is the indication of the

relative precisions of the observations
 The smaller σ becomes the greater is the precision
 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

MEASURE OF PRECISION

Standard Deviation or Standard Error

 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

MEASURE OF PRECISION

Standard Deviation or Standard Error

 INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYING

MEASURE OF PRECISION

Example
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

E50 E90 E95 PERCENT ERRORS

 Confidence limits
 E50 , the error has 50% chance of occurring or 50% of
observations are within the limits of; or
 the sample mean or mpv will not differ from the
population mean by more than ±0.6745σ
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

E50 E90 E95 PERCENT ERRORS

E95 is used for the rejection of outliers

 Any measurements whose residual is greater than
±1.9599σ must lie in the extreme tail ends of the normal
curve and might therefore be ignored
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

E50 E90 E95 PERCENT ERRORS

Example:
Compute:
 MPV
 Standard Deviation
 Errors having 50%,
90%, 95% probability.
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

ERROR PROPAGATION

 Observations contain errors

 Any quantities computed from them will likewise contain
errors
 Error propagation is the process of evaluating errors in
quantities from observed values that contain errors
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

ERROR PROPAGATION

Error of a Sum

 Example
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

ERROR PROPAGATION

Error of a Series

 Measurements of similar quantities or series

 the total error is called the sum of the series
 E represents the error in individual observations
 n the number of observations
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

ERROR PROPAGATION

Error of a Series

Example:
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

ERROR PROPAGATION

Error of a Product

 Useful in estimating errors in areas

 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

ERROR PROPAGATION

Error of a Product

 Useful in estimating errors in areas

 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

ERROR PROPAGATION

Error of a Product
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

ERROR PROPAGATION

Error of the mean

 The mean is computed from individual observations

which contain errors. Hence, the mean also contain
errors
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

ERROR PROPAGATION

Error of the mean

Example
 Calculate the standard deviation of the mean and the
90% error of the mean for the observations of the line
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

WEIGHTED OBSERVATIONS

 Some observations/measurements are more precise

than the others because of better equipment, improved
techniques, and superior field conditions
 In making adjustments, Weights are individually assigned
to measurements
 If observations has small variance (sigma squared)
therefore it is more precise and should have a bigger
weight. For this reason, weight is considered as inversely
proportional to the variance
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

WEIGHTED OBSERVATIONS

 If a quantity is observed repeatedly, and the individual

observations have a varying weights, the weighted mean
can be computed
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

WEIGHTED OBSERVATIONS

 Example
 CONCEPTS OF ERROR

CONCEPTS OF ERRORS

It must be emphasized again that

adjustment computations based
on the theory of probability are
valid only if systematic errors and
employing proper procedures,
equipment, and calculations
eliminates mistakes.