Islamic University of Gaza

Civil Engineering Department

Surveying II
ECIV 2332

By
Belal Almassri
Chapter 7
Coordinate geometry and traverse
surveying – Part 1
-Introduction to coordinate geometry.
-Definitions and notes.
-Inverse problem.
-Location by angle and distance.
-Location by distance and offset.
-Intersection by angles.
-Intersection by distances.
Introduction to coordinate
geometry:
 Coordinate means position or location.
 A. Global Coordinate system:
1. Geographic: (longitude, latitude,
elevations).
2. Cartesian: (x or y symbols the equator, y
or x will be normal to the equator, z will
be the polar axis).
3. Polar: (South, North).
 Cartesian Coordinate System

Polar Coordinate System Geographic Coordinate System

 B. Local Coordinate system:
This is based on three parameters:
1. E East (latitude).
2. N North (longitude).
3. RL Elevation with respect to the
mean sea level. Y (N)

(E,N,RL)

X(E)
Definitions and Notes
 Control points: the points that have
known coordinates.
 Known line: two known coordinates or
one known coordinates and known
azimuth angle. A B

 Azimuth angle: the angle between the

north direction and a line.
North Direction
B

α
A
 Departure: the change in E direction, Δy.
 Latitude: the change in N direction, Δx.

There are several methods which being

used to locate and calculate the
coordinate of a point:
 Inverse problem.
 Location by angle and distance.
 Location by distance and offset.
 Intersection by angles.
 Intersection by distances.
 Resection.
1. Inverse Problem
 X and y coordinates of two points i and j
are known then how to calculate the
distance between the two points and the
azimuth angle of the line.
x (North)

j (yj, xj)

αij

i (yi, xi)

y (East)
d ij  y j - y i   x j - x i 
2 2
... 7.1

α ij  tan 1
y j - yi 
c
x - xi 
... 7.2
j

Table 7.1 Values of C

Δx Δy quadrant Value of C

positive positive 1 0

negative positive 2 180

negative negative 3 180

positive negative 4 360

Example 7.1:
2. Location by angle and distance
 Two points i and j have known
coordinates.
 Third point k has unknown coordinates.
 The distance d ik and the angle β are
known.
 How to calculate the coordinates of the
new point k.
 αik  αij   ... 7.3
- α ij can be calculated from equation (7.2).
- If α ik is greater than 360 degrees then the
corrected value of α ik will equal ( α ik - 360)
Example 7.2:
3. Location by distance and offset
x

p n
o1 o2

k
αij m

y
Case 1: the point is to the left of the line ij
y p  yi  d im . sin α ij  o1 . cos α ij
x p  x i  d im . cos α ij  o1 . sin α ij

Case 2: the point is to the right of the line ij

y k  yi  d in . sin α ij  o 2 . cos α ij
x k  x i  d in . cos α ij  o 2 . sin α ij
 Types of questions:
• Known: coordinates of i and j
points, distances to the new
First point, the offsets and the
Type location.
• Calculate: the coordinates of
the new point.

• Known: coordinates of i and j

points and the coordinates of
Second the new point.
Type • Calculate: the offsets, the
distances and the location of the
new point.
 The first type of questions is direct
substitution.
 The solution of the second type of
questions procedure:
1. Calculate α ip and α ij .

2. Calculate , where   αip  αij .
3. If  was negative then the new point lies to the left of
line ij but if it was positive then the new point lies to the
right of the line ij.
4. Calculate d ip through the equation d ip  y p - yi 2  x p - x i 2
5. Calculate d im  d ip . cos  where offset  d ip . sin  .
6. Double check if the offset is negative (left) or positive
(right).
Example 7.3:
4. Intersection by angels
 How to calculate the coordinates of point
k in terms of two angles β and γ .
 Procedure in terms of  ik :
1. Calculate d ij and  ij
2. Calculate  ik   ij  
d ij sin 
3. Calculate d ik 
sin(180     )
4. Substitute in the following equations
xk  xi  d ik cos  ik
yk  yi  d ik sin  ik
 Procedure in terms of  jk :
1. Calculate d ij and  ij
2. Calculate  jk   ij  180  
d ij sin 
3. Calculate d jk 
sin(180     )
4. Substitute in the following equations
xk  x j  d jk cos  jk
yk  y j  d jk sin  jk
Example 7.4:
Example 7.4 (cont):
Underground . . .
5. Intersection by distances
 How to find the coordinates of a new
point by measuring distances from those
points to the unknown point.
 Measure the distance from point i to
point k and from point j to point k instead
of measuring angles.
Example 7.5 :