Trigonometric Heighting. Distance Measurements, Corrections and Reductions

Surveying II.
ECE 2211
Lecture 7b.
Trigonometric heighting.
Distance measurements, corrections and
reductions
How could the height of skyscrapers be measured?
? ?
The principle of trigonometric heighting
m = h + Δm − l = h − l + d cot z
Trigonometric levelling
Advantage:
• the instrument height is not
necessary;
• non intervisible points can be
measured, too.
m = (d B cot z B − l B ) − (d A cot z A − l A ) =
= (t B cos z B − l B ) − (t A cos z A − l A )
Trigonometric heighting
Advantages compared to optical levelling:
• A large elevation difference can be measured over short

distances;
• The elevation difference of distant points can be measured
(mountain peaks);
• The elevation of inaccessible points can be measured (towers,
chimneys, etc.)
Disadvantages compared to optical levelling:
• The accuracy of the measured elevation difference is usually

lower.
• The distance between the points must be known (or measured) in
order to compute the elevation difference
The determination of the heights of buildings
The horizontal distance is observable, therefore:

Δm = d AP cot z A
m = lO + d AP cot z A
Determination of the height of buildings
The distance is not observable.

Using the sine-theorem:
d AP a sin β
= ⇒ d AP = a
sin β sin (180 − α − β ) sin (α + β )
d BP a sin α
= ⇒ d BP = a
sin α sin(180 − α − β ) sin(α + β )
m = lO + d AP cot z A
A
Using the observations in pont B:
m = l + d BP cot zB
B B
O
m=
(m A
+m B
)
2
The effect of Earth’s curvature
The central angle:
d AB
γ=
R
The tangent-chord angle is equal to γ/2.

The effect of Earth’s curvature:
γ 2
d AB d AB
Δ sz = d AB ⋅ tan ≈ d AB ⋅ =
2 2R 2R
Trigonometric Heighting
The effect of refraction
Trigonometric Heighting
d AB
δ=
2ρ
Δm = d ⋅ cot( z′AB + δ )
Δm ≈ d ⋅ cot z′AB − d ⋅ δ
2
d
Δm ≈ d ⋅ cot z′AB −
2ρ
Let’s introduce the refractive coefficient:

R
k= = +0,13
ρ
Thus Δm can be computed:
2
d
Δm ≈ d ⋅ cot z′AB − = d ⋅ cot z′AB − Δ r
2ρ
where:
d2 d2
Δr = =k
2ρ 2R
The combined effect of curvature and refraction
Note that the effects have

opposite signs!
The combined effect of curvature and refraction
2 =Δr
d
Δm = d ⋅ cot z′AB − k
2R
d2
Δ sz =
2R
The elevation difference between A and B (the combined effect of
curvature and refraction is taken into consideration):
d2
m = h − l + d ⋅ cot z′AB + (1 − k )
2R
The fundamental equation of trigonometric heighting
The combined effect reaches the level of 1 cm in the distance of
d ≈ 0,4 km = 400 m.
Determination of distances
Distance: is the length of the shortest path between the points
projected to the reference level
The distance at the reference level

can not be observed, therefore the
slope distance must be measured in
any of the following ways:
• It can be the shortest distance

between the points (t)
The distance at the reference level

can not be observed, therefore the
slope distance must be measured in
any of the following ways:
• It can be the shortest distance

between the points (t)
• The distance measured
along the intersection of the
vertical plane fitted to A and
B, and the surface of the
topography.
Reduction of slope distance to the horizontal plane
The slope distance is measured along the terrain
Suppose that the angle (αi)

between the li distance and the
horizon is known, thus
l v ,i = l i cos α i
or:
Δmi
l v ,i = l i + Δ v ,i
δ≈ where:
2l i
Δmi2
Δ v ,i = −
2l i
and:
t v = ∑ l v ,i
Reduction of slope distance to the horizontal plane
The slope distance is measured between the points directly.
tv = t f sin z
When the elevation difference is
known:
tv = t f + Δ v
where:
Δm 2
Δv = −
2t f
Determination of distance on the reference surface
Reduction of horizontal distance to the reference level (MSL)
Thus the distance on the
reference surface:
tg R
=
tv RH+ H
t g = tv − tv = tv + Δ v
⇓R
tg R+H −H H
=
The reduction is: = 1 −
tv R+H R+H
H
Δv ⇓
= − tv
R
tg H
≈ 1−
tv R
Distances can be measured directly, when a tool with a given

length is compared with the distance (tape, rod, etc.)
Distances can be measured indirectly, when geometrical of

physical quantities are measured, which are the function of the
distance (optical or electronical methods).
Standardization of the tape
How long is a tape in reality?
The length of the tape depends on
• the tension of the tape, therefore tapes must be pulled with the standard
force of 100 N during the observation and the standardization;
. ,,
• the temperature of the tape, therefore the temperature must be measured

during observations (tm) and during the standardization (tk), too.
Standardization of the tape
The real length of the tape

l = a + Δl
The difference between the true length (l) and the baseline length (a)
from a single observation:
d =d +d l r
The difference of the true length and baseline length from N number
of repeated observations:
∑d
Δl = i
n
Corrections of the length observations
Standardization correction (takes into account the difference

between the nominal and the true length):
δ k = l − (l )
where l is the standardized length and (l) is the nominal length
Temperature correction (takes into consideration the thermal
expansion of the tape):
δ t = α (tm − tk )(l )
α = 1,1⋅10−5 / °C
(steel)
Thus the corrected length:
l = (l ) + δ k + δ t

Trigonometric Heighting. Distance Measurements, Corrections and Reductions

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Trigonometric Heighting. Distance Measurements, Corrections and Reductions

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Surveying II.

Advantages compared to optical levelling:

• A large elevation difference can be measured over short

Disadvantages compared to optical levelling:

• The accuracy of the measured elevation difference is usually

The horizontal distance is observable, therefore:

The distance is not observable.

Using the sine-theorem:

Using the observations in pont B:

The central angle:

The tangent-chord angle is equal to γ/2.

The effect of Earth’s curvature:

Let’s introduce the refractive coefficient:

Note that the effects have

The distance at the reference level

• It can be the shortest distance

The distance at the reference level

• It can be the shortest distance

Suppose that the angle (αi)

Distances can be measured directly, when a tool with a given

Distances can be measured indirectly, when geometrical of

The length of the tape depends on

• the temperature of the tape, therefore the temperature must be measured

The real length of the tape

Standardization correction (takes into account the difference

You might also like