SURVEYING closed surveys in urban and rural locations to

determine and define property lines and

WHY IS SURVEYING RELEVANT TO YOUR
COURSE?
 The art and science of determining angular and
linear measurements to establish the form, extent,
and relative position of points, lines, and areas on or
near the surface of the earth or on other
extraterrestrial bodies through applied mathematics
and the use of specialized equipment and techniques.
CLASSIFICATION OF SURVEYING
boundaries, corners, and areas. 
2. CITY SURVEYS
surveys in the city for planning expansions,
locating property lines, fixing reference
monuments, determining physical features of
land, and preparing maps.
3. CONSTRUCTION SURVEYS
surveys done at a construction site to provide
data regarding grades, reference lines,
dimensions, ground configuration, and location
and elevation of structures. 

1. PLANE SURVEYING  4. FORESTRY SURVEYS

a type of surveying where the earth is considered survey in connection with forest management
as a flat surface, and where distances and areas and mensuration, and the production and
involved are of limited extent  conservation of forest lands. 

2. GEODETIC SURVEYING  5. HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYS

surveys of wide extent which take into account surveys made to map shore lines, chart the shape
the spheroidal shape of the earth of areas underlying water surfaces, and measure
the flow of streams. 
PLANE GEODETIC 6. INDUSTRIAL SURVEYS
-known as optical tooling 
The effect of curvature The effect of curvature
of earth is not of earth is considered. -surveys for ship building, construction and
considered. assembly of aircraft, layout and installation of
heavy and complex machinery, and for
The surface of the It involves spherical industries requiring very accurate dimensional
earth is taken as plane trigonometry. So, it is layouts. 
called trigonometrical
7. MINE SURVEYS
survey.
surveys to determine the position of all
The area to be The area to be underground excavations and surface mine
surveyed less than 250 surveyed more than structures, to fix surface boundaries of mining
sq.m. 250 sq.m claims, determine geological formations,
calculate excavated volumes, and establish lines
The degree of accuracy The degree of accuracy and grades for other related mining work. 
is low. is high

8. PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SURVEYS
survey which uses photographs taken with
specially designed cameras either from airplanes
or ground stations. 
TYPES OF SURVEYING 9. ROUTE SURVEYS
1. CADASTRAL SURVEYS
 determination of alignment, grades, earthwork 4.
quantities, location of natural and artificial SEMICIRCUMFERENTOR
objects in connection with the planning, design,
and construction of highways, railroads,  used to measure and lay off
pipelines, canals, transmission lines, and other angles and establish lines
linear projects.  of sight by employing peep
sights  
10. TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEYS
surveys to determine the shape of the ground,
the location and elevation of natural and 5. PLANE TABLE
artificial features upon it.   used in field mapping 
DEVELOPMENT OF SURVEYING  consists of a board
INSTRUMENTS attached to a tripod and
can be leveled or rotated
The extensive use of surveying instruments came during to any direction
the early days of the Roman Empire.

SURVEYING 6. DIOPTRA
INSTRUMENTS  invented by Heron of
1. ASTROLABE Alexandria
 used in leveling and
 invented by Hipparchus in measuring horizontal and
140 BC and further vertical angles 
improved by Ptolemy 
 used to determine the altitude of stars  7. ROMAN GROMA

2. TELESCOPE  for aligning or sighting points 

 consists of cross arms with suspended
 invented by Lippershey plumb lines fixed at right angles and
(1607)  pivoted upon a vertical staff.
 Galileo constructed a
refracting telescope for
astronomical 8. LIBELLA
observations in 1609. 
 Only used in surveying  used by Assyrians and Egyptians 
after the cross hairs for  had an A-frame with a plumb line
fixing the line of sight were suspended from its apex 
introduced   used to determine the horizontal

3. TRANSIT

 invented by Young and 9. VERNIER

Draper (1830) 
 the universal surveying  invented by Pierre Vernier 
instruments   a short auxiliary scale placed
alongside the graduated scale
of an instrument to determine
the fractional parts of the
main scale without
interpolating. 
10. DIOPTER
 developed by Greeks in 130 BC  THE METER
 used for leveling, laying off right angles, and
measuring horizontal and vertical angles.  proposed in 1789 by French scientists to establish a
system suitable for all times and all peoples, and
11. COMPASS which could be based upon permanent natural
standard
 for determining direction of lines and calculating
 originally defined as 1/10,000,000 of the earth’s
angles between lines 
meridional quadrant
 consists of a magnetized steel needle which points at
 Effective January 1, 1983, the English System was
the magnetic north
officially phased out in the Philippines and only the
12. GUNTER’S CHAIN modern metric system was allowed to be used.  The
metric conversion was signed into law in 1978 by
 invented by Sir Edmund Pres. Marcos. The metric system prescribed the use
Gunter (1620) - used for of the International System of Units (SI) as
taping distances established by the General Conference on Weights
 66 ft long and contains 100 and Measures and as modified by the local Metric
links System Board to suit Philippine Conditions. 
13. CHOROBATES
UNITS OF MEASUREMENTS
 for leveling work 
1. Linear, Area, and Volume Measurements
 consists of a horizontal straight-edge about 6 m long,
a groove 2.5 cm deep and 1.5 m long on top.  2. Angular Measurements 
 water is poured into the groove for leveling
14. MERCHET

 for measuring time and meridian 

 used by Chaldeans in 4000 BC 
 consists of a slotted palm leaf through which to sight
and a bracket from which a plumb bob was
suspended 

MEASUREMENT
process of determining the extent, size, or dimension of a
particular quantity in comparison to a given standard  ANGULAR MEASUREMENTS
TYPES OF MEASUREMENTS Radian – SI unit for plane angles (the angle  subtended
1. DIRECT by an arc of a circle having a length  equal to the radius
MEASUREMENTS of a circle)
comparison of the a. Sexagesimal Units 
measured quantity
with a standard the degree, minute, second 
measuring unit
b. Centesimal Units 
(makes use of instruments to measure the quantity) 
uses grads (360° = 400 grads) 
2. INDIRECT MEASUREMENTS
the grad is divided into 100 centesimal minutes
made when it is not possible to apply a measuring and the minute is divided into 100 centesimal seconds 
instrument directly to a quantity 
SURVEYING FIELD NOTES
- constitute the only reliable and permanent record of
actual work done in the field

THE FIELD SURVEY PARTY

FIELD NOTEBOOK
1. Chief of Party 
- used to record the field notes
responsible for the overall direction,
supervision, and operational control of the
TYPES OF NOTES survey party. 

1. Sketches  2. Assistant Chief of Party 

2. Tabulations  assists the chief of party in the accomplishment

of the task assigned to the survey party.
3. Explanatory Notes 
4. Computations 
5. Combination of the above
3. Instrument Man 
INFORMATION FOUND IN FIELD
sets up, levels, and operates the surveying
NOTEBOOKS instruments. 
1. Title of the Field Work or Name of Project 4. Technician 
2. Time of Day and Date  responsible for the use and operation of all
3. Weather Conditions  electronic instruments required in the field.

4. Names of Group Members and Their Designations  5. Computer 

5. List of Equipment  performs all computations of survey data and

works out necessary computational checks
required in the field. 
6. Recorder 
keeps the record of all sketches, drawings,
measurements, and observations taken in the
field. 
7. Head Tapeman 
responsible for the accuracy and speed of all
linear measurements with tape.
 carries the zero end of the tape ahead  SYSTEMATIC ERRORS
8. Rear Tapeman  one which will always have the same sign and
magnitude as long as field conditions remain
assists the head tapeman during taping
constant and unchanged.
operations and in other related work.
holds the 30-m end or any intermediate meter  ACCIDENTAL ERRORS
mark of the tape during measurement 
the occurrence of such errors are matters of chance
9. Flagman  as they are likely to be positive or negative, and may
holds the flagpole or range pole at selected tend in part to compensate or average out according
points as directed by the instrument man. to laws of probability. 

10. Rodman  SOURCES OF ERRORS

holds the stadia or leveling rod when sights are
to be taken on it.  1. INSTRUMENTAL ERRORS 
11. Pacer  due to imperfections of the instrument used,
either from faults in their construction or from
checks all linear measurements made by the
improper adjustments between the different parts
tapeman. May also perform the job of the
prior to their use. 
rodman.
12. Axeman/Lineman 
clears the line of sight of trees, brush, and other 2. NATURAL ERRORS 
obstructions in wooded country. 
caused by variations in the phenomena of nature
such as changes in magnetic declination,
13. Aidman  temperature, humidity, wind, refraction, gravity,
and curvature of the earth. 
renders first aid treatment to members of the
survey party who are involved in snake or insect 3. PERSONAL ERRORS 
bites, accidents and other health issues.  May
also be designated as assistant instrument man.  arise from the limitations of the senses of sight,
touch and hearing of the human observer which
14. Utilitymen  are likely to be erroneous or inaccurate. 
renders other forms of assistance needed by the
survey party or as directed by the chief of party.  ACCURACY
ERROR how close a given measurement is to the absolute or true
value of the quantity measured.
 difference between the true value and the measured
value of a quantity
PRECISION
MISTAKES
degree of refinement and consistency with which any
 inaccuracies in measurements which occur because physical measurement is made
some aspect of a surveying operation is performed
by the surveyor with carelessness, inattention, poor PROBABILITY
judgment, and improper execution. 
 large mistake → blunder   number of times something will probably occur over
 not classified as errors (so large in magnitude) the range of possible occurrences. 

TYPES OF ERRORS
 in dealing with probability, it is assumed that we
only refer to accidental errors and that all systematic
errors and mistakes are eliminated. 

THEORY OF PROBABILITY
1. small errors occur more often than large ones and that
they are more probable 

2. large errors happen infrequently and are less probable

3. positive and negative errors of the same size happen

with equal frequency, and they are equally probable 

4. the mean of an infinite number of observations is the

most probable value

MOST PROBABLE VALUE

Refers to a quantity which, based on available data,  has
more chance of being correct than has any  other