Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

GEOE1018 ASSESSMENT 1

Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Assignment 1

Tyler Dunlop- 110284369

Andrew Condo- 110348570
Hugh Parker- 110362097
Abdulbosid Kodirjonov- 110347413
Wingki Hung-110343974

19/3/22

Course Coordinator:
Paul Corcoran

1|Page
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
Work processes description..............................................................................................................4
Levelling Project Procedure...........................................................................................................6
Field and Office computational work and analysis of results........................................................7
Plan drafting requirements................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................11
References........................................................................................................................................12
Appendix A.......................................................................................................................................13
Appendix B.......................................................................................................................................14
list of figures/ tables

2|Page
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Introduction
A two-peg test around a certain area and path, level transfer of the grounds, and a
grid level survey are among the procedures used in this project to calculate a field
analysis. The height differences of what was surveyed will be displayedproduce in a
final contour plan created from the levels of each point set out. This area surveyed is
towards and along the N building on the University campus and patch of grass in
front of the building with a grid of 16 pegs set up uniformly.

3|Page
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Work processes description

There are several equipment that were used for this project to take measurements
and record the results. These include a level, a tripod, and a levelling staff.

The level consists of telescope fitted with a spirit level and mounted on a tripod (see
Figure 1 & 2) (Britannica ,n.d.). The main function is to find the elevations or heights
of different points in the same horizontal plane. In other words, to determine whether
the surfaces of the specific points are horizontal (level) or vertical (plumb).
(thisoldhouse, n.d.)

The tripod consists of three legs of the same lengths which are adjustable to any
surfaces in order to achieve a level position for further measurements. It provides the
stability and the support for the level along the side-to-side and up-and-down axis of
motion. (Johnson Level, n.d.)

To ensure the complete set up of the level and tripod, there is a bubble under a small
circular piece of glass which is located on the right side of the eye piece and the
setup is level when the bubble is inside of the black circle.

The leveling staff is a roughly 4 meteres long ruler which has measurements written
on it and used to determine the differences of heights between two points. (civilseek,
n.d.) One person will be holding the leveling staff at the desired point and another
person will take the reading from the telescope on the level. The reading then would
be written down on the traverse booking sheet.

Two different types of measurements, backsight and foresight, would be taken.

Foresight Backsight is the measurement taken back towards a point of known
elevation and backsight foresight is the first second staff reading taken after the
equipment is set upbacksight. (easierwithpractice, Heath 2021)

Figure 1- Tripod Figure 1- Level instrument Figure 3- bubble glass

4|Page
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Figure 4- levelling the instrument

Figure 5- Parallax test

Figure 6: Levelling staff

Levelling Project Procedure

1. Tripod to be placed at the approximate initial location once levelling instrument is
set. The staff is placed on fixed location above the surface and levelled using staff
bubble for accurate measurements. Backsight is read using this position.

2. Member holding staff paces towards the level setup and equally in the opposite
direction. Staff bubble and triangle platform used for accurate measurement.
Foresight is measured to this position.

5|Page
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

3. Tripod to be moved from First position to the midpoint position. From there, the
back-sight reading is taken using the same methods mentioned above.

4. Member holding staff paces towards tripod and takes equal number of steps
towards M Building. Foresight is measured from this location.

5. Tripod to be moved to its third and final position near the entrance of M building to
capture the backsight reading.

6. Staff to be placed at a specific location regardless of pacing to calculate the final

foresight reading for the surveying of the area.

6|Page
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Field and Office computational work and analysis of results

Figure 7- Levelling sheet for collected data

7|Page
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Three surveys have been done around the Mawson Lakes campus creating a survey
of the land change. The rise and fall method have been used measure the disclosure
which is the difference in height between points either the back or fore sight. The
misclosure should be as close to 0mm as possible with an allowable misclosure
calculated which cannot be exceeded. The observed misclosure is starting on the
known RL bench mark and looping back to the same point.

Allowable misclosure E=∓12 √ K mmE=∓ 12 √ 0.35 mm E=∓ 7 mmE=∓ 0.007 m

When using the two-peg test for the first and last survey a misclosure of 3mm was
determined this is allowable as it is below 7mm but an error still occurs. This could
be due to a human error of misreading the numbers on the staff or not leveling the
equipment to be exact on a flat ground. When there is an error within the misclosure
there is a levelling error such as the tripod legs could be loose, staff not held up
straight and at the correct length and the cross hair is not exactly horizontal. This
needs to be kept as small as possible to ensure the foresight and backsights are
equal lengths and heights this can be done by double checking the equipment twice
before taking a reading making sure it is all level and can see the staff clearly. If the
discrepancy kept occurring the entire process should be repeated as a double check.

Whereas the grid level survey the misclosure equaled out to be zero with the staff
readings taken at each intermediate sight.

SBS−SFS=SRises−SFalls=Last RL−First RL=E2.19−2.19=2.141−2.141=4−4=0

The backsight was read to be 2.19m and finished off reading the foresight as 2.19m
as well. The rise and fall method were used for this survey too for each point,
estimating the differences of each point and equaled out to be zero again, this
means for no errors in the surveying of this area and no further tests are needed.

Plan drafting requirements

Grid level planning is a method of determining contours on a small scale on a
relatively flat area. This data was collected on a grass area outside N building which
had 16 pegs plotted in a square. Each height of the pegs were taken and plotted on

8|Page
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

a contour map as well as the origin point of spark22Spike22. When collecting the
data which is displayed in the levelling sheet follows this layout which was chosen by
the group.

A
4 3 2 1

Figure 8- grid layout for the pegs

The grid level plan is to be manually plotted on blank, white paper with letters and
figures in black ink. The plan is to be drafted at an appropriate scale to fit an A4 size
sheet All plotted levels are to be shown rounded to the nearest 0.01 m, and contour
interval is to be 0.20 m.

Contour Map with Explanation

9|Page
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

A contour map has continuous lines presenting heights of levels at intervals, this
shows the height and shape of the area surveyed. To work out where the contour
lines go, calculations are done to determine an idea for where the height levels are
between each point on the grid. All that is needed to calculate this is the data and the
distance between each data point. In this case all the data has already been
collected and the measurement between each point on the grid is 4m. The equation
x−h
can be simplified to D= ⋅ d , where x and y are the points, h is the height interval
x− y
and d is the distance between points (see appendix for more in-depth calculations
and results for all points).

Figure 9 is the contour map for the grid we surveyed, the closeness of the lines tells

us how steep different sections are. It shows that the southeast corner is lower than
the northwest corner, it also has a steeper slope in the southern end.

10 | P a g e
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Conclusion
In conclusion, Surveying and sSpatial sciences is are a fundamental practice that
demonstrates the measurement of the earth's physical fabric. This measurement is
utilised to aid our society as well as develop a further understanding of the world
around us. In order to complete the two-peg test measurements and a grid level
survey, you must make use of a variety of instruments/tools were used which we
brought to service during our practical, that being a tripod, level, a leveling staff
booking sheet, calculator, and pen. These tools allowed for an accurate
measurement of the change in elevation through a set circuit, through analysis of the
data obtained it was made evident the accuracy of the tools and our expertise in
surveying were fine-tuned but not perfect with a recorded misclosure of 0.001m,
which successfully aligned with the allowed misclosure range of ∓0.007 m .

11 | P a g e
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

References
2014. Surveying 1 - Introduction to leveling. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=j8poe2vvD2Q&ab_channel=OTENBuildingCourses>

Encyclopedia Britannica. n.d. surveyor’s level | instrument. [online] Available at:

<https://www.britannica.com/technology/surveyors-level>

Heath, A., 2021. What is backsight and foresight? – Easierwithpractice.com. [online]

Easierwithpractice.com. Available at: <https://easierwithpractice.com/what-is-backsight-and-
foresight/>

Johnsonlevel.com. n.d. What is a Tripod? How do Tripods for Laser Levels Work? | How To Use Laser
Level with Tripod | Laser Levels | Johnson Level & Tool Mfg Company. [online] Available at:
<https://www.johnsonlevel.com/News/WhatisaTripodHowdoTripods>

Kumar, P., yELWA, S., chikuwa, g. and reuben, A., n.d. Levelling Staff | Procedure of Taking Staff
Reading.. [online] CivilSeek. Available at: <https://civilseek.com/levelling-staff/>

n.d. [image] Available at: <https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F

%2Fwww.cromwell.co.uk%2Fshop%2Fmeasuring-and-test-equipment%2Flevels%2Flevel-
developments-circular-spirit-levels%2Ff
%2F3954&psig=AOvVaw3GiclrCNGxdDOIRX1p3XAu&ust=1649762557742000&source=images&c
d=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwjK1YHL8ov3AhVuR2wGHUL2CoEQjhx6BAgAEAo>

One Point Survey Equipment. n.d. A Buyers Guide to Levels. [online] Available at:
<https://www.onepointsurvey.com/blogs/guides/a-buyers-guide-to-levels>

Surveygear.com.au. n.d. Leica CTP104 Aluminium Flat Top Tripod – Survey Gear. [online] Available
at: <https://www.surveygear.com.au/product/leica-ctp104-aluminium-flat-top-tripod/>

Surveyingequipment.com. n.d. Surveying Equipment: 5m Levelling staff. [online] Available at:

<http://www.surveyingequipment.com/product/5m-levelling-staff/>

This Old House. n.d. How to Choose and Use a Level. [online] Available at:
<https://www.thisoldhouse.com/tools/21015437/how-to-choose-and-use-a-level>

12 | P a g e
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Appendix A

13 | P a g e
Assignment 1 Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Appendix B

14 | P a g e