Stellenbosch University

S224 Civil Engineering

Geomatics
Lecture 4

Distance measurement

2020
Mark Straughan
Professional Land Surveyor
Friedlaender, Burger and Volkmann

+27 (0)21 8864004

+27 (0)82 8940686
mark@fbvsurvey.co.za
Projected Plane co-ordinate systems cont/d
 Distances on Earth

• Straight line or direct distance (horizontal, grid,

slope, vertical)

• Curved surface distance (ellipsoidal, sea

surface, geoidal, geographic)
Distances on Earth
 Distance measurement
Terminology

• SLOPE DISTANCE – straight line or direct distance between two

points in space

• HORIZONTAL DISTANCE – straight line or direct distance between

two points projected onto the same horizontal datum plane or
between two points with the same height

• VERTICAL DISTANCE – straight line or direct distance between two

co-linear points which lie on the normal to the horizontal datum
plane OR between two points with the same horizontal co-ordinates
 Measurement technology
• The simplest survey technique is the use of a
measuring band or tape
• Typically these are made of coated steel or
fibreglass
• Typically they are not relied on for better
accuracy than 1 to 2 cm over relatively short
distances. Most measuring bands are 3 to 30m
long.
 Measurement technology
• Sources of error with a tape or measuring
band are for example
– Scale error in graduation
– Gross error in graduation
– Damage – missing sections
– Expansion and contraction
– Over tensioning
– Under tensioning
– Catenary not accounted for
 Measurement technology
• Very precise, accurate measurement is
possible with measuring bands
• Sub millimetre measurement
• Typically made from invar
• Tensiometer used during measurement
• Catenary modelled
• Lengthy process involving temperature
stabilisation, temperature measurement
 Measurement technology: Electronic Distance
Measurement or EDM
• Developments in the late 1940s and 1950s by physicists Dr. Erik
Bergstrand of Sweden and Dr. Trevor Wadley of South Africa led to
the development of the Geodimeter and the Tellurometer
respectively.
• These instruments used visible light or microwave radiation
transmitted from a sourced and returned from a target to derive
the distance between source and target to a high degree of
accuracy.

• Initially the equipment was bulky, costly and complex to operate,

but it changed distance measurement in surveying forever.
EDMs, from then until now…
The first EDM, a Geodimeter NASM1

Dr. Wadley with a

prototype
Tellurometer

A modern, robotic, total station with a built-

in EDM
 How does EDM in conventional surveying work ?

• Modern EDM such as that in most total stations uses different wave
lengths of visible red and near-infrared (NIR) light as a measuring
signal

• Common principle for deriving distance between the instrument

and a reflective target is PHASE SHIFT measurement

• Outgoing signal has wavelength L

• Return signal unlikely to be exact integer multiple of L

• PHASE SHIFT between outgoing signal and return signal is measured

 How does EDM in conventional surveying work ? cont/d…

• Different wave lengths are modulated on a carrier wave to provide

different resolutions
• Final distance is SUM of phase shifts at different wave lengths

• An in-depth explanation is provided by R.E. Deakin in EDM: Notes on Electronic Distance Measurement, May 2016,
obtainable at:
http://www.mygeodesy.id.au/documents/Notes%20on%20Electronic%20Distance%20Measurement.pdf
• Note: This content is provided for additional reading and is not examinable.
 Electronic Distance Measurement
(EDM) Errors
• EM radiation is subject to REFRACTION
• Refraction dependant on DENSITY of medium
• Model refraction by measuring temperature,
pressure and water vapour content
• ZERO or constant error induced by
– Poor setup i.e instrument not centred
– Reflector constant
– Poor reflector setup i.e. not on target
– Incorrect instrument setting i.e. zero constant
 EDM in Laser Scanning
• Phase shift EDM is less accurate but much faster than time of
flight
• Time of flight EDM (TOF) can measure much longer distances
• There are very high speed TOF scanners emerging
 Measurement technology – satellite
based measurement
• SLA sample every 700m and has height resolution
of 0.75m

• Similar technology used to map the topography

of Mars from the Mars Global Surveyor satellite
using laser time of flight altimeter

• Using RADAR as the EM source sea surface levels

are now estimated every 10 days to within 3 to
4mm
 Measurement technology – sea
surface topography
• JASON 2 (joint US / French / European project) launched in 2008
• Measurement accuracy 3.3 cm
• SARAL (joint Indian / European project) launched in 2013
• Measurement accuracy up to 8 mm (but sensitive to
atmospheric water such as rain drizzle)
• JASON 3 (joint US / French / European project) launched in 2016
• Measurement accuracy 3.3 cm but expected to improve to
2.5cm
• Use radar time of flight altimetry
• Satellites positioned by GPS
• Statistical analysis of data allows determination of ocean surface
topography to be estimated every 10 days to within 3 to 4mm
Thank you