Lecture 3

Distance measurement

Lecturer : K.M.Shinwaray
Email: Eng.khanm.sh@gmail.com

04/23/2021 Shinwaray 1
Lesson objective

• Distance measurement
• Types of Distance measurement
• Calculation of distance

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04/23/2021 Shinwaray Survey Engineering
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Distance Measurement
Distance Measurement
Direct Indirect
(length measurement)
e.g. measuring tape (distance measurement)

Geometrical Electronic
(Optical) (Wave Physics)

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 Two principles of measuring distance

1) It takes two points to form a line.

2) The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

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 Measuring Horizontal Distance

1. Chain
2. Stadia
3. EDM

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Distance Measuring Methods--Chaining

• Traditional method of measuring distance.

• Usually 100 foot lengths.
• Two common types.
• Add (extended foot)
• Cut (first foot)
• Available in steel and cloth.
• Advantages
• Disadvantages
– High precision
– Multiple people
– 0.001 foot accuracy
– Must have a clear, travelable route.
– Can be used to measure horizontal
distances. – High precision requires temperature
and tension correction.

Error 0.1% of distance.

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 Horizontal Distance-cont.
Chaining

• To measure horizontal distance with a chain, a level and plumb bob must be used.
• The chain is held level, horizontal, and the measurement at the elevated end is
transferred using a plumb bob.
• This method is limited to slopes of 5% or less.

• When horizontal distances

are measured by chaining
on slopes > 5%, the
technique called “breaking
chain” must be used.

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Horizontal Distance-cont.
Breaking Chain

• “Breaking Chain” is used when ever the slope is > 5% because when a
100 foot chain is used on a 5% slope, the elevated end will be 5 feet
above the ground.
• “Breaking the Chain” into shorter segments reduces the height of the
elevated end of the chain.
• Using a standard distance reduces the change of errors.
• A standard distance was not used in the illustration.

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Taping a Line
A

B

• keep tape horizontal

• use hand level and keep below mid-chest height
 “break” tape as needed going up and down slopes

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Distance Measuring Methods--Stadia

Distance by stadia
requires an instrument
with stadia cross hairs.

The distance between the stadia

crosshairs is designed so that the
divergence of the sights across the
two stadia crosshairs is 1.0 feet
when the instrument is 100 feet
from the rod.
(Assuming an instrument stadia
factor of 100.)

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 Distance Measuring Methods--Stadia~cont.
• The distance between the TSR and
BSR is called the stadia interval.
• This results in the equation:

• Disadvantages of stadia
Hor. Dist. = SI x SF – Must have instrument with
SI = Stadia interval stadia crosshairs.
SF = Stadia factor
– May require multiple
• Advantages of stadia instrument setups.
– Works
 by line of sight. Not
necessary to walk distance. The accuracy is 1.0 ft when
– Distances can be measured with the direct reading and 0.1 ft when
same setup used to record using the target.
elevations.
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Distance Measuring Methods--Stadia~Cont.

Because SI = TSR - BSR, the more common equation is:

Hor. Dist. = TSR - BSR x SF

 For modern instruments the

stadia factor (SF) is 100.

 What is the stadia distance for
the illustration?

Dist =  TSR - BSR  x SF

=  6.01 - 4.47  x 100
= 1.54 x 100
= 154 ft

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Distance Measuring Methods--Stadia~cont.

Determine the distance for the stadia reading in the illustration using the
target and Vernier scale?

Dist = TSR - BSR x SF

= 7.844 - 4.619 x 100
= 3.225 x 100
= 322.5 ft



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Horizontal Distance--1/2 Stadia
When the top or bottom stadia hair rod reading is obscured, a process called 1/2
stadia can be used.

When I/2 stadia is used the

elevation crosshair, and which
ever stadia crosshair that can
be read, is used.
Because this stadia interval is
1/2 of the standard interval, it is
multiplied by two.
Horizontal Distance = TSR - Elev x 2 x 100
= 7.34 - 6.21 x 2 x 100
Example: Determine the horizontal distance = 226 ft
when the TSR = 7.34 and the elevation =
6.21.
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Electronic Distance Measuring (EDM)
• The signal from an EDM travels in a straight line.
• When the instrument is level the distances is horizontal.
• If the instrument is not level, the distance is slope
measurement.

Note: some instruments, such as total stations, measure slope

distance and vertical angle and will output horizontal distance, vertical
distance or slope distance.

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Distance Measuring Methods--EDM

• EDM = Electronic Distance Measuring

• The term EDM is used to describe a category
How the process works can be shown of instruments that measure distance using
an electronic signal.
using the velocity equation.
• The instrument broadcasts a focused signal
Distance that is returned by a prism or reflection from
Velocity =
Time the object.

Rearranging the equation for distance results in:

 Distance = Velocity x Time

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Distance Measuring Methods--GPS~cont.

• Because UTM distances are based on a x-y coordinate

system distances between points can be determined by
simple math.
• Example: Determine the distance between Stillwater and
Oklahoma City when the UTM coordinates for Stillwater
are 675087E & 3998345N and the UTM coordinates for
Oklahoma City are 639982E & 3925518N

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Distance Measuring Methods--GPS~Example
• Subtracting the coordinates
gives the two sides of a right
triangle.
• The hypotenuse of the
triangle is the distance
between the two towns (44.6
mi).

HD = 399962  722552
= 82586211 m
= 44.6 mi

Note: this is the plane distance between these points not the surface distance.
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Calculating Horizontal Distance

• To calculate horizontal distance you must know the slope distance and one
additional bit of information for each measurement.
• You must know either one of the following.
• % slope
• Change in elevation
• Vertical angle.

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 Slope vs. Horizontal Distance

• Distances can be measured

in two ways:
1. Horizontal distance
2. Slope (surface) distance

• The horizontal distance between two points is the distance between

those points measured on a horizontal plane.
• The slope distance between two points is a distanced measured
along the surface of the earth.

When should horizontal distance be used?

When should slope distance be used?

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Some trigonometry
• Definition of terminology
 Sin
 Cosine
 Tangent

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Formulas

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 Calculating Horizontal Distance --Percent
slope

Rise
% Slope = x 100 a2 = b2 + c2
Run
% Slope x Run
Rise = b = a2  c2
100
=
2 x 255.30 ft = 255.302  5.112
100
= 5.11 ft
= 255.25 ft

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 Calculating Horizontal Distance--
Difference in Elevation

a2 = b2 + c2
b = a2  c2
= 234.52  6.52
= 234.41 ft Survey Engineering
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Calculating Horizontal Distance--Vertical Angle

adj
Cosin  =
hyp
adj = Cosin  x hyp
= Cosin 19.2 x 510.17 ft
= 0.9444 x 510.17
BCE Department = 481.79 ft Survey Engineering