Leveling

Chapter 5
Leveling
Leveling is an operation in surveying performed to
determine the difference in levels of two points.
By this operation the height of a point from a datum,
known as elevation, is determined.
The most commonly used datum is mean sea level
(MSL)
Definitions
 Datum:- A datum is any reference surface to which the
elevation (vertical distance) of a points are referred. The most
commonly used datum is that of mean sea level.
 Elevation: - Elevation is the vertical distance of a points above
or below on assumed datum (level surface).
 Leveling:- The process or methods of determining the vertical
distance of a points relative to on assumed level surface.
 Level line:- is the surface of which it has a constant height
relative to mean sea level.
 Horizontal line:- this is a line which is tangential to the level
line or a line which is normal to direction of gravitas
 Bench Mark (BM):- are permanent reference points or
marks at which their elevation (reduced level) has been
accurately determined by leveling from other permanent
BM.
 Reduced level (RL):- is the height above or below a
reference datum- similar to elevation.
 Temporary bench mark (TBM):- are marks let up on stable
points near construction sites which all leveling operation
on that particular site will be referred.
 Back sight (BS):- is the staff reading taken on points of
known elevation as a BM or a turning points.
 Fore Sights (FS):- is the staff reading on points whose
elevation is to be determined as a turning points. It is the
last staff reading denoting the shifting of the instruments.
Intermediate sights (IS):- any other staff reading taken
on a points at unknown elevation from the same set up
of the level. All sights b/n BS & FS are IS.
Turning points (TP):- is a point denoting the shifting at
the level. It is the point on which the back a fore sight
are taken.
Station:- is a points of which whose elevation is to be
determined.
Height of instruments:- is the elevation of plane of
collimation (plane of sight) where the instruments is
correctly leveled.
Equipments used in leveling
Basically three equipments are needed.
Level – to give the true horizontal line
Staff – to read vertical height
Tape – to measure height of instruments
Principle of leveling

 RL = (103,000 – 1,000) RLA + BS = HPC

= 102,000m
Booking methods
There are two methods of booking in the field for
leveling.
Rise & fall method
Height of collimation method.
 Rise and fall methods
Staff
BS IS FS Rise Fall RL Remark
Position
C 1.5 T. B. M.

D 2.5

E 2 0.5 C. P.
F 2.5
G 3.0

 BS   FS   Rise   Fall  Last RL  First RL

 Height of instrument method
Staff
BS IS FS HPC RL Remark
Position
C 1.5 T. B. M.

D 2.5

E 2 0.5 C. P.
F 2.5
G 3.0

(BS) - (FS) = Last RL – First RL

Misclosure, Limits and its distribution
Misclosure in leveling can only be assessed by
Connecting the leveling back to the BM from which it
started
Connecting in to another BM of known and ground
elevation.
A Common Criteria used to assess the misclosure (E) is
Where n = No ob instrument setup
M = Constant is mm ( 5)
if E is with in the misclosure has to be contributed
equally to all set up
Error in leveling
The errors in leveling might occur due to
Instrumental error : Collimation (when the line of sight
is not truly horizontal), Defect of staff, Tripod defects
Field error: staff not vertical, Handling the instruments
and tripod
Effect of Earth curvature and refraction of light
 Instrumental error
Collimation error: The error occurs if the line of the
sight is not truly horizontal when the tubular bubble is
centered i.e the line of sight is inclined up or down
from the horizontal. a1

e Horizontal line

Collimation error

a1 b1
d1.e e e d2.e

d1 d2
A B
 Effect of Curvature & Refractions
D

Refracted ray

A’ B’’ Horizontal line

X’
y
X
A B’ Error due to
B curvature = CC

Direction Level line

Cc = 0.0785 D2
of gravity
O R

Cc&r = 0.0673 D2
Reciprocal leveling
It eliminates the following.
Error in instrument adjustment
Combined effect of earth’s curvature and refraction of
atmosphere
 Horizontal line
a1

Line of sight e
A b1
Level line
B

River

hAB = a1 – (b1 – e) …..………. 2

Horizontal line
b2

e
a2
Level line Line of sight
A

hAB = (a2 – e) – b2 …………………. 2

Inverted staff reading
B

RA RB HPC

A ( TBM)

RLA = TBM
HPC = RLA + RA
RLB = HPC – (-RB)
= HPC + RB
Trigonometric leveling
Trigonometric leveling is a process of determining the
differences of elevations of stations from observed
vertical angles and known distances.  
To get the difference in elevation, we shall consider the
following cases:
Case 1: Base of the object accessible
Case 2: Base of the object inaccessible: instrument
stations in the same vertical plane as the elevated object
Case 3: Base of the object inaccessible: instrument
stations not in the same vertical plane as the elevated
object
Base of the object accessible
P = instrument station, Q = point to be observed
A = center of the instrument , D = horizontal distance
between P and Q , h’ = height of the instrument
h = QQ’, S = reading of staff kept at B. M. with line of
sight horizontal,  = angle of elevation from A to Q
R. L. of Q = R. L. of B. M. + S + Dtan
Base of the object inaccessible: the instrument
stations in the same vertical plane as the elevated
object

Case A: Instrument axis at the same level

Case B: Instrument axis at different level

Case C: Instrument axes at very different level

 
 
Case A: Instrument axis at the
same level

R.L. of Q = R. L. of B.M. + S + h
Base of the object inaccessible: the instrument stations not
in the same vertical plane as the elevated object