1

SURVEYING
MEASUREMENT
S
SURVEYING MEASUREMENTS
● A measurement is the process of
determining the extent, size, or
dimensions of a particular quantity in
comparison to a given standard.

● Measuring is a way of quantifying

physical objects based on a standard or
system.

● In surveying, measurements are usually

concentrated on angles, elevations,
times, lines, areas, and volumes.
SURVEYING MEASUREMENTS
● No instrument is perfect. Thus, surveyors designate the
appropriate type, extent, and procedure of measurements
in a designed survey, consequently evaluated and
adjusted to obtain the desired results.

● Measurements done in surveying may be categorized as

either direct or indirect. It is important to recognize the
two and their fundamental differences to apply the most
appropriate technique and degree of precision.
DIRECT MEASUREMENTS
● Direct Measurements refer to a comparison of the
measured quantity with a standard measuring unit.

● These measurements are directly obtained using

instruments or the like. For example, determining a
horizontal or vertical angle with a transit or applying a
tape to a line.

● In direct measurement, one obtains data through physical

comparisons or observations from instruments.
INDIRECT MEASUREMENTS
● Indirect Measurements refer to a type of measurement
obtained by relating an observed/unknown value to some
other known values.

● These measurements are done when it is not possible to

apply a measuring instrument directly to a quantity.

● For example: (1) Determining the height of a building

given a horizontal distance and angle; (2) Obtaining the
total length of a line given its segments
THE METER
Origin of the Meter

• French scientists proposed the meter in 1789 in hopes of

establishing a universal, natural system.

• The meter was initially defined as 1/10,000,000 of Earth's

meridional quadrant – the distance from the equator to the
north pole.
THE METER
Standardization Efforts

• As the use of the meter grew, there was a need for uniformity
and standardization. Multiple conferences were held by the
French government, culminating in a treaty in 1875 that
established the International Bureau of Weights and
Measures.
THE METER
The International Meter

• The treaty led to the establishment of the International Meter,

which became the standard of linear measure. It was then
defined to be the distance between two lines engraved across
a surface of a bar with an X-shaped cross-section (composed
of 90% platinum and 10% iridium at 0 degrees Celsius) and
was kept at the International Bureau in Sèvres, France.
THE METER
Bureau's Role

• The International Bureau took responsibility for maintaining

the prototype standards and comparing them with those of
participating countries. Over time, the Bureau expanded to
include 35 member countries by 1954 and engaged in
research to improve measurement standards and methods.
THE METER
Transition to Natural Standard

• Despite the prevailing metric system being well-maintained,

the scientific community still sought a more permanent and
reproducible natural standard for the meter, moving away
from reliance on man-made physical standards. This would
have allowed greater permanence and precision.
THE METER
Redefinition of the Meter

• In 1960, the meter was redefined during the 11th General

Conference on Weights and Measures. It is now defined as a
specific number of wavelengths (1,650,763.73) of orange-red
light emitted by burning krypton, offering enhanced accuracy
and reproducibility for measurements in the international
system.
THE METER
Redefinition of the Meter

• In another expression, the meter has also been defined as the

length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum during an
interval of of a second.
 INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS
•(SI)
The International System of Units, generally known as SI, is
a system established to modernize a coherent and rational
worldwide system.

• Promulgated in 1960 by the International Bureau of Weights

and Measures, the SI paved the path for a simplified and
unified system of units for convenience and uniformity.

• The Philippines initially followed the English System, but

fully adopted the use of the metric system since January 1,
1983, as signed into law by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos.
 INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS
•(SI)
In surveying, the most commonly used SI units of major
concern in the field are:
- meter (m) for linear measure
- square meter (sq m) for areas
- cubic meter (cu m) for volumes
- radians (rad) for plane angles
• Meanwhile, there are still non-SI units often used, such as:
- hectare (ha), liter (L), knot, day, hour, minute

• For large measurements, units like km and ha are used.

UNITS OF MEASUREMENTS
• The unit of a measurement reflects the magnitude of a certain
quantity based on an established standard for measuring the same
kind of quantity, as adopted or determined by law. In a sense, a
unit can describe or quantify a measurement using a given
standard reference like the meter.

• In surveying, measurements are usually either angular or linear,

and they come in various sizes – either small or large.
UNITS OF MEASUREMENTS
• When the metric system (SI) is used, all linear measurements are
based on the meter. Because of this, variant units are derived by
simply modifying the decimal steps in a quantity, adding a
corresponding prefix, whilst still basing the measurement to the
standard unit of the meter.

• When quantities become significantly large or small, larger or

smaller units based on the meter are utilized to appropriately
describe measurements. These units can then be converted from
one to another in terms of their equivalences.
UNITS OF MEASUREMENTS:
PREFIXES
LINEAR MEASUREMENTS

• The kilometer, meter, centimeter, and millimeter are the

most commonly used units in measurements.

• The methods of obtaining length or any linear measurement

also applies to width, depth, thickness, height, or distance.

• Generally, km is used for measuring large tracts of land,

while m is used in smaller ones like residential lots.
LINEAR MEASUREMENT
CONVERSIONS
• 1 kilometer (km) = 1,000 meters
• 1 meter (m) = 1,000 millimeters
= 100 centimeters
= 10 decimeters
• 1 decimeter (dm) = 10 centimeters
• 1 centimeter (cm) = 10 millimeters
• 1 millimeter (mm) = 1,000 micrometers
AREA MEASUREMENTS
• The SI unit for areas is the square meter (m2). Generally,
when measuring small areas, square centimeters or square
millimeters are used instead. Meanwhile, hectares are
often used for larger areas rather than square kilometers.

• 1 hectare = 10,000 sq. m

• 1 sq. km = 1,000,000 sq.m or 100 ha
VOLUME MEASUREMENTS
• The SI unit for volumes is the cubic meter (m3). In
surveying, the more common units being used are the
cubic meter, liter, and milliliter. Though liter (L) and
milliliter (mL) are proper units, it is much better to
express physical volumes in cubic meters, cubic cm, or
cubic mm. For larger quantities, the cubic meter is more
frequently used.

• Though the liter is another unit of volume, it is simply a

special name for the cubic decimeter.
ANGULAR MEASUREMENTS
• Angular measurements refer to the measuring of the space
between two rays or lines at a common vertex, also known
as the angle.

• When measuring angles and recording them in SI, the

radian is more appropriately used – although degrees,
minutes, seconds, and gradians are sometimes used for
convenience too.
THE RADIAN
• A radian is defined as an angle subtended by an arc of a
circle having a length equal to the radius of a circle.

• In a circle, there are 2π radians equating to the full 360

degrees. Consequently, 1 rad = 57.2958 deg and 0.01745
rad = 1 deg.
RADIAN CONVERSION
• In the Philippines, degrees are used more often. Hence, it
is important to be able to convert rad to deg and vice-
versa.

• To convert degrees to radians, multiply the number of

degrees by π / 180. Then simplify.

• To convert radians to degrees, multiply the number of

radians by 180 / π.
EXAMPLES OF RADIAN CONVERSION
150° to radians

8π / 9 radians to degrees
STERADIAN
• The steradian is basically the 3-D version of the radian; it
is a unit of measure of solid angles that is expressed as the
solid angle subtended at the center of the sphere by a
portion of the surface whose area is equal to the square of
the radius of the sphere.
RADIAN vs STERADIAN

• A RADIAN "cuts out" a length of a circle's circumference

equal to the radius.

• A STERADIAN "cuts out" an area of a sphere equal to

(radius)2.
RADIAN vs STERADIAN
RADIAN
STERADIAN
SEXAGESIMAL UNITS (English System)
• The sexagesimal system was an ancient system of
counting, calculation, and numerical notation that used
powers of 60 as much as the decimal system uses powers
of 10. Rudiments of the ancient system survive in vestigial
form in our division of the hour into 60 minutes and the
minute into 60 seconds.
SEXAGESIMAL UNITS CONVERSION
• DMS : Degree, Minutes, Seconds
• ' = minutes
• " = seconds

• 1° = 60'
• 1 minute = 60"
• 1° = 3,600"
SEXAGESIMAL EXAMPLES
DEGREE TO DMS : 12.24°
D: 12°
M: .24 x 60 = 14.4 = 14'
S: .4 x 60 + 24"
12° 14' 24"

DMS TO DEGREE : 15° 5' 55“

DMS TO RAD : 75° 19' 20"

SEXAGESIMAL EXAMPLES
RAD TO DMS : 1.8375 rad
π rad = 180°

D: 105°
M: .2809' x 60 = 16.854 = 16'
S: .854 x 60 = 51.24 = 51"

105° 16' 51
CENTESIMAL UNITS (French System)
• In the centesimal system of angle measurement, the right
angle is split into 100 equally divided parts known as
GRADIANS. Each grade is split in 100 minutes and every
single minute in 100 seconds.
CENTESIMAL UNITS CONVERSION
• Convert seconds to minutes (1' = 60")
• Convert minutes to degrees (1° = 60")
• Divide by 90 to find the number of right angles (RA)
• Multiply by 100

• 1 RA = 100 grad = 90° =

CENTESIMAL UNIT CONVERSION
EXAMPLES
DEGREE TO GRADIANS : 30°
CENTESIMAL UNIT CONVERSION
EXAMPLES
DMS TO GRADIANS : 63° 14' 51"
S: 51" / 60 = 0.85'
M: 0.85' + 14' = = 0.2475°
D: 63°
63 + 0.2475 = 63.2475°

27' 50"
SEXAGESIMAL vs CENTESIMAL
• Sexagesimal Units - an angle is measured in degrees,
minutes, and seconds.

• Centesimal Units – an angle is measured into gradians,

minutes, and seconds
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
• In recording results from values obtained by measurements
and in making computations, it is important to determine
which should be retained as significant figures.

• Significant figures, in measuring, refer to the number of

certain digits plus one estimated digit.

• Generally, the number of significant figures appropriately

used should depend on the calibration of a measuring
instrument. Having the wrong number of significant figures
may lead to false precision.
RULES OF SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
• Rule 1 – Zeroes between other significant figures are
significant.

• Rule 2 – For values less than one, zeroes immediately to the

right of the decimal are not significant. They only show the
position of the decimal.

• Rule 3 – Zeroes placed at the end of decimal numbers are

significant.
RULES OF SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
Examples:

• Number of significant figures for:

• 6006 – four
• 0.00867 – three
• 100.00 – five
• 50.6100 – six
• 300,000 – one
• 300,000.00 – eight
COMPUTATIONS WITH SIGNIFICANT
FIGURES
• Apart from properly recording data with the right number of
significant figures, computations done must also be
consistent with these figures.

• Enough figures should be retained for computations of the

final result, BUT the final result itself should not have more
significant figures than the precisions of the original
measurements. This can be ensured by rounding numbers.

• For example, distance 1 = 35.16 m, distance 2 = 53.2 m, final

result = 88.4 m.
ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS
• Rounding off a value refers to dropping one or more of the
final digits of a number so that it only contains the required
number of significant figures to be used for computation or
for displaying the final results.

• Depending on how many significant figures are needed, one

may round off with reference to any place value along a
number – be it to the nearest tens, tenths, hundredths, etc.

• There are three general rules to consider in rounding off

applied to the digit/s to be dropped.
RULES IN ROUNDING OFF
Rule 1: When a digit to be dropped is less than 5, the
number is written without the digit.

Examples:

24.244  24.24 when rounded off to the nearest hundredth

24.24  24.2 when rounded off to the nearest tenths
3.7164  3.716 when rounded off to the nearest thousandths
5313  5000 when rounded off to the nearest thousands
RULES IN ROUNDING OFF
Rule 2: When a digit to be dropped is exactly equal to 5, the
nearest even number is used for the preceding digit.

Rule 2 implies that you drop a number if the digit on its left
is an even number, and you round the digit up if it is not.

Examples:

156.285  156.28
305.395  305.40
RULES IN ROUNDING OFF

One thing to consider with Rule 2:

By normal conventions, we round up any number even if the

digit of concern is equal to 5. This rule is only utilized by
computers to prevent inaccuracy/bias when rounding off
every number. This is known as the “computer rule”, which
should not be applied to measured quantities. In other
words, Rule 2 is only used for non-measured quantities.
RULES IN ROUNDING OFF
Rule 3: When a digit to be dropped is greater than 5, the
number is written with the preceding digit increased by one.

Examples:

24.246  24.25 when rounded off to the nearest hundredth

24.28  24.3 when rounded off to the nearest tenths
3.7169  3.717 when rounded off to the nearest thousandths
5827  6000 when rounded off to the nearest thousands