TRAVERSE CALCULATIONS

PROCEDURE FOR TRAVERSE CALCULATIONS

 Adjust angles or directions

 Determine bearings or azimuths
 Calculate and adjust latitudes and departures
 Calculate rectangular coordinates

BALANCING ANGLES OF CLOSED TRAVERSES

An example of a calculation involving interior angles is available.

ADJUSTING ANGLES

 Adjustments applied to angles are independent of the size of the angle

 Methods of adjustment:
Make larger corrections where mistakes were most likely
Apply an average correction to each angle
Or a combination
 Never make an adjustment that is smaller than the measured accuracy

DETERMINING BEARINGS OR AZIMUTHS

 Requires the direction of at least one line within the traverse to be known or
assumed
 For many purposes, an assumed direction is sufficient
 A magnetic bearing of one of the lines may be measured and used as the reference
for determining the other directions
 For boundary surveys, true directions are needed

LATITUDES AND DEPARTURES

 The latitude of a line is its projection on the north-south meridian and is equal to
the length of the line times the cosine of its bearing
 The departure of a line is its projection on the east-west meridian and is equal to
the length of the line times the sine of its bearing
 The latitude is the y component of the line and the departure is the x component of
the line

LATITUDES AND DEPARTURES

CLOSURE OF LATITUDES AND DEPARTURES

 The algebraic sum of all latitudes must equal zero or the difference in latitude
between the initial and final control points
 The algebraic sum of all departures must equal zero or the difference in departure
between the initial and final control points
CALCULATION OF LATITUDES AND DEPARTURES

Using bearings
Station Bearing Length Latitude Departure
A
N 26° 10'E 285.10 +255.88 +125.72
B
S 75° 25'E 610.45 -153.70 +590.78
C
S 15° 30'W 720.48 -694.28 -192.54
D
N 1° 42'W 203.00 +202.91 -6.02
E
N 53° 06'W 647.02 +388.48 -517.41
A
MISCLOSURE -0.71 +0.53

CALCULATION OF LATITUDES AND DEPARTURES

Using azimuths
Station Azimuth Length Latitude Departure
A
26° 10' 285.10 +255.88 +125.72
B
104° 35' 610.45 -153.70 +590.78
C
195° 30' 720.48 -694.28 -192.54
D
358° 18' 203.00 +202.91 -6.02
E
306° 54' 647.02 +388.48 -517.41
A
MISCLOSURE -0.71 +0.53

ADJUSTMENT OF LATITUDES AND DEPARTURES

Compass (Bowditch)

Rule

ADJUSTMENT OF LATITUDES AND DEPARTURES

Station Azimuth Length Latitude Departure

A +0.08 -0.06
26° 10' 285.10 +255.88 +125.72
B +0.18 -0.13
104° 35' 610.45 -153.70 +590.78
C +0.21 -0.15
195° 30' 720.48 -694.28 -192.54
D +0.06 -0.05
358° 18' 203.00 +202.91 -6.02
E +0.18 -0.14
306° 54' 647.02 +388.48 -517.41
A
TOTALS 2466.05 -0.71 +0.53

ADJUSTMENT OF LATITUDES AND DEPARTURES

Balanced Balanced
Station Latitude Departure Latitude Departure
A +0.08 -0.06
+255.88 +125.72 +255.96 +125.66
B +0.18 -0.13
-153.70 +590.78 -153.52 +590.65
C +0.21 -0.15
-694.28 -192.54 -694.07 -192.69
D +0.06 -0.05
+202.91 -6.02 +202.97 -6.07
E +0.18 -0.14
+388.48 -517.41 +388.66 -517.55
A
 TOTALS -0.71 +0.53 0.00 0.00

RECTANGULAR COORDINATES

 Rectangular X and Y coordinates of any point give its position with respect to a
reference coordinate system
 Useful for determining length and direction of lines, calculating areas, and locating
points
 You need one starting point on a traverse (which may be arbitrarily defined) to
calculate the coordinates of all other points
 A large initial coordinate is often chosen to avoid negative values, making
calculations easier.

CALCULATING X AND Y COORDINATES

Given the X and Y coordinates of any starting point A, the X and Y coordinates of the
next point B are determined by:

COORDINATES

Balanced Balanced
Station Latitude Departure Y-coord X-coord
A 10000.00 10000.00
+255.96 +125.66
B 10255.96 10125.66
-153.52 +590.65
C 10102.44 10716.31
-694.07 -192.69
D 9408.37 10523.62
+202.97 -6.07
E 9611.34 10517.55
+388.66 -517.55
A 10000.00 10000.00
TOTALS 0.00 0.00

LINEAR MISCLOSURE
The hypotenuse of a right triangle whose sides are the misclosure in latitude and the
misclosure in departure.

TRAVERSE PRECISION

 The precision of a traverse is expressed as the ratio of linear misclosure divided by

the traverse perimeter length.
 expressed in reciprocal form
 Example
0.89 / 2466.05 = 0.00036090
1 / 0.00036090 = 2770.8

Precision = 1/2771