GEng 136 - Geodetic Computations and Adjustments
Laboratory Exercise No. 4
Student Name:
Date Submitted:
1. Determine the coordinates of an unknown point P(x,y) using trilateration with measured distances
to four known benchmark points A,B,C,D whose coordinates are A(100,200), B(300,400), C(500,
100) and D(200,600) in a local Cartesian coordinate system. The measured distances are
dPA=250.0 m, dPB=223.6m, dPC=316.2m, and dPD=447.2m, with a standard deviation of ±0.5 m for
random measurement errors. Report the final adjusted coordinates of P(x,y) the estimated
standard deviation, and the residuals for each distance measurement.
2. With reference to the figure below, the position of an unknown point P is to be determined by
measuring distances with an EDM instrument from P to five control stations A, B, C, D, and E. The
known positions of the control points and the observed distances are:
Control Point | Northing (m) | Easting (m) | Observed Distance (m)
A | 1,005.07 | 698.41 | 4,122.109
B | 2,207.37 | 580.14 | 3,444.530
C | 8,503.22 | 5,482.77 | 4,89.717
D | 7,160.26 | 6,191.16 | 4,129.233
E | 4,920.30 | 6,095.81 | 2,739.177
The priori standard deviation (meters) of each distance measurement is given by:
σS = √((0.02)^2 + (0.04)^2S^2)
where S is the distance in kilometers.
a. Compute the approximate position of point P.
b. Determine the least squares (adjusted position) of P using all five observed distances.
c. Determine the adjusted values of the distances.
d. Evaluate the covariance matrix of the adjusted position of P based upon the a priori reference
variance.
e. Evaluate the a posteriori estimate of the reference variance, and test this value against the
given reference variance at the 5% level of significance.
