LSVSA501- SURVEYING MEASUREMENTS ADJUSTMENT
Introduction
Making observations (measurements), and subsequent computations and analyses using
them, are fundamental tasks of surveyors. Good observations require a combination of
human skill and mechanical equipment applied with the utmost judgment. However, no
matter how carefully made, observations are never exact and will always contain errors. It
follows from this that if the true value is never known, the true error can never be known and
the position of a point known only with a certain level of uncertainty. Surveyors whose work
must be performed to exacting standards, should therefore thoroughly understand the
different kinds of errors, their sources and expected magnitudes under varying conditions,
and their manner of propagation. Only then can they select instruments and procedures
necessary to reduce error sizes to within tolerable limits.