Al IRAQIA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

Geomatics I
Geomatics I lecture 1

Geomatics
Outlines

▪Definition of Geomatics
▪Definition of Surveying

▪ Importance of Surveying
▪ Introduction to Course
▪ Geodetic and Plane Surveys
▪ Types of Surveys

Introduction
Geomatics is defined as a systemic, multidisciplinary, integrated approach to select
the instruments and the appropriate techniques for collecting, storing, integrating,
modeling, analyzing, retrieving at will, transforming, displaying and distributing
spatially georeferenced data from different sources with well-defined accuracy
characteristics, continuity and in a digital format.

.The name is used for surveying in U.S.A. / Canada / United Kingdom / Australia.
Surveying engineering = Geomatics engineering Principal reason for name change
is

Recent technologies provided surveyors new tools for measuring and/or collecting
information, for computing, and for displaying and disseminating information.
Increasing concerns about the environment locally, regionally and globally, and this

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has greatly exacerbated efforts in monitoring, managing and regulating the use of
our land, water, air and other natural resources.

Definitions

Surveying: the science, art, and technology of determining the relative positions of
points above, on, or beneath the Earth’s surface, or of establishing such points

Geomatics: is the science and study of spatially related information and is

particularly concerned with the collection, manipulation and presentation of the
natural, social and economic geography of the natural and built environments.

Geomatics is a relatively new term that is now commonly being applied to

encompass the areas of practice formerly identified as surveying. The principal
reason cited for making the name change is that the manner and scope of practice in
surveying have changed dramatically in recent years.

Importance of Surveying
▪ Surveying is one of the world’s oldest and most important arts because from the
earliest times it has been necessary to mark boundaries and divide land.

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▪ Surveying is important in many related tasks in agronomy, archeology, astronomy,

forestry, geography, geology, geophysics, landscape architecture, meteorology, and
seismology, but particularly in military and civil engineering.

Introduction to Course

Aims

This course aims to introduce and develop the basic understanding of the principles
of engineering surveying.

Course Outcomes

By the end of the course, students should:

▪ be familiar with common survey instruments and possess some technical skills,

▪ have a basic understanding of quantity and computation,

▪ have a basic understanding of the setting out in Civil Engineering; setting out by
coordinates; verticality

▪ have a basic understanding of the theory of measurement errors and concepts of

adjustment,

▪ have a basic understanding of the GIS, digital mapping and surface models.

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The work of the surveyor consists of five phases:

1- Decision Making – selecting method, equipment and final point locations.
2- Fieldwork & Data Collection – making measurements and recording data in
the field.
3- Computing & Data Processing – preparing calculations based upon the
recorded data to determine locations in a useable form.
4- Mapping or Data Representation – plotting data to produce a map, plat, or
chart in the proper form.
5- Stakeout – locating and establishing monuments or stakes in the proper
locations in the field.

Categories of Surveying:

Surveys

Geodetic Plane
‫مستوية‬

Types of Surveys
- Control surveys
- Topographic surveys
- Hydrographic surveys

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- Mine surveys
- Land, boundary, and cadastral surveys
- Alignment surveys
- As-built surveys
- Construction surveys

▪ Except for control surveys, most other types described are usually performed using
plane-surveying procedures, but geodetic methods may be employed on the others
if a survey covers an extensive area or requires extreme accuracy.

▪ Ground, aerial, and satellite surveys are broad classifications

sometimes used

History of Surveying:
1- Surveying had it’s beginning in Egypt about 1400 BC and along the
Nile River was divided for taxation. Divisions were washed away by
annual floods. “ROPE-STRETCHERS” Egyptian surveyors were created
to relocate the land divisions (measurements were made with ropes having
knots at unit distances).Extensive use of surveying in building of Egyptian
monuments

2-Greeks: expanded Egyptian work and developed Geometry .Developed one

of the earliest surveying instruments – Diopter (a form of level).

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3- Romans: developed surveying into a science to create the Roman roads,

aqueducts, and land division systems. Surveyors held great power, had
schools and a professional organization Developed several instruments:
* Groma – cross instrument used to determine lines and right angles
* Libella – “A” frame with a plumb bob used for leveling *Chorobates – 20’
straight edge with oil in notch for leveling

4- Middle Ages: land division of Romans continued in Europe. Quadrans –

square brass frame capable of turning angles up to 90° and has a graduated
scale developed by an Italian named Von Piso.

5- 18th & 19th Century in the New World: the need for mapping and
marking land claims caused extensive surveying, especially by the English.

* 1785: United Stated began extensive surveys of public lands into one mile
square sections
• 30 states surveyed under the U.S. Public Land System (also called the
Rectangular System)

* 1807: United States Geological Survey founded to establish an accurate

control network and mapping
* Famous American Surveyors: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
George Rogers Clark, Abe Lincoln and many more.

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6. 20th Century and Beyond: As technology advanced, population

increased, and land value caused development of licensure for surveyors in all
states.

 Educational requirements for licensure began in the early 1990’s

 Capable of electronic distance measurement, positioning using global positioning

systems, construction machine control, and lidar (scanning) mapping

 Involvement in rebuilding of the infrastructure and geographic information

systems (GIS)

 Shortage of licensed professionals is projected well into the 21st century

Surveying is used in the following sciences:

• Geography
• Geology
• Geophysics
• Astronomy
• Forestry
• Landscape architecture
• Military and civil engineering

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Surveying safety
Surveyors (Geomatics engineers) generally are involved in both field and office
work.

1- Field work
making measurements with various types of instruments. determine the
relative locations of points. to set out stakes in accordance with planned
locations to guide building and construction operations.

2- Office work
research and analysis in preparing for surveys. computing and processing the
data obtained from field measurements. preparing maps, plots, charts, reports
and other documents.

Units of Measurements
There are five kinds of measurement
- Horizontal distances
- Vertical distances
- Slope distances
- Horizontal angles
- Vertical (or zenith) angles

Units in surveying
- Length
- Area
- Volume
- Angle

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Units of measurement
‫هنالك نوعان من وحدات القياس‬
1- linear measurement units ‫وحدات القياس الخطية‬
2- angular units of measurement ‫وحدات القياس الزاوية‬

*linear measurement units

:‫يوجد نظامان لوحدات القياس الخطية‬
- International System of Units (SI) = Metric System
‫النظام المتري‬.1
1 meter (m)= 1000 millimeter (mm)=100 centimeter (cm)
1 meter (m)= 10 decimeter (dm)= 103 kilometer (km)
1 meter (m)= 106 Micrometer (µm)= 109 nanometer (nm)
1 meter (m)= 12 picometer (pm)
- English system = U.S. survey feet
-
1 foot (ft)(′)= 12 inch(in)(″) = 1/3 yard(yd)
1 mile (mil)= 5280 ft
1 inch = 2.54 centimeters (basis of international foot)
1 foot = 0.3048 m (basis of international foot)

Area and Volume

Acre = 4840 yd² = 43560 ft²
mil² = 640 Acre = 3097600 yd² = 27878400 ft²
1 hectare (ha) = 10,000 m² (a square having sides of 100 m)

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1dunam = 2500 m ² in Iraq.

angular units of measurement
Dunam=2500 m²=25 evlek=0.25 ha
Evlek, in Turkey, a unit of land area. The modern evlek is 100 square
meters.

Example:
Convert a distance from:
1- 567.89 ft to meters
567.89/3.2808=173.09 m

2- 2.34 km to mile

2.34×0.62137=1.45 mile

3- 2.1 yard to cm

2.1×3=6.3 ft

6.3*30.48=192.024 cm

Units (angle)
1. Sexagesimal system:
subdivide a circle into 360°(degree). One degree (1°) equals 60’ (min), and one min
(1’) equals 60“ (sec). Divisions of seconds are given in tenths, hundredths, and
thousandths.

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2. Centesimal system
subdivide a circle into 400 grads (with 100 centesimal min/grad and 100
centesimal sec/min. Another term, gons, is now used interchangeably with grads.

3. Radians system
is the angle subtended by an arc of a circle having a length equal to the radius of the
circle. Therefore, 2π rad = 360° , 1 rad ≈ 57°17’ 44.8" ≈ 57.2958° , 0.01745 rad ≈ 1°
, and 1 rad ≈ 206,264.8″.

4. Milliradian (mil or mrad) (For military services)

a unit circle with a radius of one and an arc divided into 1000 mils per radian, hence
2000π or approximately 6283.185 milliradians in one turn. There are also other
definitions used for land mapping and artillery which are rounded to more easily
6400 units (NATO mils)

DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBSERVATIONS

Direct observation
Examples :
- applying a tape to a line
- fitting a protector to an angle
- turning an angle with a total station instrument

Indirect observation
- Example :
- The distance across a river can be found by observing
- the length of a line on one side,

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- the angle at each end of this line to a point on the other side and then
computing the distance by one of the
- standard trigonometric formula

Rounding off Numbers ‫اﻟﺘﻘﺮﯾﺐ ﻟﻠﺮﻗﻢ اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ‬

▪ Is the process of dropping one or more digits so the answer contains only those
digits that are significant.

▪ When the digit to be dropped is lower than 5, the number is written without the
digit. Thus, 78.374 becomes 78.37. Also 78.3749 rounded to four figures becomes
78.37.

▪ When the digit to be dropped is exactly 5, the nearest even number is used for the
preceding digit. Thus, 78.375 becomes 78.38 and 78.385 is also rounded to 78.38.

▪ When the digit to be dropped is greater than 5, the number is written with the
preceding digit increased by 1. Thus, 78.386 becomes 78.39.

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Errors & Mistakes

Definition
Error: is the difference between an observed value for a
quantity and its true value:
𝐸 = 𝑋 − 𝑋̅
E is the error in an observation
X the observed value
and 𝑋̅its true value.

It can be unconditionally stated that:

1. No observation is exact.
2. Every observation contains errors.
3. The true value of an observation is never known.
4. The exact error present is always unknown.

Sources of Errors
There are three sources of errors:
1. Personal Errors.
arise from limitations of sight and touch
2. Natural Errors.
caused by variations in temperature, wind, atmospheres refraction,
atmospheric pressure gravity and magnetic declination
3. Instrumental Errors.
imperfection in the construction or and from the movement of individual
parts and judgment of instruments

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Types of Errors
Errors in observations are of three types: mistakes, systematic and random error
1- Mistakes (gross errors, blunders, or outliers)
These are usually caused by misunderstanding the problem, carelessness,
fatigue, missed communication, or poor judgment.

Examples include transposition of numbers, such as recording

- 85.91 instead of the correct value of 89.31
- reading an angle counter-clockwise, but indicating it as a clockwise
angle in the field notes
- sighting the wrong target.

They must be detected by careful and systematic checking of all work, and
eliminated by repeating some or all of the measurements. It is very difficult to
detect small mistakes because they merge with errors.

1- Systematic errors
- As conditions remain constant, the systematic errors will likewise
remain constant. If conditions change, the magnitudes of systematic
errors also change.

- If the conditions are known to exist and can be observed, a correction can
be computed and applied to observed values
Es =es n
Es = total systematic errors.
es = systematic error in one measurement.
n = No. of measurement

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Example: A 30 m steel tape that has been calibrated and found to be 0.001
m too long, what is the total error in 258.022 m measured by this tape?
And what is the corrected distance?

X=30 m
𝑋̅ =30.001 m
es=X- X =- 0.001 m
n= 258.022/30 = 8.6
Es = - 0.001 *8.6= -0.009 m
Correction=+0.009m
Corrected distance= 258.022+0.009=258.031 m

2- Random Errors
are those that remain in measured values after mistakes and systematic errors have
been eliminated. They are caused by factors beyond the control of the observer, obey
the laws of probability, and are sometimes called accidental errors. They are present
in all surveying observations.

The magnitudes and algebraic signs of random errors are matters of chance. There
is no absolute way to compute or eliminate them, but they can be estimated using
adjustment procedures known as least squares.
Random errors are also known as compensating errors, since they tend to partially
cancel themselves in a series of observations.

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Most Probable Value

It has been stated earlier that in physical observations, the true value of any quantity
is never known. However, its most probable value can be calculated if redundant
observations have been made.
Redundant observations are measurements in excess of the minimum needed to
determine a quantity.
Based on theory of probability, the most probable value can be estimated using the
principle of least squares:
∑𝑋
𝑋̅ = 𝑛
Where
𝑋 is the most probable value of the quantity,
∑𝑋 the sum of the individual measurements X,
n the total number of observations.

Residuals
- Having determined the most probable value of a quantity, it is possible to calculate
residuals.

-A residual is simply the difference between the most probable value and any
observed value of a quantity, which in equation form is.
̅
v=X−X

where:
v is the residual in any observation X, and 𝑿 is the most probable value for the
quantity
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Residuals are theoretically identical to errors, with the exception that residuals can
be calculated whereas errors cannot because true values are never known. Thus,
residuals rather than errors are the values actually used in the analysis and
adjustment of survey data.

Precision and Accuracy

- A discrepancy is the difference between two observed values of the same quantity.
A small discrepancy indicates there are probably no mistakes and random errors are
small.

- Precision refers to the degree of refinement or consistency of a group of

observations and is evaluated on the basis of discrepancy size. If multiple
observations are made of the same quantity and small discrepancies result, this
indicates high precision. The degree of precision attainable is dependent on
equipment sensitivity and observer skill.

Accuracy denotes the absolute nearness of observed quantities to their true values.
The difference between precision and accuracy is perhaps best illustrated with
reference to target shooting

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