Handbook

This course will cover some contemporary terrestrial surveying instruments and their use. The course will commence with precise digital levelling (bar-code level) instruments, covering design, accuracy, error sources, precise levelling techniques, errors and calibration. The theory will be supported with a practical exercise. Electronic total stations will be introduced, including circle reading, level sensors, centring systems, constrained centring, precise horizontal and zenith angle measurement, observation procedures and elimination of errors. This theory will be exercised with a larger field project and some minor exercises. Robotic total stations and ATR (automatic tracking) technology will be described. Finally, principles and applications of the Electronic Distance Meter (EDM), phase and pulse measurement techniques, wave propagation in atmosphere, measurement of atmospheric parameters, coefficient of refraction, velocity corrections, geometric reductions, reductions of distances to the ellipsoid, and analysis of errors will be dealt within a field practical exercise. An EDM height traversing practical will round out this course. At the conclusion of this course students will have gained an understanding of the impact specific field techniques and instrumentation on the attainable precision when conducting terrestrial surveys.