THEODOLITE SURVEY

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Theodolite:
A theodolite is an instrument which is used primarily to measure angles, both
horizontal and vertical.
It is also used for many other subsidiary work during surveying:
• Setting up of intermediate points between inter visible points.
• Establishment of inter visible points.
• Prolonging a line, laying out traverse etc.
Types of Theodolite:
• Vernier or Transit Theodolite
• Digital Theodolite
• Total Station

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 Vernier or transit theodolite

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 Digital theodolite

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 Total station

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Different Parts of a Vernier Theodolite:
• Vernier type theodolite is most popular and is being widely used.
• The salient parts of a Vernier theodolite are;
Leveling Head Shifting Head
Lower Plate Upper Plate
Plate Levels Standard (or a Frame)
Vernier Frame Telescope
Vertical Circle Altitude Bubble
Screws Tripod Stand

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Leveling Head:
• It is the lowermost part of a theodolite.
• It consists of two parallel horizontal plates separated by three leveling
screws.
• The lower plate with a large threaded hole in its center is called trivet or foot
plate.
• It provides a means to place the instrument on (tripod) stand and get it
screwed.
• Its central aperture provides a way for suspending a plumb bob.
• The upper plate of the leveling head is called the tribrach .
• It has three arms each carrying a leveling screw. It provides a support for the
upper part of the instrument.
• The principal use of leveling head is to provide a means for levelling the
instrument.

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Shifting Head:
• It consists of a pair of horizontal plates and an annular treaded ring.
• One of the plates is placed below the lower plate but above the tribrach
and the other below the tribrach.
• The shifting head is used for exact centering of the instrument after
leveling has been completed.
Lower Plate
• It is a horizontal circular plate monolithically constructed with the outer
spindle.
• A scale is engraved at its beveled edge with divisions in degrees and
minutes increasing in clockwise direction.
• It provides the main scale reading of a horizontal angle and a means to
fix / unfix the whole of the instrument.

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Upper Plate:
• It is a horizontal circular plate monolithically constructed with the inner
spindle.
• It is fitted with two diametrically opposite vernier scales designated as A
and B.
• Functions of upper plates are to support a pair of magnifiers for the
Verniers, a pair of plate levels, a pair of support frames for telescope.
Plate Levels:
• A pair of level tubes are placed at right angles on the upper plate.
• These are used to make the vertical axis of the instrument truly vertical
i.e., for leveling of the instrument.

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Standard (or A Frame):
• Two standards resembling the letter A are attached on the upper plate.
• These provides the bearings of the pivots of the telescope allowing it to
rotate on its trunion axis in vertical plane.
• The vernier frame and arm of vertical circle clamp are also attached to it.
Vernier Frame:
Also called T -frame or index frame, consists of a vertical leg known as
clipping arm and a horizontal bar called the index arm engraved with
verniers C and D at its ends. Each of the verniers at C and D are having two
scales which increases in opposite directions. It is used as seat for altitude
bubble and also provides vernier reading for vertical angle measurement.

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 Vernier frame

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Telescope:
• The telescope of a theodolite is identical in structure and uses, as in case of
a dumpy level.
• But, in theodolite, the telescope is mounted on a horizontal spindle called
the horizontal axis or the trunnion axis to rotate it also in vertical plane.
Vertical Circle
• The vertical circle is attached with the trunnion axis.
• It is engraved with a scale reading vertical angle in degrees and minutes.
• The vertical circle is divided into four quadrants each reading 0° to 90°
with 0° - 0° either along vertical or in horizontal.
• It provides the main scale reading for vertical angle.

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Altitude Bubble:
• A sensitive level tube placed on Vernier frame is called altitude bubble. It
is used to make horizontal axis truly horizontal.
Screws:
• A theodolite instrument has number of screws as its component parts.
These are classified into different types depending on their functions.
• Levelling Screws
• Clamp Screws
• Tangent Screws
Levelling screws:
These are present in the leveling head of a theodolite in between trivet and
tribrach. These work in threaded holes in the tribrach arms and their lower
ends rest in recesses in the trivet. These screws are used for leveling the
instrument i.e., to make plate level axis truly horizontal.

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Clamp screws:
These are used to fix the parts of a theodolite with which these are attached.
• Lower Plate Clamp Screw
• Upper Plate Clamp Screw
• Vertical plate Clamp Screw
Lower Plate Clamp Screw: The clamp screw attached to the lower plate of a
theodolite is called lower plate clamp screw. When it is tightened, the outer
spindle gets fixed with the tribrach, and, thus, the lower plate gets fixed in
position.
Upper plate Clamp Screw: The clamp screw attached with the upper plate
of a theodolite is called upper plate clamp screw. When it is tightened, the
inner spindle gets fixed with the outer spindle and the readings gets fixed
and cannot be disturbed.

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Vertical plate Clamp Screw: It is present on a frame fixed with standard and
above the shaft of trunnion axis. It is used to clamp the telescope in any plane
and hence at any desired vertical angle.
Tangent Screws:
• With each clamping screw, there is a tangent screw present in the
instrument to provide fine movement.
• The tangent screws work only after its clamping screws get tightened.
• Thus when the upper clamp screw has been tightened, small movement of
the upper plate can be made by the upper tangent screw.
• When the lower clamp screw has been tightened, small movement of the
lower plate can be made by the lower tangent screw and similarly for
vertical clamp screw.

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Tripod Stand:
• The theodolite is mounted on a strong tripod when being used in the field.
• The legs of the tripod are solid or framed. At the lower ends of the legs,
pointed steel shoes are provided to get them pushed into ground.
• The tripod head has male screws on which the trivet of the leveling head is
screwed.

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Temporary adjustments of Vernier theodolite:
At each station point, before taking any observation, it is required to carry out
some operations in sequence. The set of operations those are required to be
done on an instrument in order to make it ready for taking observation is
known as temporary adjustment.
Temporary adjustment of a Vernier theodolite consists of following operations:
• Setting
• Centering
• Leveling and
• Focusing

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Setting:
• The setting operation consists of fixing the theodolite with the tripod stand
along with approximate leveling and centering over the station.
• For setting up the instrument, the tripod is placed over the station with its
legs widely spread so that the center of the tripod head lies above the station
point and its head approximately level (by eye estimation).
• The instrument is then fixed with the tripod by screwing through trivet. The
height of the instrument should be such that observer can see through
telescope conveniently.
• After this, a plumb bob is suspended from the bottom of the instrument and
it should be such that plumb bob should point near to the station mark

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Centering
• The operation involved in placing the vertical axis of the instrument exactly over
the station mark is known as centering.
• First, the approximate centering of the instrument is done by moving the tripod
legs radially or circumferentially as per need of the circumstances.
• It may be noted that due to radial movement of the legs, plumb bob gets shifted in
the direction of the movement of the leg without seriously affecting the level of the
instrument.
• On the other hand, when the legs are moved side ways or circumferentially, the
plumb does not shift much but the level gets affected.
• Sometimes, the instrument and the tripod have to be moved bodily for centering.
• Finally, exact centering is done by using the shifting head of the instrument.
• During this, first the screw-clamping ring of the shifting head is loosened and the
upper plate of the shifting head is slid over the lower one until the plumb bob is
exactly over the station mark. After the exact centering, the screw clamping ring
gets tightened.

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Leveling:
Leveling of an instrument is done to make the vertical axis of the instrument
truly vertical. Generally, there are three leveling screws and two plate levels
are present in a theodolite instrument. Thus, leveling is being achieved by
carrying out the following steps.
Step 1: Bring one of the level tube parallel to any two of the foot screws, by
rotating the upper part of the instrument.
Step 2: The bubble is brought to the center of the level tube by rotating both
the foot screws either inward or outward. The bubble moves in the same
direction as the left thumb. [Figure]
Step 3: The bubble of the other level tube is then brought to the center of the
level tube by rotating the third foot screw either inward or outward [Figure].
[In step 1 itself, the other plate level will be parallel to the line joining the third
foot screw and the center of the line joining the previous two foot screws.]

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Step 4: Repeat Step 2 and step 3 in the same quadrant till both the bubble
remain central.
Step 5: By rotating the upper part of the instrument through 180°, the level
tube is brought parallel to first two foot screws in reverse order. The bubble
will remain in the center if the instrument is in permanent adjustment.
Otherwise, repeat the whole process starting from step1 to step5.

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Focusing
This is being carried out by removing parallax by proper focusing of
objective and eye-piece. Thus, focusing operation involves two steps:
Focusing of Eye-piece: The eye-piece is focused to make the appearance of
cross hairs distinct and clear. This is being carried out in steps: First, point
the telescope towards the sky or hold a sheet of white paper in front of the
objective; Next, move the eye-piece in or out by rotating it gradually until
the cross hairs appear quite sharp and clear. Focusing of eye-piece depends
on the eye-sight of observer and so for each observer it needs to adjusted
accordingly.

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Focusing of Objective: It is done for each independent observation to bring
the image of the object in the plane of cross hairs. It includes following steps
of operation: First, direct the telescope towards the object for observation.
Next, turn the focusing screw until the image of the object appears clear and
sharp as the observer looks through properly focused eye-piece. If focusing
has been done properly, there will be no parallax i.e., there will be no
apparent movement of the image relative to the cross hairs if the observer
moves his eye from one side to the other or from top to bottom.

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Technical Terms used in Theodolite Survey:
Centering: It is the process of setting the theodolite exactly over an
instrument station, so that its vertical axis lies immediately above the station
mark.
Transiting: It is also known as plunging or reversing. It is the process of
turning the telescope about its horizontal axis through 180 o in the vertical
plane thus bringing it upside down and making it point exactly in opposite
direction.
Swinging the telescope: It means turning the telescope about its vertical axis
in the horizontal plane. A swing is called right or left according as the
telescope is rotated clockwise or counter clock wise.
Face left: If the vertical circle of the instrument is on the left of the observer
while taking a reading, the position is called the face left and the observation
taken on the horizontal or the vertical circle in this position, is known as the
face left observation.

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Face right: If the vertical circle of the instrument is on the right of the
observer while taking a reading, the position is called the face right and the
observation taken on the horizontal or the vertical circle in this position, is
known as the face right observation.
Changing Face: It is the operation of bringing the vertical circle to the right of
the observer, if originally it is to the left, and vice-versa. It is done in two
steps: Firstly revolve the telescope through 180 o in a vertical plane and then
rotate it through 180 degree in the horizontal plane i.e. first transit the
telescope and then swing it through 180 degree.
Line of Collimation: It is the line joining intersection of the cross hairs of the
diaphragm to the optical center of the objective glass and in its continuation.
Axis of telescope: It is also an imaginary line joining the optical center of the
objective-glass to center of the eye-piece.
Axis of level tube: It is also called as bubble line. It is a straight line tangential
to the longitudinal curve of the level tube at the center of the tube. It is
horizontal when the bubble is in the center.

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Vertical Axis: It is the axis about which the telescope can be rotated in the
horizontal plane.
Horizontal Axis: It is also called the trunion axis or the traverse axis. the axis
about which the telescope can be rotated in the vertical plane.

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Fundamental Lines of a Theodolite:
The fundamental lines are imagined in a theodolite instrument (Figure ) are

1.Vertical Axis
2.Horizontal axis
3.Line of collimation
4.Axis of the altitude level tube
5.Axis of the plate level
6.Axis of the telescope

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Relationship among Fundamental Lines:
In a perfectly adjusted instrument, the fundamental lines bear relations (Figure)
as follows:
1. The vertical cross hair should lie in a plane perpendicular to the horizontal
axis.
2. The axis of each plate level should lie in a plane perpendicular to the vertical
axis.
3. The horizontal axis should be perpendicular to the vertical axis.
4. The axis of the telescope level should be parallel to the line of sight.
5. The line of sight should be perpendicular to the horizontal axis at its
intersection with the vertical axis . Also, the optical axis , the axis of the
objective slide , and the line of sight should coincide.

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 Theodolite Measurement and Errors
Measurement of Direction using Theodolite:
The different ways by which the direction of a line is depicted in surveying
are computed either.
• From horizontal angles.
• From vertical angles.
• From both vertical and horizontal angles.
Thus, primary elements of observation during surveying are the horizontal
angles and the vertical angles.

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Measurement of Horizontal Angle:
• Ordinary Method
• Repetition Method
• Reiteration Method
Ordinary or simple method:
1. To represent the direction of a line, the horizontal angle of the line from a
reference line is to be measured. The steps required to be adopted are as
follows: Two points one on each of the lines, say P and Q, are to be marked.
2. A transit theodolite is to be set at the point of intersection of the lines, say
at O. Initially, the instrument is in the face left condition and its temporary
adjustment is to be done over the point O.
3. Both the lower and upper plate main screws are to released and get the
vernier A set to 0° (or 360°) mark on the main scale. After clamping the
upper main screw, index of Vernier is to be brought exactly to the zero of the
main scale using the upper plate tangent screw.

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4. At this stage the reading of the Vernier B should be 180°.
5. Swing the telescope in the horizontal plane and point it to the left station,
say P. Tighten the lower plate clamp screw, and bisect the signal at P exactly
using the lower plate tangent screw. Record the readings (Table).
6. Loosen the upper plate main screw and turn the telescope the signal at Q is
sighted. Tighten the upper clamp screw and bisect the ranging pole at Q
exactly using the upper plate tangent screw.
7. Read both the verniers A and B and record the readings. The reading of
the vernier A is the angle POQ. The vernier B gives the value of angle POQ
after deducting from it 180°. The mean of two values of the angles obtained
from the verniers A and B is the required angle P'O'Q'.
8. Change the face of the instrument to the face right by transiting the
telescope and swinging it by 180°.
9. Repeat steps 3 to 8 and determine another value of the angle P'O'Q'.
10. The mean of the face left and face right observations is the final required
angle P'O'Q'.

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Measurement of horizontal angle by repetition method:
• When the precision of measurement of a horizontal angle is desired to be
more than the least count of the instrument, repetition method is used.
• In this method the desired angle is measured several times and average of
the observed values is considered as the value of the angle.
• The precision thus attained is to a much finer degree than the least count of
the vernier.
• The steps involved in the measurement of the horizontal angle, say POQ at
O (Figure) by method of repetition are as follows:

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Steps 1 to 7 is same as given in method of measurement of horizontal angle
but record readings in the form of Table.
8. Unclamp the lower plate, and turn the telescope to sight the signal P again.
Tighten the lower clamp. Use the lower plate tangent screw for exact bisection
of the signal P. (The vernier readings should be as it was during previous
reading).
9. Release the upper clamp and turn the telescope to sight the signal Q. Tighten
the upper clamp. Bisect the signal Q exactly using the upper tangent screw. The
vernier A will give the value which is about twice the angle POQ.
10. Repeat steps (8) and (9) once again. The final reading of the vernier A will
be approximately thrice the angle POQ.
If necessary, more repetitions can be done.
11. Divide the final reading by the number of repetition to obtain the value of
the angle POQ. For every completed revolution of the circle to the final reading,
if necessary, add 360°.

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12. Change face of the instrument to the face right. The telescope will be in
the inverted condition. Repeat steps (2) to (9), with the face right, and
determine another value of the angle POQ.
13. Determine the average value of the angles obtained with the face left and
face right.

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Advantages of Repetition Method:
• The errors due to eccentricity of verniers get eliminated as readings from
both the verniers are taken.
• The errors due to inaccurate graduations get eliminated as the readings are
observed at different parts of the circle.
• The errors due to lack in adjustment of line of collimation and the
horizontal axis of the instrument get eliminated for considering both faces
readings.
• Errors due to inaccurate bisection of the object, eccentric centering etc are
eliminated partially as these get counter-balanced in different observations.
• However, the errors due to slip, due to displacement of station or its signal
do not get eliminated and moreover, these errors are of cumulative in
nature.

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Measurement of horizontal angle by reiteration method:
• Method of reiteration for measurement of horizontal angle is usually
adopted in case several angles of well distributed points/ objects are to be
measured from the same instrument station with high precision.
• In this method, angles are measured successively starting from a point
termed as initial station.
• The angle between the terminating station and the initial station is the last
observation during a set of measurement of horizontal angle by method of
reiteration.
• This process of measuring the angles at an instrument station round the
point is to obtain a check on their sum being equal to 360° and is called
closing the horizon.
• When the horizon is closed, the final reading of the vernier should be the
same as its initial reading if there is no discrepancy.

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Steps 1 to 7 are same as given in measurement of horizontal angle and
record readings in Table.
8. Loosen the upper plate clamp screw and turn the telescope clockwise until
the station R is sighted. Tighten the upper clamp screw. Use the upper tangent
screw for placing the object R on the vertical cross hair. Read both the
verniers, and record readings in the Table . Compute the angle QOR. And note
down in the table.
9. Likewise, determine the angle ROS.
10. Finally, close the horizon by sighting the reference object P again. Note
down the readings. The vernier A should now read zero (or 360°).
11. Now change the face left of the instrument to the face right by transiting
(plunging) the telescope and swinging it through 180°. Repeat steps 3 to 10 in
the anti-clockwise direction.
12. The average value of each angle obtained with the face left and the face
right provides the observed values of the angles.

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Elimination of errors:
Errors eliminated by changing face of theodolite:
• Errors due to line of sight /LOC not being perpendicular to the horizontal
axis of telescope.
• Errors due to the horizontal axis of the telescope not being perpendicular to
the vertical axis.
• Error due to the line of collimation not coinciding with the axis of the
telescope.
Errors eliminated by reading both vernier and averaging the readings:
• Errors due to the axis of the vernier-plate not coinciding with the axis of
the main scale plate.
• Error due to the unequal graduations.

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Errors eliminated by measuring the angle on different parts of the circle:
• Error due to unequal graduations
• The errors in the pointing tend to compensate each other and the remaining
error is minimized by the division.
• The error due to dis leveling of the bubble can be minimized by taking
precautions in levelling.

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Measurement of vertical angles:
A vertical angle is the angle between the inclined line of sight and the
horizontal plane through the trunnion axis of the instrument. Prior to the
measurement of vertical angle, instrument is required to be leveled with
reference to the altitude level.
The procedure for measuring a vertical angle is as follows:
• The temporary adjustment of the instrument is to be done on the station.
• Then, leveling of theodolite is to be done using altitude level (the
operations involved are same as leveling using plate level).
• Loosen the vertical circle clamp, and direct the telescope towards the
object whose vertical angle is required to be measured. Clamp the vertical
circle, and bisect the point by turning the vertical tangent screw.
• Read and record the scale with vernier C and D in Table.
• Change the face of the instrument and read the vertical angle again.
• The required vertical angle is the average of the values in steps 4 and 5.

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Setting out direction of a line in field (using theodolite):
• To layoff a line in the field it is usually accomplished through laying off a
horizontal angle between the reference and considered line. The following
procedure may be used to layoff an angle say POQ (Figure). Let us
consider that the value of the angle is 31° 23' 20".
• Set up the instrument at O and carry out temporary adjustment of the
instrument.
• Set the vernier A to 0° (or 360°) using the upper plate clamp and tangent
screws.
• With upper plate clamp screw fixed and lower plate clamp screw open,
turn the instrument and sight station P. Tighten the lower plate clamp
screw and bisect P accurately using the lower tangent screw. The vernier
readings should be as it was in step2.
• Loosen the upper clamp and turn the upper plate until the vernier A reads
about 31° 23' 20". Clamp the upper plate, and use the upper tangent screw
to set it exactly at 31° 23' 20". The line of sight is now in the required
direction OQ.

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• Depress the telescope and establish point Q on the ground along the line
of sight. The angle POQ laid on the ground is equal to the required angle.

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 Reading the theodolite

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 Source of Error in Theodolite
• Instrumental errors
• Observational errors
• Natural errors

Instrumental errors:
Errors due to imperfections and/or non-adjustment of instrument are all
systematic, and these can either be eliminated or reduced to a negligible amount
by adopting appropriate methods. The instrumental errors involved in theodolite
surveying are
• Non-adjustment of plate levels i.e. A) Error in Horizontal angles (due to
Imperfect adjustment of the plate level) B) Error in Vertical angles (due to
Imperfect adjustment of the plate level).
• Error due to line of Collimation not being perpendicular to the Horizontal axis
• Error due to Horizontal axis not being perpendicular to the Vertical axis

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Other Instrumental Errors
• The line of collimation and the axis of telescope-level not being parallel to
each other
• The inner and outer axis i.e. the axes of both the upper and lower plates not
being concentric.
• The graduations being unequal.
• Vernier being eccentric.
• The vertical hair not being exactly vertical.
• Error due to defective tripod.

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Error in Horizontal angles (due to Imperfect adjustment of the plate level).
When the bubbles of plate levels are not in adjustment, the vertical axis is
inclined, and hence measured angles are not truly horizontal angles. The larger
the vertical angle, greater is the error in direction. Thus, errors in horizontal
angles due to non adjustment of plate levels or of horizontal axis become large
as the inclination of the sights increases.
Error in Vertical angles (due to Imperfect adjustment of the plate level)
These errors vary with the direction in which the instrument is pointed. With
the fixed vertical vernier they are eliminated by observing (for each sighting)
the index error of the corresponding observed vertical angle.

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Observational errors:
• Inaccurate centering
• Inaccurate levelling
• Slipping of the instrument
• Working wrong tangent screw
• Parallax
• Inaccurate bisection of the point sighted and non-verticality of the ranging
rod.

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Other errors such as:
• Mistake in setting the verniers
• Error in setting up of the Instrument
• Error in centering of the Instrument
• Mistake in reading the scales and verniers
• Mistake in reading wrong verniers
• Mistake while booking the readings can be prevented by habitual checks
and precautions.
• Error in ranging pole location or Staff Station
• Error in Focusing (parallax)

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Mistakes in reading or laying of direction of a line using Theodolite:
• Reading the wrong vernier scale.
• Misreading the vernier.
• There are two sets of vernier scales marked on a single vernier. While
taking reading, use that set of figures which increase in the same direction
as the figure in the main direction.
• Reading the vernier in the wrong direction.
• Turning the wrong tangent screws.
• Failing to tighten the clamp screw.
• Reading the numbers on the horizontal scale from the wrong row.
• Reading angles in the wrong direction.

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• Sighting on the wrong signals or setting up over the wrong station
• Booking the wrong values
• Missing the wrong right or left in deflection angle
• Using haphazard field procedure.

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Error in setting up of the Instrument
• The effect of not setting up exactly over the station produces an error in
measurement of all angles measured at the station. The amount of the error varies
with the direction of pointing and inversely with the length of sight.
Error in centering of the Instrument
• The error from this source is small when the sights are nearly level, but may be
large for steeply inclined.
Errors in setting and reading the Vernier
• The effect of this error depends on the least count of the vernier and on the
legibility of scale and vernier lines.
Error in ranging pole location or Staff Station
• The effect of this error depends on the verticality of the range pole /staff and the
height of the point of observation on the pole/staff. This is likely to be a source of
rather large error on ordinary surveys. For short sights the plumb line should be
employed instead of the range pole.

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Error in Focusing (parallax)
• The error due to imperfect focusing is always present to a greater or less
degree, but with reasonable care it can be reduced to a negligible quantity.

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Error due to Natural Causes
The error due to natural causes are not large enough to affect appreciably
the measurements of ordinary precision except settlement of the tripod
stand/leg.
• Error due to settlement of the tripod stand / leg
• Error due to atmospheric condition
Error due to settlement of the tripod stand / leg
Settlement is usually accompanied by an angular movement about the
vertical axis as well as linear movements both vertically and horizontally.
When horizontal angles are being measured, usually a larger error is
produced by the angular displacement of the circle between backsight and
corresponding foresight than by the movement of the transit laterally from
the point over which it is set.

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Error due to Atmospheric Condition
Errors due to adverse atmospheric conditions such as temperature, wind,
refraction etc. can usually be rendered negligible by choosing appropriate
times for observing. Large variations in temperature during surveying causes
unequal expansion of parts of the instrument and error in observed values.
Unreasonable wind during surveying produces vibration of the transit and
thus making it difficult to plumb correctly. Refraction effects the reading of
observation.

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Elimination of errors:
• Errors due to instrumental imperfections and/or non-adjustment are all systematic, and
without exception they can be either eliminated or reduced to a negligible amount.
• This can be achieved by obtaining the mean of two values one observed before and the
other after a reversal of the horizontal plate by plunging the telescope and rotating it about
the vertical axis.
• Further, the error in either horizontal or vertical angle due to inclination of the vertical
axis can be eliminated, so far as its systematic character is concerned, by leveling the plate
bubbles again in addition to the reversal of the plate. However, for precise work the usual
practice would be to make the vertical axis truly vertical by means of the telescope level,
and then to proceed in the ordinary manner.
• The personal errors are random and hence cannot be eliminated. They form a large part of
the resultant error in transit and theodolite work.
• Of the personal errors, those due to inaccuracies in reading and setting the vernier or reading and
setting of the optical micrometer and to not sighting exactly on the point are likely to be of greater
magnitude.
• Natural errors are generally random, but under certain conditions systematic errors may arise from
natural causes.
• On surveys of very high precision, special attempt is made to establish a procedure which will as
nearly as possible eliminate natural systematic errors.
ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 64
ELEMENTS OF SURVEYING 65