DEVELOPMENT OF SURVEYING INSTRUMENT

Surveying instruments were developed gradually. It is believed that, an extensive use of surveying
instruments came about during the early days of the Roman Empire. This remarkable engineering ability
of Romans is clearly demonstrated by their extensive construction of structures and buildings which
continue to exist even up to this modern era. It will be noted that many surveying instruments and devices
evolved from those which were earlier used in astronomy. The following instruments were the early
forerunners of our present-day surveying instruments.

Astrolabe. The astrolabe of Hipparchus is considered to be one of the best known of the
measuring instruments that have come down from ancient times. It was developed sometime in
140 B.C., and further improved by Ptolemy. The instrument had a metal circle with a pointer
hinged at its center and held by a ring at the top, and a cross staff, a wooden rod about 1.25
meters long with an adjustable cross arm at right angles to it. The known length of the arms of the
cross staff allow distances and angles to be determined by proportion. It was originally designed
for determining the altitude of stars.

Telescope. The invention of the telescope in. 1607 is generally accredited to Lippershey. In
1609, Ga1ileo constructed a refracting telescope for astronomical observations. However, it was
only when cross hairs for fixing the line of sight were introduced, that the telescope was fixed in
early surveying instruments.
 Transit. The invention of the transit is credited to Young and Draper who worked independently
from each other sometime in 1830. Both men were able to put together in one instrument the
essential parts of what has long been known as the universal surveying instrument.

Semicircumferentor. An early surveying instrument which was used to measure and layoff
angles, and establish lines of sight by employing peep sights.
 Plane Table. One of the oldest types of surveying instruments used in field mapping. It consists
of a board attached to a tripod in such a way that it can be leveled or rotated to any desired
direction.

Dioptra. The dioptra, which was perfected by Heron of Alexandria, was used in leveling and for
measuring horizontal and vertical angles. It consists essentially of a copper tube supported on a
standard and could be rotated in either a horizontal or vertical plane. For measuring horizontal
angles, a flat circular disc with graduations in degrees is used. An arm containing sighting
apertures at either end could be rotated to any desired position on the disc.

Roman Groma. The Roman surveyors used the groma instrument for aligning or sighting as an
points. It consisted basically of cross arms fixed at right angles and pivoted eccentrically upon a
vertical staff. Plumb lines were suspended from the ends of the arms. By employing the groma
two lines at right angles to each other could be established on the ground where it is set up.
 Libella. The Assyrians and Egyptians are believed to be the first users of the libella.The instru-
ment had an A-frame with a plumb line suspended from its apex and was used to' determine the
horizontal. Archeologists are of the belief that the horizontal foundations of the great pyramids of
Egypt were probably defined by this device.

Vernier. The vernier is a short auxiliary scale placed alongside the graduated scale of an instru-
ment, by means of which fractional parts of the smallest or least division of the main scale can be
determined precisely without having to interpolate. It was invented in 1631 by a Frenchman name
Pierre Vernier. Surveying instruments employ either a direct or retrograde vernier.

Diopter. An instrument developed by the Greeks sometime in 130 B.C., and known to be their
most famous surveying instrument. The diopter was used for leveling, laying off right angles, and
for measuring horizontal and vertical angles. Since the telescope was not yet invented during the
time the diopter was used, peep sights were employed for sighting and in aligning the device.

Compass. The magnetic compass came into wide use during the 13th century for determining
the direction of lines and in calculating angles between lines. It was first introduced for use in
navigation. The compass consists of a magnetized steel needle mounted on a pivot at the center
of a graduated circle. The needle continues to point toward magnetic north and gives a reading
which is dependent upon the position of the graduated circle.
 Gunter"s Chain. The Gunter's chain, which was invented by Sir Edmund Gunter in 1620, was
the forerunner of instruments dsed for taping distances. It is 66 ft long and contains 100 links, so
that distances may be recorded in chains and in decimal parts of the chain. Each part, called a
link, is 0.66 ft or 7.92 inches long.

Chorobates. This instrument was designed for leveling work. It consisted of a horizontal straight-
edge about 6 meters long with supporting legs, and a groove 2.5 cm deep and, 1.5m long on top.
Water is poured into the groove and when the bar is leveled so that water stood evenly in the
groove without spilling, a horizontal line is established.

Merchet. The merchet was a device for measuring time and meridian. It was first used by the
Chaldeans in about 4,000 B.C. It consisted of a slotted palm leaf through which to sight and a
bracket from which a plumb bob was suspended. -By sighting through the 'slot and past the
plumb bob string, a straight line could be projected.
One of the main tasks of a surveyor is to measure the surface of the
earth. This display is representative of the early tools used by the
surveyor and briefly describes their purpose and uses.

The Chain
This is an example of a "chain" that is normally 66'
long consisting of 100 links. A "chain" of 66' can also
be described as being 4 poles of 16.5'.

Other tools used by a surveyor to measure distance can

be a steel tape of lengths of up to 500' and the modern
electronic distance measuring devices that can measure
distances in excess of several miles with the use of reflector prisms.

In fact, the first men to land on the moon left behind a grouping of reflector
prisms that allowed surveyors and scientists to measure the distance from the
earth to the moon to an accuracy of just a couple of feet.

The Compass
A surveyor uses a compass to determine the direction of
a line. the compass needle points to the MAGNETIC
NORTH POLE and by turning the compass in the
direction of the line being surveyed, the direction of the
line can be observed. Although there are many varieties
of compasses, they all fall into two main categories:
either a "plain" compass or a "vernier" compass.

A plain compass has no adjustment and always reads magnetic north.

A vernier compass has an adjustable scale that allows for the "setting off" of
the magnetic declination and the compass can then directly read true north.

The Transit and Theodolite

Transit Theodolite
The transit and theodolite are used by the surveyor to measure both
horizontal and vertical angles. While the purpose of the two is similar, as a
general rule a theodolite is more accurate than a transit. However, there is no
specific rule as to when one definition ends and the other begins. Generally,
these instruments have a minimum accuracy of one minute of angle and some
very precise theodolites will measure angles to an accuracy of one-tenth of a
second of angle. To put these accuracies into perspective, at a distance of
one mile, one minute of angle covers about 1.5 feet. At a distance of one
mile, one-tenth of a second of angle covers about 0.003 feet.

The Level

Wye Level Automatic Level

The surveyor uses a level to determine elevations. Levels fall into three
broad categories: a "dumpy" level, a "Wye" (or 'Y') level, and "automatic"
level. As with all tools of the surveyor, there are various degrees of accuracy
within each category of level.

A "dumpy" level has a telescope with cross hairs permanently mounted in a

pair of arms.

A "Wye level has a telescope with cross hairs that is removable from the
arms.

An "automatic" level is basically a dumpy level, but it has a built in

compensator that automatically adjusts for minor errors in the set up of the
instrument.

In conjunction with a level, the surveyor will use a "level rod" to read an
elevation up or down from the level of the telescope. From these
observations, a surveyor can determine differences in elevation of different
points or transfer an elevation from one location to a distant location.

The Solar Compass

 The solar compass is a compass with a very special
purpose of easily determining "Latitude" and "True
North". The solar compass was invented in 1835 by
William Austin Burt of Michigan after he had
discovered the iron deposits located in the state and
concluded that a regular compass would give such
erroneous readings as to be almost useless. By making observations on the
sun or other stars, the latitude of the location can first be determined and then
"True North" can be determined. The solar compass also has the ability to
measure horizontal angles much like a transit.

The solar compass was such an important invention that within a matter of a
few years it was required by law to be used on the surveys of the public
lands.

William Austin Burt also made another significant invention. In 1829 he

patented the first "typographer", or as we would refer to it today, the
typewriter.

Modern surveying instruments provides faster and more precise surveying

than conventional instruments. Their types and uses are discussed in this
article.

In conventional surveying, chain and tape are used for making linear
measurements while compass and ordinary theodolites are used for making
angular measurements. Leveling work is carried out using a Dumpy level and
a leveling staff. With such surveying instruments, survey work will be slow
and tedious.
Hence modern surveying instruments are becoming more popular and they
are gradually replacing old surveying instruments such as compass and
Dumpy level. With modern surveying instruments, survey work will be
precise, faster and less tedious. Some of the modern surveying instruments
are discussed in this article.

Modern Surveying Instruments and Their Uses

Following are the modern surveying instruments which are used for
surveying:
 Electronic Distance Measurement (EDM) Instruments
Total Station
Global Positioning System (GPS)
Automatic Level

1. Electronic Distance Measurement (EDM) Instruments

Direct measurement of distances and their directions can be obtained by
using electronic instruments that rely on propagation, reflection and
reception of either light waves or radio waves. They may be broadly
classified into three types:

a. Infrared wave instruments

b. Light wave instruments

c. Microwave instruments

a. Infrared Wave Instruments

These instruments measure distances by using amplitude modulated infrared
waves. At the end of the line, prisms mounted on target are used to reflect
the waves. These instruments are light and economical and can be mounted
on theodolites for angular measurements. The range of such an instrument
will be 3 km and the accuracy achieved is 10 mm.

E.g. DISTOMAT DI 1000 and DISTOMAT DI 5

DISTOMAT DI 1000
It is a very small, compact EDM, particularly useful in building construction
and other Civil Engineering works, where distance measurements are less
than 500 m. It is an EDM that makes the meaning tape redundant. To
measure the distance, one has to simply point the instrument to the
reflector, touch a key and read the result.
b. Light Wave Instruments
These are the instruments which measures distances based on propagation
of modulated light waves. The accuracy of such an instrument varies from
0.5 to 5 mm / km distance and has a range of nearly 3 km.

Eg: Geodimeter

Geodimeter
Geodimeter is an instrument which works based on the propagation of
modulated light waves, was developed by E. Bergestand of the Swedish
Geological Survey in collaboration with the manufacturer M/s AGA of
Swedish. The instrument is more suitable for night time observations and
requires a prism system at the end of the line for reflecting the waves.
c. Microwave Instruments
These instruments make use of high frequency radio waves. These
instruments were invented as early as 1950 in South Africa by Dr. T.L.
Wadley. The range of these instruments is up to 100 km and can be used
both during day and might.

Eg. Tellurometer

Tellurometer
It is an EDM which uses high frequency radio waves (micro-waves) for
measuring distances. It is a highly portable instrument and can be worked
with 12 to 24-volt battery.

For measuring distance, two Tellurometers are required, one to be stationed

at each end of the line, with two highly skilled persons, to take observations.
One instrument is used as a master unit and the other as a remote unit.

Just by pressing a button a master can be converted into remote unit and
vice-versa. A speech facility (communication facility) is provided to each
operator to interact during measurement.

Total Station
Total Station is a lightweight, compact and fully integrated electronic
instrument combining the capability of an EDM and an angular measuring
instrument such as wild theodolite.

An alidade (archaic forms include alhidade, alhidad, alidad) or a turning board is a device that
allows one to sight a distant object and use the line of sight to perform a task. This task can be, for
example, to draw a line on a plane table in the direction of the object or to measure the angle to the
object from some reference point. Angles measured can be horizontal, vertical or in any chosen
plane.
The alidade was originally a part of many types of scientific and astronomical instrument. At one
time, some alidades, particularly those used on graduated circles as on astrolabes, were also
called diopters.[1] With modern technology, the name is applied to complete instruments such as
the plane table alidade.
Gunter's chain or the surveyor's chain (also known as Gunters measurement or surveyors
measurement) is a distance measuring device used for land survey. It was designed and introduced
in 1620 by English clergyman and mathematician Edmund Gunter (15811626) long before the
development of the theodolite and other more sophisticated equipment, enabling plots of land to be
accurately surveyed and plotted, for legal and commercial purposes.
Gunter developed an actual measuring chain of 100 links. These, the chain and the link, have
become units of their own.