Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Unit 5 Modern Surveying Equipment: Structure
Unit 5 Modern Surveying Equipment: Structure
Structure
5.1 5.2 Introduction
Objectives
5.3
5.4
Total Station
5.4.1 Concept of Total Station 5.4.2 Working of Total Station 5.4.3 Accuracy Considerations
5.5 5.6
5.7 5.8
5.1 INTRODUCTION
The measurement of angles and distances is the focus of all land surveying jobs. In your earlier courses, you have been introduced to the use of a number of field equipment for a variety of surveying works such as control establishment, route surveying, construction and mapping surveys. Over the years, due to the advancement in electronics and computer technologies, a range of electronic equipment have been developed in the field of surveying and levelling. With the introduction of these equipment, not only the efficiency of the work has increased but the jobs can now be performed with more precision and accuracy within much lesser time than before. Further, with the inclusion of data recording facilities in these equipment, a large amount of data can be stored in proper format which can then be analysed with the computer. Some of the modern equipment are Electronic Distance Measuring (EDM) equipment, Optical and Electronic Theodolites, Auto and Digital Levels, Total Stations and Global Positioning System (GPS). These equipment can provide accurate data in no time that can be recorded in suitable media which can then be connected to a computer to generate quality map products. 93
Advanced Survey
In this unit, an introduction to some important modern surveying equipment and their use has been explained. The first section deals with the angle measuring equipment such as micro-optic and electronic theodolites. In the next section, the EDM has been discussed. This is followed by a discussion on electronic and auto levels. The penultimate section provides details on the Total Station that can be used for angle, distance and height measurements in one go. In the last section, an introduction to the latest technology, namely GPS, has been provided.
Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to get an overview of some commonly used modern surveying equipment and their uses, and understand the working of these new generation equipment for field surveying jobs.
A list showing the performance of some of the direction measuring equipment is given in Table 5.1. Table 5.1 : Some Micro-optic Theodolites for Angle Measurement
Sl. No. Name of Instrument Make Least Count Direct (Seconds) 1. 2. 3. 4. T2 (Universal) T3 (Precision) T4 (Astronomy) Theo 010 Leica, Switzerland Leica, Switzerland Leica, Switzerland Zeiss, Germany 1.0 0.2 0.1 1.0 Estimation (Seconds) 0.5 0.1 0.05 0.1
Wild T3 theodolite is used for geodetic triangulation and all other precise surveys whereas Wild T4 theodolite is commonly used for astronomical determination of co-ordinates and azimuth. Wild T2 and Zeiss Theo 010 are commonly used for engineering surveys.
95
Advanced Survey
(i) (j)
The instrument can be used for various surveying operations such as laying off angles, prolonging a straight line, balancing in, intersection of two lines etc.
5.3
For providing precise horizontal control using trilateration (Section 6.3.1 of this block), it is necessary that the distances be measured as accurately as possible. The advent of EDM has made this possible. The EDM was first introduced in the late 1950. Since then, many refinements to these equipment have been made. The earlier EDMs were very big, heavy and expensive. With the advancements in electronic and computer technologies, these have become smaller, simpler and less expensive. The EDMs come in two parts : the instrument and the reflector. The Instrument The EDMs are generally of two types : electro-optical systems and electronic systems. The electro-optical systems use either light and laser waves or infrared waves whereas electronic systems use microwaves. The microwave systems require transmitter/receiver at both ends of the line to be measured. The infrared system requires a transmitter at one end and a reflector at the other end. The microwave systems are capable of measuring distances up to a limit of 100 kms whereas the infrared EDMs come in three
96
different ranges, long range (10-20 km), medium range (3-10 km) and short range (0.5-3 km) equipment. A typical EDM is shown in Figure 5.2(a). The Reflector The reflector is usually a prism or a set of prisms (Figure 5.2(b)). Generally, a cube corner prism is used that has the characteristic of reflecting light rays precisely back in the same direction as they are received. This means that even if the prism is somewhat misaligned with respect to the EDM, it can still be effective. These prisms can be mounted on a tripod or a pole held vertical on the point. For higher accuracy, the prisms should be mounted on a tripod. The height of the prism is normally set equal to the height of the instrument.
Recently, some EDMs have been introduced that can measure the distances without reflectors. In these situations, the surface itself behaves as a reflector. However, the EDMs without reflectors can only be used for the measurement of shorter distances within 1 km and also with reduced accuracy. The EDM when mounted on a precise theodolite can be used to determine both slope and vertical distances. This arrangement has given rise to another category of surveying instrument known as Total Station or Field Station.
. . . (5.1) 97
Advanced Survey
E 1 2 3
n-1
S Station Z Target
E Reference plane within the distance meter for phase comparison between transmitted and received wave R Reference plane for the reflection of the wave transmitted by the distance meter
Figure 5.3 : Principle of EDM Measurement (Source : Kavanagh and Bird, 1996)
In Figure 5.3, a modulated wave transmitted by the instrument and its reflection back to it is shown. It can be seen that the double distance 2L can be determined by knowing the total number of wavelengths plus the fraction of wavelength reaching the EDM. Thus,
L= ( n + ) 2
. . . (5.2)
The fraction wavelength can be determined in the instrument by noting the phase delay required to precisely match the transmitted and reflected waves. The instruments are designed to determine the number of wavelengths (n) within seconds and compute the distance in no time. Corrections Since the wave travels through the atmosphere, the velocity of the wave may be affected by temperature, pressure and water vapour content. Therefore, the appropriate corrections for these must be applied. Normally, the provision for these corrections is made in the instruments themselves by supplying the required values of the prevailing atmospheric quantities on the day of measurement. Alternatively, these corrections can be applied manually by looking at the charts and graphs (showing the relationships between the quantities and the corrections) provided by the manufacturers of the instrument. It may, however, be mentioned that the effect of atmosphere is more pronounced in long distances of the order of kilometers. For short distances, less than a kilometer, the atmospheric corrections are less significant and may not be required.
98
Once zero error is found out, the measurements can be taken. The typical operation of any EDM involves four basic steps of setting up, bisection, observing and recording. Setting Up The EDM instrument is first inserted into the tribrach on the tripod, which is centered exactly over the station mark through optical plummet. Reflector is set over the other point of the line whose distance is to be measured. The power of the instrument is turned on and certain initial checks are made. For example, to examine proper working of the battery and the display. Bisection The instrument is unclamped to bisect the reflector through the built-in sighting device. There are horizontal and vertical tangent motion screws for exact bisection of the reflector. Observing The distances are measured by simply pressing the measurement key and waiting for a few seconds. The result appears on the LCD panels. If there is no display, the user should check the previous steps. Repeated measurements are often made to observe the distances with more precision by pressing the repeat mode key. Some of the corrections normally applied on the distances measured by EDM instruments are atmospheric and zero error correction, slope to horizontal distance conversion etc. Since the measurements obtained are slope distances, some EDM have built-in calculators to compute horizontal and vertical distances if the vertical angles are fed manually through the keypad. Recording These days, all the EDMs are supplied with an electronic field book wherein the measurements can be recorded directly or by manual entry. The observations must be accompanied with all relevant atmospheric and instrumental correction data.
99
Advanced Survey
The criterion for the selection of an EDM depends upon the range and accuracy achievable. The instrument capable of taking measurements to an error of 1 to 2 ppm is the best suited for geodetic control establishment. For civil engineering works, where accuracy requirement may not be high, short range EDM with 5 ppm error can be used.
Figure 5.4 : A Total Station (Courtesy : Elcome Technologies Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi)
100
(IS) 104 14 (BS) (IS) 103 Control Traverse (IS) 102 (IS) 101 13
11 Instrument Station
12 (FS)
101
Advanced Survey
Enter code of sighted station 14. Measure and enter the height of prism/reflector. Press appropriate measure key as there may be different keys for different measurements such as horizontal and vertical angles, horizontal and vertical distances etc. Press record button. From this traverse station, any number of points signifying the topographical features such as 101, 102, 103 are sighted and their measurements recorded. For doing this, the prism mounted on a pole has to be moved to the respective points. Once measurement and recording of all the points is completed, the Total Station is moved to the next traverse station (i.e., 12) and the procedure is repeated till all the stations are covered.
(f) (g)
(h)
Transfer of Data and Its Processing All the models of the Total Station are supplied with software for processing the data stored in the data collector or electronic field book. The processing may require operations such as preliminary analysis, adjustments and coordinate computations. For example, to process the data from Leica models, the software LISCAD may be used. However, the software supplied with other model may also be used to process the data captured by Leica model through some manipulations. For any data processing, first the data have to be downloaded from the electronic field book to computer where the software is installed. It is possible to connect the field book directly to the computer through a cable. Otherwise, the data stored in the memory card of the field book can be inserted into appropriate slot in the computer for its transfer. The data transfer is followed by desired processing operation for the computation of coordinates of points and features. Plotting of Details After processing the field data in the desired form (i.e., the coordinates), the data required for plotting may be assembled and the survey can be quickly plotted at any scale on a printer or a plotter. The symbols necessary for plotting different topographical features can be extracted from the symbol library provided in the software. Some software have the provision of generating your own symbols, if these are not available in the software.
102
SAQ 1
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) (l) Give the full form of abbreviations, EDM, LCD, LED, ppm. Differentiate between micro-optic and electronic theodolites. What is the function of an optical plummet? Describe the reading system of a typical micro-optic theodolite. Write down the steps required for setting up of an eletronic or micro-optic theodolite. What are two different types of EDM? What is a reflector?
On what principle the working of an EDM is based? Write four basic steps of working with an EDM. How will you signify the accuracy of an EDM? Define Total Station. What are the two basic designs of a total station? Explain the difference. (m) Describe the steps for the operation of an EDM.
103
Advanced Survey
elevations are determined indirectly by taking measurements of horizontal and vertical angles. The trigonometric levelling and tacheometric surveying are the examples of indirect levelling. These two procedures are described in detail in Units 1 and 2 of this Block. The automatic levels differ from other forms of spirit levels in the sense that these have a compensating device that maintains the horizontal line of sight when the instrument is approximately levelled (Figure 5.6). This increases the efficiency of the levelling work. In fact, automatic levels have become very popular these days and are available from most of the surveying manufacturers. They are quick to set up and easy to use. These levels are similar in design to any other level as these also have a three levelling screws and a circular bubble. The instrument is quickly levelled using the circular bubble and these screws. After this, the compensator takes over and automatically makes the line of sight horizontal even if the telescope is slightly tilted. Once the line of slight is horizontal, same levelling operations can be performed as with any other level used in spirit levelling.
Figure 5.6 : An Auto Level (Courtesy : Elcome Technologies Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi)
These days, auto levels have arrangements for digital displays and data collectors and are thus named as Digital levels. These are supplied with a bar coded staff. As soon as the staff is bisected, the readings are automatically recorded in the data collector that can then be connected with a computer for data reduction and analysis. These bar coded staves can read to a least count of 0.001 mm.
104
Provision of geodetic control. Alignment surveys. Large Scale Mapping. Navigation of ships and aircrafts. Crustal movement studies. Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
GPS has three segments (a) (b) (c) Space segment Control segment User segment
Space Segment The space segment consists of 24 satellites and 5 additional satellites. These satellites are placed in six orbital plane at a height of 26,200 km semi major axis. Each orbit is inclined at 55 degrees to the equator and each satellite completes one rotation in 12 hours of sidereal time. This provides a repeat satellite configuration every day four minutes earlier in respect to universal time. All these satellites carry very precise atomic clock with an accuracy ranging from 1 10 12 to 1 10 13 seconds. Each satellite transmits signals on two carrier wave frequencies, L1 and L2, derived from fundamental frequency 10.23 MHz. L1 = 154 10.23 MHz = 1575.42 MHz (= 19.05 cm) L2 = 120 10.23 MHz = 1227.60 MHz (= 24.45 cm) The GPS signals must provide some means to determine the position on real time basis. To achieve this, the carrier phase is modulated with Pseudo Random Noise (PRN) codes. There are two types of codes in use, the P-code (Precision or Protected code) and the C/A code (Clear/Acquisition code). Control Segment There are five control stations around the globe that continuously track the satellites and feed the information to the Master Control station at Colorado, USA. At control stations, the pseudoranges (to be explained later) are determined to all the visible satellites. This information, along with local meteorological data, is sent to Master Control station. From these data, satellite ephemeris and the behaviour of the satellite clocks are computed which are then transmitted in the form of navigation (message) data to the ground antennas. User Segment A user segment consists of a GPS receiver with antenna and power supply unit. A GPS receiver must have enough channels with low noise level to collect data from all the available satellites. A minimum of eight channels is recommended for the determination of accurate position. The antenna is of two types Chock Ring and Microstrip antenna. 105
Advanced Survey
The hardware part of a GPS unit consists of two components which are the receiver and the antenna. The design of both receiver and antenna varies from one manufacturer to other. For civilian uses, most GPS receivers are single frequency, C/A code receivers. These receivers have access to both code and satellite message. The satellite message contains the broadcast ephemeris, clock correction coefficients, and the age of ephemeris data. It also provides information about the health status of the satellites. There are generally two software that are obtained with a GPS. These are instrument specific software and scientific software. The former is supplied with the GPS unit and is expected to perform the following jobs (a) (b) (c) To transfer data from GPS hardware to the computer. To provide baseline solutions. To perform datum transformation from WGS 84* to the desired projection. (*World Geodetic System of 1984 is a 3-D, Earth-centered official GPS reference system developed by US Defense Mapping agency.) (d) (e) To determine Geoid heights. Network adjustments.
Some of the instrument specific software are Ski, GPS Survey etc. The instrument specific software are generally suitable for processing short baselines of the order of 10 to 20 km. For processing of larger baselines of several hundred kilometers, it is necessary to consider all kinds of errors (to be discussed later) for obtaining high precision results. This requires complex mathematical algorithms. Therefore, many scientific software have been developed. Some of them are BERNESE, GAMIT etc. Besides performing the above mentioned jobs, these software are expected to carry out all sorts of error modelling tasks and their adjustment. In addition to the standard GPS equipment, some auxiliary equipment are also necessary. These include (a) (b) (c) (d) Tripod and Tribrach Antenna Cable Field computer Spare batteries
106
receiver has quartz clock. Thus, the computed distances (also referred to as range) shall be biased and, therefore, these are called pseudoranges. To compute the position based on this pseudorange, the error due to time bias has to be corrected. It is because of this reason that time is also taken as unknown and determined before deriving the true range. The range can be determined from
R= ( Xs X )2 + (Ys Y )2 + ( Zs Z ) 2
. . . (5.3)
where X, Y and Z are the co-ordinates of the point, on the ground and Xs, Ys and Zs denote the position of the satellite broadcast by the Master Control station. To find the true range, the time bias t has also to be considered. Thus,
R= ( Xs X ) 2 + (Ys Y ) 2 + ( Zs Z ) 2 + t c
. . . (5.4)
where c is the velocity of light. From Eq. (5.4), it can be seen that there are four unknowns (i.e., X, Y, Z and t). Therefore, the data from at least 4 satellites have to be collected for the solution of this equation. An alternative way to determine the pseudorange is the phase measurement technique. The technique is based on a simple principle that if the wave length, the full number of cycles elapsed between signal travelling from satellite antenna to receiver antenna and the length of part wavelength are known, then Range = N + (5.5) where N is the number of full cycle of wave length and is the length of part wave. The integer, number of cycles between the antenna and the satellite at the first phase measurement is called ambiguity. The initial ambiguity has to be determined with appropriate techniques to exploit the full accuracy potential of GPS carrier phase measurements. Ambiguity determination is one of the most demanding problems. Many ambiguity resolution algorithms are available that are implemented in the software component of the GPS unit. The position obtained by GPS is in the form of geographical coordinates (latitudes and longitudes) and in WGS 84 (World Geodetic System 84) coordinates. However, in India, the polyconic projection system on Everest spheroid is used for all the geodetic computations. Therefore, the coordinates obtained from GPS need to be appropriately transformed to polyconic map projection system. This can be achieved by finding out transformation parameters from known position of at least three points in both WGS-84 and polyconic projection system. Moreover, heights or elevations of points obtained from WGS-84 are ellipsoid heights. The height measured in point positioning mode can have errors up to 150 m. However, the ellipsoidal height difference can be measured with very high precision. For using GPS for determining heights, one receiver is kept at a point whose ellipsoidal height is known very accurately. Now, assuming that Everest and WGS-84 ellipsoids are parallel within a small region the heights of desired points can be determined by adding/subtracting the observed difference between the two ellipsoids. To get the orthometric height, a Geoidal separation correction is added at each point. 107 ...
Advanced Survey
108
Kinematic Positioning
When surveying is conducted for a local area and, thus, all baseline lengths are within several kilometers, then some of the systematic errors in carrier phase measurements will be negligible and will have no effect on the differential positioning result. In that case, one may resort to kinematic positioning. A very reduced length of point occupancy is the main advantage of this technique. Kinematic positioning can be carried out in two ways such as (a) (b) Pseudo Kinematic Surveying, and Stop and Go Surveying.
The pseudo-kinematic method calls for one receiver to remain static at the reference point while other receiver occupies all remote points in sequence. At each point, the roving receiver collects measurements for a few minutes. After at least one hour, the whole procedure is repeated and all remote points are reoccupied. The procedure is useful when there are a large number of points so that waiting time between point reoccupations may be avoided. The data collected in the first and second occupancy are combined in a processing scheme similar to the one used in static surveying. In Stop and Go surveying (also referred as semi-kinematic surveying), the carrier phase ambiguities are resolved before the actual survey begins. Once the ambiguities are resolved, surveyor moves one of the receivers through all the remote points in sequence. In this method, surveyors can accurately determine the differential position of remote points with observation periods as small as few seconds. The limitation with this method is that when roving receiver is moving between the remote points, it must maintain phase lock to at least four satellites for a successful survey. Accuracy at sub-centimeter level can be achieved with this method. The relative performance of different observation techniques is given in Table 5.4. On comparison, it can be stated that static positioning demands more observation time resulting in fewer base line measurements, although with greater accuracy. The truly kinematic positioning outputs the results in a preset time interval, resulting in greater turnouts and accurate positioning but not at the required ground points. For large-scale surveying, we need a technique that is in-between the static and kinematic. Therefore, pseudo-kinematic and Stop and Go techniques can be considered ideal for large scale surveying purposes. Pseudo kinematic can be used advantageously in areas where there is fear of signal shading due to vegetation, built areas, tall buildings and obstructions, as there is no requirement for the receiver to maintain its lock to the satellite during the movement of rover receiver. But in open areas, Stop and Go technique may prove useful. Table 5.4 : Relative Performance of GPS Surveying Methods
Method Navigational Solution Accuracy (i) 10 - 20 m (ii) 100 - 200m (i) 1.00 ppm (ii) 0.10 ppm (iii) 0.01 ppm (i) < 10m (ii) 10 cm Remarks ----------------SA and AS on Observations < 15 minutes Routinely obtained Achievable in special cases Moving land vehicles Aircraft positioning
Static Kinematic
Advanced Survey
In GPS solutions, varying levels of accuracy are associated with different survey and position techniques. The position is also effected by a system error known as Selective Availability (SA). Intentional degradation of quality of broadcast information is called Selective Availability. This has been introduced by USA to deny accurate positioning on real time basis. This can be done by deliberately degrading the stability of the satellite clock or by degrading the navigation message, transmitted by satellites. In May 2000, the SA has, however, been removed and, therefore, higher levels of accuracy can be expected from GPS. In Section 5.6.1, it was mentioned that there are two codes, i.e. C/A code and P-code (precision code). The P-code is available to certain selected group of users and is not available to all. The denial of P-code by USA is known as AntiSpoofing (AS). As per the announcement by Department of Defence, USA, the AS will remain on till the satellite constellation is complete. Thus, from Table 5.4, it can be reckoned that the GPS can provide an accuracy of 10 to 20 meter in point positioning mode provided neither SA nor AS is on. However, such accuracy is not sufficient for geodetic purpose. Therefore, the surveyors use the system in differential mode where most of the errors due to SA, Tropospheric and Ionospheric get cancelled out and the distance between two points with very high accuracy can be obtained instead of position. Thus, the equipment can be used for first order survey. A precision term commonly used while collecting GPS observations is called the Geometric Dilution of Precision (GDOP). It is a measure of strength of figure of the satellites being observed for finding out the position. The tracked satellites clustered at one place shall have large GDOP whereas well-distributed satellites shall have small. Smaller the GDOP, greater are the chances of achieving accurate position.
SAQ 2
(a) Give the full form of following abbreviations NAVSTAR, GPS, SA, AS, GDOP, WGS-84. (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) (l) 110 What do you mean by levelling? How do automatic levels differ from conventional spirit levels? Enumerate some applications of GPS. What are three segments of a GPS? What do you mean by a P-code and C/A code? What is the purpose of control segment? Describe major parts of a GPS equipment. What should be the requirements of a GPS software? Give basic principle of a GPS. Define pseudo-range. Differentiate between (i) pseudo-range and carrier phase measurements
(ii)
(iii) static and kinematic positioning (m) Describe two methods of kinematic positioning. (n) Define selective availability, anti-spoofing, geometric dillution of precision.
5.7 SUMMARY
Although a range of new surveying equipment has been developed by several manufacturers, the working principles of a given type of equipment remain the same. In this unit, you were exposed to some modern surveying equipment and their operation in the field. After reading this unit, you shall be able to handle electronic surveying instruments of different makes supplemented with their operation manual.
111