INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE

FIELD METHOD OF RESECTION USING TOTAL STATION

Department of Civil Engineering
Geomatics Engineering Specialization
IIT Roorkee

Presented By:

Dr. Siddhartha Khare

Course Structure

Modules No of Lectures
Total Station– Module I 3
• Concept and equipment
• Levelling, centering and orientation
• Horizontal angle measurement
• Vertical angle and distance
measurement
Total Station – Module II 1
• Concept of Resection
• Two-point problem
• Distance resection
• Three-point problem
• Angular Resection

2
Resection Concept

A F f
a

B D b d

E
C e
c

Control Point

3
Resection Concept..

A F f
a

B D b d

E
C e
c

Control Point

4
Resection Concept..

F a f
A
D b d
B

E
C e
c

Control Point

5
Resection Concept..

• In surveying, resection (also known as free stationing) is a

method of determining a location of one unknown point in
relation to known points.

Source: Kavanagh B.F. and Slattery D. K. Surveying: with construction

applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson; 2010.

6
Two-point problem
DAY 1 of TRAVERSE

A F

a f D
B b d
c e

E
C

Control Point
Plane Table Location

7
Two-point problem..
DAY 2 of TRAVERSE

A F
Control Point
Unknown Point Location

The two-point problem consists of

locating the position of a plane
table/total station station on
the drawing sheet/map by
observation of two well defined
points, whose positions
have already been plotted on
plan/map.

8
Resection using Total Station

• With the advent of

total stations, the
problem is greatly
simplified.

Source: Kavanagh B.F. and

Slattery D. K. Surveying: with
construction applications. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson;
2010.

9
Distance Resection

10
Distance Resection..

11
 Distance Resection..
Step 1: Calculate the Distance between
Step 2: Apply cosine rule to calculate the ∠P
A and B
𝐴𝐵2 = 𝐴𝑃2 + 𝐵𝑃2 − 2𝐴𝑃 × 𝐵𝑃 × 𝑐𝑜𝑠P
𝐴𝐵 = (𝐸2 − 𝐸1 )2 +(𝑁2 − 𝑁1 )2
+N (N2, E2)
Step 3: Apply sine rule to calculate the ∠A
B
𝐵𝑃
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝐴 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑃
𝐴𝐵
+N Step 4: Calculate whole circle bearing of AB
𝐸2 − 𝐸1
𝑊𝐶𝐵𝐴𝐵 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1
𝑁2 − 𝑁1
WCBAB Step 5: Calculate whole circle bearing of AP
∆E 𝑊𝐶𝐵𝐴𝑃 = 𝑊𝐶𝐵𝐴𝐵 + ∠A
P (Unknown
Point)
Step 6: Coordinate difference between the
WCBAP
∆N control point and the unknown point
∆𝐸 = AP× sin(𝑊𝐶𝐵𝐴𝑃 )
A (N1, E1) ∆𝑁 = AP × cos(𝑊𝐶𝐵𝐴𝑃 )
N1 Step 7: Easting and Northing of unknown point P
+E 𝐸𝑃 = 𝐸1 + ∆𝐸
𝑁𝑃 = 𝑁1 + ∆𝑁
E1
12
Three-point problem

• Three well defined points having locations already being plotted X

• These points will find and subsequently plot the location

• In a correctly oriented plane table, resectors through well x

defined points get intersected at a point P P

y z

• Point P represents the location of the plane table

Y Z

13
Three Point Problem..

• If the orientation of the plane table is not

proper, the intersection of the resectors X
through the three points will not meet at a
point but will form a triangle, known as
triangle of error.

x
Triangle of Error

y z

Y Z

14
Angular Resection using Tienstra’s
Method
• P – Location of unknown point • Mathematical computation
• A B and C- Three points of known Step 1: 𝐸𝐶 − 𝐸𝐴 𝐸𝐵 − 𝐸𝐴
coordinates 𝑎 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ( ) − 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ( )
𝑁𝐶 − 𝑁𝐴 𝑁𝐵 − 𝑁𝐴
• ∠ x+ ∠ y+ ∠ z = 360֯ 𝐸𝐴 − 𝐸𝐵 𝐸 − 𝐸𝐵
−1 −1 𝐶
𝑏 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ( ) − 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ( )
𝑁𝐴 − 𝑁𝐵 𝑁𝐶 − 𝑁𝐵
B
𝐸𝐵 − 𝐸𝐶 𝐸𝐴 − 𝐸𝐶
𝑐 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ( ) − 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ( )
C 𝑁𝐵 − 𝑁𝐶 𝑁𝐴 − 𝑁𝐶
Step 2:
1 1
𝐾1 = 𝐾2 =
𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑎 − 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑏 − 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑦
Z 1
A X 𝐾3 =
𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑐 − 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝑧

Step 3:
y P 𝐾1 𝐸𝐴 + 𝐾2 𝐸𝐵 + 𝐾3 𝐸𝐶
𝐸𝑃 =
𝐾1 + 𝐾2 + 𝐾3
𝐾1 𝑁𝐴 + 𝐾2 𝑁𝐵 + 𝐾3 𝑁𝐶
𝑁𝑃 =
𝐾1 + 𝐾2 + 𝐾3
15
Precautions During Resection

Desirable arrangement

Known Points
Unknown Points
Indeterminate solution -
The position of unknown
point lies on or near the
circumference of the great
circle.

16
Precautions During Resection..
• When control points on the edge of a single circle then take one of the following
measure
Move the instrument
station as close as
possible to the
center of the triangle

Observe one more

known point which is
not on the circle

Perform the distance

measurement on at least
one of the three points

17
Thumb rules for Total station-based
Resection
• Use methodological numbering system
• Always use 3 or more control points
• Don’t use small angles
• Try to use control points that give a 90 ֯angle for the total
station
• Use control points outside the work area to mitigate errors

18
Next Class

Modules No of Lectures
Total Station– Module I 3
• Concept and equipment
• Levelling, centering and orientation
• Horizontal angle measurement
• Vertical angle and distance
measurement
Total Station – Module II 1
• Concept of Resection
• Two-point problem
• Distance resection
• Three-point problem
• Angular Resection
Total Station – Module III 1
• Numerical Problems

19
Reference Books

• Punmia, B.C., 2005. Surveying Vol. I (Vol. 1). Firewall Media.

• Duggal, S.K., 2013. Surveying (Vol. 1). Tata McGraw-Hill
Education.
• Kavanagh, B.F. and Slattery, D.K., 2010. Surveying: with
construction applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

20
Thank You

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