COMPASS RULE
Adjustment of Bearing and Distance
of a Closed Traverse
ILLUSTRATION
Consider the given data below. Determine the
correct bearing and distance using the Compass
Rule.
STA
DIST. BEARING LATITUDE DEPARTURE
OCC. OBS.
A B 80.40 N 76° 00‘ E
B C 46.30 S 36° 00‘ E
C D 72.80 S 61° 00‘ W
D E 68.00 N 38° 00‘ W
SUM
STEP 1
• Compute for the Latitude and Departure and
determine their respective algebraic sum.
STA
DIST. BEARING LATITUDE DEPARTURE
OCC. OBS.
A B 80.40 N 76° 00‘ E 19.451 78.012
B C 46.30 S 36° 00‘ E -37.457 27.214
C D 72.80 S 61° 00‘ W -35.294 -63.672
D A 68.00 N 38° 00‘ W 53.585 -41.865
ALGEBRAIC SUM 0.285 -0.311
NOTE: If the algebraic sum of the latitude and departure is not equal to zero,
then it should be corrected.
STEP 2
• Using the formula below, compute for the correction
for each latitude and departure.
𝑑
𝑐𝑙/𝑑 = × 𝐶𝐿/𝐷
𝐷
Where:
c = correction for departure or latitude
d = distance of a line
D = perimeter or sum of all the distances of the
lines
C = algebraic sum of latitudes or departures
STEP 2
• Correction for Latitudes
d 80.40
AB: cl = × CL = × 0.285 = 0.0857
D 267.5
d 46.30
BC: cl = × CL = × 0.285 = 0.0493
D 267.5
d 72.80
CD: cl = × CL = × 0.285 = 0.0776
D 267.5
d 68.00
DA: cl = × CL = × 0.285 = 0.0724
D 267.5
STEP 2
• Correction for Departures
d 80.40
AB: cd = × CD = × 0.311 = 0.0935
D 267.5
d 46.30
BC: cd = × CD = × 0.311 = 0.0538
D 267.5
d 72.80
CD: cd = × CD = × 0.311 = 0.0846
D 267.5
d 68.00
DA: cd = × CD = × 0.311 = 0.0791
D 267.5
STEP 3
• Adjust each latitudes and departures. If the
algebraic sum of the latitudes or departure is
positive (+), then subtract the corrections,
otherwise add the corrections.
STEP 3
• Adjustment of the Latitudes
Since the algebraic sum of the latitudes is positive, then the
correction should be subtracted.
STA ADJUSTED
DIST. BEARING LATITUDE CORRECTION
OCC. OBS. LATITUDE
A B 80.40 N 76° 00‘ E 19.451 -0.0857 19.3653
B C 46.30 S 36° 00‘ E -37.457 -0.0493 -37.5063
C D 72.80 S 61° 00‘ W -35.294 -0.0776 -35.3716
D A 68.00 N 38° 00‘ W 53.585 -0.0724 53.5126
SUM 0.285 0
STEP 3
• Adjustment of the Departures
Since the algebraic sum of the departures is negative, then the
correction should be added.
STA ADJUSTED
DIST. BEARING DEPARTURE CORRECTION
OCC. OBS. DEPARTURE
A B 80.40 N 76° 00‘ E 78.012 +0.0935 78.1055
B C 46.30 S 36° 00‘ E 27.214 +0.0538 27.2678
C D 72.80 S 61° 00‘ W -63.672 +0.0846 -63.5874
D A 68.00 N 38° 00‘ W -41.865 +0.0791 -41.7859
SUM -0.311 0
STEP 4
• From the adjusted Latitudes and Departures,
compute for the Adjusted Bearing and
Distance for each line.
−1
Adj. Dep.
Adjusted Bearing = tan
Adj. Lat.
Adjusted Distance = Adj. Dep.2 + Adj. Lat.2
STEP 4
• Adjusted Distance and Adjusted Bearing
STA ADJUSTED ADJUSTED ADJUSTED
ADJUSTED BEARING
OCC. OBS. LATITUDE DEPARTURE DISTANCE
A B 19.3653 78.1055 80.4704 N 76° 04’30.07” E
B C -37.5063 27.2678 46.3708 S 36° 01’04.34” E
C D -35.3716 -63.5874 72.7634 S 60° 54’51.25” W
D A 53.5126 -41.7859 67.8945 N 37° 59’05.6” W
SUM
ASSIGNMENT
Determine the adjusted distance and bearing of the
closed traverse as shown below using COMPASS RULE.
Convert first each azimuths to bearing. Write your
solutions on a clean yellow paper.
STA
DIST. AZIM. NORTH LATITUDE DEPARTURE
OCC. OBS.
A B 233.10 122° 30'
B C 242.05 85° 15'
C D 191.50 20° 00'
D E 234.46 333° 35'
E F 270.65 254° 05'
F A 252.38 213° 00'
SUM