Errors in Leveling
A. Instrumental Error s
a. Instrument out of adjustment
b. Rod not standard length
c. Defective Tripod
B. Personal Errors
a. Bubble not centered
b. Parallax
c. Faulty Rod Readings
d. Rod not held Plumb
e. Incorrect Setting of Target
f. Unequal Backsight and Foresight Distances
C. Natural Errors
a. Curvature of the earth
b. Atmospheric refraction
c. Temperature variations
d. Wind
e. Settlement of the instrument
f. Faulty turning points
Common Mistakes in Leveling
A. Misreading the rod
B. Incorrect recording
C. Erroneous computations
D. Rod not fully extended
E. Moving turning points
Adjustment of the Dumpy Level
1. Adjustment of the cross hairs
a. Procedure of testing
b. Making the adjustment
i. loosening two pairs of capstan head screws which hold the reticle.
ii. An adjustment pin is inserted into one of the holes of the screws to turn it
slowly while using the pin as a lever.
iii. Reticle is turned as necessary by trial or tapped lightly with a light object
to allow it to move into a correct position.
iv. Testing procedure is repeated
2. Adjustment of the level vial
a. Procedure of testing
b. Making the adjustment
c. Adjustment of the line of sight
TWO PEG TEST
-method of checking and recalibrating a level or transit
- simple way of testing the accuracy of a level, and if you know which screw to turn (for
analog instruments) or menu to follow (for a digital level), you can adjust it to remove the
error.
- all instruments are subject to errors. The checking of the instrument (level) is therefore
important.
- the main error is where the line of sight is not parallel to the horizontal line of
collimation. In this case your levels will not be correct.
- this test determines the amount of error and if an error occurs notify the technician (the
level must be serviced.)
Where:
a=rod reading on A with instrument set up near A
b= rod reading on B with instrument set up near A
c= rod reading on B with instrument set up near B
d= rod reading on A with instrument set up near B
Computed Different in elevation for the two set-ups:
𝑫𝑬𝒂 = 𝒂 − 𝒃 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝑬𝒃 = 𝒅 − 𝒄 ; if the two differences in elevation are equal, the line of
sight is in adjustment.
True difference in elevation between A and B:
𝑫𝑬𝒂 + 𝑫𝑬𝒃
𝑻𝑫𝑬 =
𝟐
If 𝑫𝑬𝒂 is not equal to 𝑫𝑬𝒃 , the correct rod read at A with the instrument still set up near B
is:
𝒅′ = 𝒄 + 𝑻𝑫𝑬
CONDITIONS:
If d > d’ then line of sight is inclined upward
If d<d’ then line of sight is inclined downward.
I. In a two peg test of a dumpy level, the following observations were taken.
Rod Reading Instrument Set Up near A Instrument Set Up near B
On Point A 1.505 m 0.938 m
On Point B 2.054 m 1.449m
Requirements:
a. Determine if the line of sight is in adjustment and explain your answer.
b. If the line of sight is not in adjustment, determine the correct rod reading on A with the
instruments still set up near B.
c. Determine the error in the line of sight for the net distance AB.
d. Explain how the line of sight of the instrument should be adjusted.
Solution:
a. 𝐷𝐸𝑎 = 𝑎 − 𝑏 = 1.505 − 2.054 = −0.549𝑚 difference in elevation between A and B
determined with instrument set up near A
𝐷𝐸𝑏 = 𝑑 − 𝑐 = 0.938 − 1.449 = −0.511𝑚 difference in elevation between A and B
determined with instrument set up near B
Since 𝐷𝐸𝑎 ≠ 𝐷𝐸𝐵 , 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝐷𝐸𝑎 +𝐷𝐸𝑏 −0.549+(−0.511)
b. 𝑇𝐷𝐸 = 2
= 2
=
−0.530𝑚 (𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑤𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵)
′
𝑑 = 𝑐 + 𝑇𝐷𝐸 = 1.449 + (−0.530)
= 0.919𝑚 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑟𝑜𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝐴 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑢𝑝 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐵
c. e=d-d’ =0.938-0.919=0.019m (error in the line of sight)
d. since d>d’, the line of sight is inclined upward. To adjust the line of sight, loosen the
upper capstan headed screw and tighten the lower screw until the horizontal cross hair
reads 0.919m or d’ on the rod held at A while the instrument is still set up near B.
ALTERNATE PROCEDURE OF TWO-PEG TEST
A. Procedure for Testing
𝑻𝑫𝑬 = 𝑫𝑬𝒎 = 𝒂 − 𝒃
Difference in Elevation:
𝑫𝑬𝑷 = 𝒄 − 𝒅
If 𝐷𝐸𝑚 = 𝐷𝐸𝑃 , the line of sight is parallel to the axis of the level tube. Thus horizontal.
If not; then the inclination of the line of sight is:
𝑰 = 𝑫𝑬𝒎 − 𝑫𝑬𝑷
From figure: the error in the reading on the far rod at B can be determined by
proportion as follows:
𝒆𝒇 𝑫𝒃
𝑰
=𝑫
𝒃 −𝑫𝒂
Correct rod reading d’:
𝒅′ = 𝒅 − 𝒆𝒇
If d > d’ then line of sight is inclined upward
If d< d’ then line of sight is inclined downward.
Error in the reading on the near rod at A:
𝒆𝒏 𝑫𝒂
𝒄′ = 𝒄 − 𝒆𝒏; 𝑰
=𝑫
𝒃 −𝑫𝒂
Checking:
a -b=c’-d’
I. Problem
In the two-peg test of a dumpy level, the following observations are taken:
Rod Reading Instrument set up near M Instrument set up near
P
On point A 0.296m 1.563m
On point B 0.910m 2.140m
Point M is equidistant from both A and B, while P is 2.50 m away from A along the
extension of line AB and 79.27m from B.
Requirements:
a. Determine the true difference in elevation between points A and B.
b. Check if the line of sight is in adjustment
c. If the instrument needs to be adjusted, determine the following:
i. False difference in elevation
ii. Inclination of the line of sight
iii. The error in the reading on the far rod.
d. With the level still set up at P, determine the rod reading on B to which the line of
sight should be adjusted. Explain.
e. Perform Customary check.
Solution:
a. 𝑻𝑫𝑬 = 𝑫𝑬𝒎 = 𝒂 − 𝒃 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟗𝟔 − 𝟎. 𝟗𝟏𝟎 =
−𝟎. 𝟔𝟏𝟒𝒎(𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒗 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑨 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩)
b. 𝑫𝑬𝑷 = 𝒄 − 𝒅 = 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔𝟑 − 𝟐. 𝟏𝟒𝟎 = −𝟎. 𝟓𝟕𝟕𝒎
since: 𝑫𝑬𝒎 ≠ 𝑫𝑬𝒑, line of sight is not in adjustment
c. False De=Dep= - 0.577m
𝑰 = 𝑫𝑬𝒎 − 𝑫𝑬𝑷 = −𝟎. 𝟔𝟏𝟒 − (−𝟎. 𝟓𝟕𝟕) = −𝟎. 𝟎𝟑𝟕𝒎 (inclination of line of sight)
𝒆𝒏 𝑳𝒃
=
𝑰 𝑳𝒃 − 𝑳𝒂
𝟕𝟗.𝟐𝟕
𝒆𝒇 = (𝟕𝟗.𝟐𝟕−𝟐.𝟓𝟎) (−𝟎. 𝟎𝟑𝟕) = −. 𝟎𝟑𝟖𝒎 error in reading on far rod
d. 𝒅′ = 𝒅 − 𝒆𝒇 = 𝟐. 𝟏𝟒𝟎 − (−𝟎. 𝟎𝟑𝟖) = 𝟐. 𝟏𝟕𝟖𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝑩
d<d’ line of sight is inclined downward/
𝒆𝒏 𝑳𝒂
e. 𝑰
=𝑳
𝒃 −𝑳𝒂
𝟐 ⋅ 𝟓𝟎
𝒆𝒏 = (−𝟎. 𝟎𝟑𝟕) = −𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟐𝒎 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒓𝒐𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝑨
𝟕𝟗. 𝟐𝟕 − 𝟐. 𝟓𝟎
𝒄′ = 𝒄 − 𝒆𝒏 = 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔𝟑 − (−𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟏𝟐)
= 𝟏. 𝟓𝟔𝟒𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝑨 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕
To check: a -b=c’-d’=-0.614m
