Ch 3.

Theory of Errors in Observations

I- Introduction:
Making observations (measurements), and subsequent computations and analyses
using them, are fundamental tasks of surveyors.
Good measurements require a combination of human skill and mechanical equipment
applied. No matter how carefully made, however, observations are never exact and
will always contain errors. Surveyors should understand the different kinds of errors,
their sources, and expected magnitudes under varying conditions, and their manner of
propagation. Only then can they select instruments and procedures necessary to
reduce error sizes to within tolerable limits.
Surveyors must be capable of assessing the magnitudes of errors in their observations
so that their acceptability can be verified.
II- Direct and Indirect Observations:
Observations may be made directly or indirectly.
Direct observations include taping, total station, etc
Indirect observations are made when it is not possible to apply a measuring
instrument directly to the quantity to be observed. The answer is therefore determined
by its relationship to some other observed values.
III- Errors in measurements:
By definition an error is the difference between an observed value, and its true value:
_
E=X-X
_
Where E is the error in an observation, X the observed value, and X the true value.
Note:
1234-

No observation is exact
Every observation contains errors
The true observation is never known
The exact error present is always unknown

IV- Mistakes:
These are observer blunders and are usually caused by misunderstanding the problem,
carelessness, fatigue, missed communication, or poor judgment.
Ex: - Transposing numbers: 73.96 instead of 73.69
- Reading an angle counterclockwise and indicating it as clockwise

V- Sources of errors in making observations:

Natural errors:
Caused by variations in wind, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, atmospheric
refraction, gravity, and magnetic declination.
Instrumental errors:
Caused from any imperfection in the construction or adjustment of instruments and from
the movement of individual parts. The effect of many instrumental errors can be reduced,
or even eliminated by adopting proper surveying procedures or applying computed
corrections.
Personal Errors:
Caused from limitations of the human senses of sight and touch.
VI- Types of errors:
2 types of observation errors:
- Systematic errors, also known as biases, result from factors that comprise the
measuring system and include the environment, instrument, and observer.
A systematic error is one for which the magnitude and algebraic sign can theoretically be
determined. Example: A tape is found the measure 99.94 m instead of 100m. Therefore
each time it is used an error of 0.06 m is generated.
- Random errors are those that remain in measured values after mistakes and systematic
errors have been eliminated. They are caused by factors beyond the control of the
observer, obey the laws of probability, and are sometimes called accidental errors.
A random error is one for which the magnitude and sign cannot be predicted.
Random errors tend to be small, and distributed on both sides of zero.
Example: reading the error differently, holding the signal differently,
Random errors tend to grow proportional to the square root of them.
VII- Precision and Accuracy:
A discrepancy is the difference between two observed values of the same quantity. A
small discrepancy indicates there are probably no mistakes and random errors are small.
Precision: refers to the degree of refinement or consistency of a group of observations,
and is evaluated on the basis of discrepancy size. If multiple observations are made of the
same quantity and small discrepancies result, this indicates high precision. The degree of
precision attainable is dependent on equipment sensitivity and observer skill.
Accuracy: denotes the absolute nearness of observed quantities to their true values.

The difference between precision and accuracy is perhaps best illustrated to target
shooting.

VIII- Probability with errors:

The most probable value is simply the mean of the observations:
__
M = M / n.
IX- Residuals:
__
=MM
__
is the residual of the observation M. M is the most probable value.
X- Occurrence of Random Errors:
The occurrence of random errors follows the normal distribution curve.
That means that for a certain number of observations, most errors will be around the
average error value, having smaller frequencies of larger errors.

A normal distribution curve has a mean and a standard deviation.

The mean is calculated as follows:

=/n
where = mean
= the residual of the independent observations (error)
n= number of observations
_________

= 2 / n-1
where = standard deviation
= the residual of the independent observations (error)
n = number of observations
The standard deviation establishes the limits within which observations are expected to
fall in 68.3 % of the time.
Eg: if an observation is repeated 10 times, 7 out of 10 times will fall within the limits of
SD.
For other %s, the following implies:

E50 = 0.6745
E90 = 1.6449
E95 = 1.9599
Where E** the percent error expected.
The 2 is frequently referred to as the 95% error occurrence and
The 3 is frequently referred to as the 99.7% error occurrence

XI- Error Propagation:

The process of evaluating errors in quantities computed from observed values which
contain errors is called error propagation.
Error of a Sum:
____________
Esum = Ea2 + Eb2 + Ec2
Where E represents , E50, E90, or E95
And a, b, c, the separate independent observations.
Error of a series:
__________
__
Eseries = E2 + E2 + E2 or Eseries = E n
Where n is the number of observations
Error of a product:
The equation fo propagated error in a product AB where Ea and Eb are the respective
errors of A and B is:
____________
Eprod = A2Eb2 + B2Ea2
Error of the mean:
__
Em = E / n

Ex:
Standard deviation calculations:
For the following data, compute the most probable value for the line length, its standard
deviation and errors having 50, and 95 % probability.
Length (ft)
538.57
538.39
538.37
538.39
538.48
538.49
538.33
538.46
538.47
538.55
SUM = 5384.50

Residual (ft)
+0.12
-0.06
-0.08
-0.06
+0.03
+0.04
-0.12
+0.01
+0.02
+0.10
SUM = 0.00

2
0.0144
0.0036
0.0064
0.0036
0.0009
0.0016
0.0144
0.0001
0.0004
0.01
SUM= 0.0554

__
M = 5384.50 / 10 = 538.45 ft

= 0.08 ft
E50 = 0.05 ft
E95 = 0.13 ft
Ex 2:
Assume that a line is observed in three sections, with individual parts equal to (753.81
0.012) ft, (1238.40, 0.028) and (1062.95, 0.020) ft, respectively. Determine the lines
total length and its anticipated standard deviation.
Total Length = 753.81 + 1238.40 + 1062.95 = 3055.16 ft
_____________________
Esum = 0.0122 + 0.0282 + 0.0202 = 0.036 ft

Ex 3:
For a rectangular lot, observations of sides A and B with their 95 % errors are (252.46,
0.053) ft and (605.08, 0.072) ft, respectively.
Calculate the parcel area and the expected 95 % error in the area.
Area = 252.46 x 605.08 = 152,760 ft2
_________________________________
E95 = (252.46) 2 (0.072) 2 + (605.08) 2 (0.053) 2 = 36.9 ft2
Ex 4:
From the series of reading sets below, define which is more precise or more accurate.
a- True value = 250.54
Reading set A:
250.38
250.31
250.34

Reading set B:
250.48
250.40
250.62

b- True value = 124.76

Reading set A:
124.81
124.83
124.79

Reading set B:
124.54
124.50
124.59