Concepts of Measurements

Contents
 Concepts of Measurements
 Fundamental concept of measurements
 Types of measurements (distance, angles, area, …)
 Units of measurements
 Significant figures in measurement
 Theory of measurements and errors
 Errors
 Concept of accuracy and precision
 Related standards and statistics

2
 Fundamental Concepts of Measurement
 Types of measurements
2 main basic types of measurement.
 Distance
 Horizontal distance
 Vertical distance
 Slope distance

 Angle

!!! We will focus each topic individually later !!!!

3
 Units of Measurement
 Measurement information is not completed without defined unit used.

 People perform measurement with different unit system, unit conversion is

needed.

 Two main systems of units (ระบบหน่ วย 2 ระบบหลัก)

 Metric (SI) system (ระบบเมตริก/ระบบ SI) (SI stands for systeme internationale, the
French version of the name “The International System of Units”)

 Imperial system (Foot system or English system) (ระบบฟุตหรือระบบอังกฤษ)

 Four main unit in measurements

 Length unit (หน่ วยความยาว)

 Angle unit (หน่ วยมุม)

้ )่
 Area unit (หน่ วยพืนที

 Volume unit (หน่ วยปริมาตร)

4
 Units of Measurement – Length Unit
Metric System (SI) Imperial System (Foot) Thai System
10 millimeters = 1 centimeter 12 inches = 1 foot 2 คืบ = 1 ศอก
10 centimeter = 1 decimeter 3 feet = 1 yard 4 ศอก = 1 วา

10 decimeter = 1 meter 22 yard = 1 chain 20 วา = 1 เส ้น

10 meter = 1 decameter 400 เส ้น = 1 โยชน์

10 chain = 1 furlong
10 decameter = 1 hectometer 8 furlong = 1 mile
10 hectometer = 1 kilometer 5280 feet = 1 mile
1000 meter = 1 kilometer 1760 yard = 1 mile

Length Unit Conversion

1 inch = 2.54 centimeters (exact)
1 foot = 30.48 centimeters (exact)
1 mile = 1.609344 kilometers (approx.)
1 วา = 2 meters
1 meter = 2 ศอก
1 kilometer = 25 เส้น
Prior to 1959, the USA used 1 m = 39.37 in. , so 1 foot ≈ 0.3048006 m (this is called U.S Survey foot)
5
 Units of Measurement – Angle Unit
 Four main systems of angle unit

 Degree System (ระบบองศา)

A degree (in full, a degree of arc, arc degree, or arcdegree), usually

denoted by ° (the degree symbol), is a measurement of a plane angle,
defined so that a full rotation is 360 degrees. A degree of angle is also
equally divided into 60 “minutes” (ลิปดา). A minute is then equally divided into
60 “second” (ฟิ ลิปดา).

Express angle in degree with two formats:

 Decimal system format: 28.140436° (28° + 0.140436°)

 Sexagesimal system format: 28° 8′ 25.5696″ (use decimal system in

“second” part)

6
Units of Measurement – Angle Unit (cont’d)
 Radian System (ระบบเรเดียน)

A radian is a measurement of a plane angle, defined so that a full rotation is

2𝜋 radian. (Hence, 360 degree = 2𝜋 radian)

 Centesimal System (ระบบเกรด)

A grade or a gon (กอน) is a measurement of a plane angle, defined so that a

full rotation is 400 grade (gon). A gon is also equally divided into 100
“centesimal minutes” which is further divided into 100 “centesimal second”.

 Military System (ระบบทางทหาร)

A mil (มิล) is a measurement of a plane angle, defined so that a full rotation is

6400 mils.
7
Units of Measurement – Angle Unit (cont’d)

Angle Unit Conversion

1 revolution = 360 degree
1 revolution = 2𝜋 radian
1 revolution = 400 gons
1 revolution = 6400 mils
1 degree = 60 minutes
1 minute = 60 seconds
360 degree = 2𝜋 radian
1 degree = 1.11111 gons (approx.)
1 radian = 206265 seconds (approx.)

8
 Units of Measurement – Area Unit
Metric System (SI) Imperial System (Foot)
100 sq. mm = 1 sq. cm 144 sq. inches = 1 sq. foot
10000 sq. cm = 1 sq. m 9 sq. feet = 1 sq. yard
4046.86 sq. m (approx.) = 1 acre (เอเคอร ์) 4840 sq. yards = 1 are
2.47 acres (approx.) = 1 hectare (ha) (เฮกตาร ์) 640 acres = 1 sq. mile
10000 sq. m = 1 hectare
Thai System
100 hectares = 1 sq. km
100 ตารางวา = 1 งาน
106 sq. m = 1 sq. km 4 งาน = 1 ไร่

Area Unit Conversion

1 ตารางวา = 4 sq. m
1 ไร่ = 1600 sq. m
625 ไร่ = 1 sq. km
1 sq. m = 10.76 sq. feet (approx.)
1 sq. km = 0.3861 sq. mile (approx.)
1 sq. km = 247.105 acres (approx.)
9
Units of Measurement – Volume Unit
Metric System (SI)
1000 cu. mm = 1 cu. cm (cc)
1000 cu. cm = 1 cu. decimeter
1000 cu. decimeter = 1 meter
106 cu. cm = 1 cu. m
1 liter = 1000 cu. cm (cc)
1 liter = 1 cu. decimeter

Imperial System (Foot)

1728 cu. inches = 1 cu. foot
27 cu. feet = 1 cu. yard

Volume Unit Conversion

1 cu. m = 35.315 cu. feet (approx.)
1 cu. m = 1.30795 cu. Yard (approx.)

10
 Significant Figures in Measurement
 The significant figures (significant digits) of a number are digits that
carry meaning contributing to its measurement resolution.

 Different instruments have different ability (accuracy), measurements

are not equally reliable, the concept of significant digit can partially help
telling the level of data accuracy.

 In practice of measurement, the last digit of value came from the

approximation in reading  discuss more in the section of theory of
measurement

11
 Sig. Fig. (cont’d) – How to count ?
Principles in counting significant digit of a number

 All non zeros numbers of measurement are significant. If zeros are in

between other numbers or are at the end, they are considered significant.

Ex. 543 has 3 significant digits

856.32 has 5 significant digits

31.2634 has 6 significant digits

43062 has 5 significant digits

5004.205 has 7 significant digits

1.030460 has 7 significant digits

12
 Sig. Fig. (cont’d) – How to count ?
Principles in counting significant digit of a number (cont’d)

 If zeros are in the beginning; leading other numbers, they are not
considered significant.

Ex. 0.00364 has 3 significant digits

008637 has 4 significant digits

0.0560 has 3 significant digits

0048 has 2 significant digits

 Exponential number count numbers of significant digit from leading

number.
Ex. 2.340 x 108 has 4 significant digits
0.203 x 103 has 3 significant digits
343.15 x 10-2 has 5 significant digits
13
 Sig. Fig. (cont’d) – How to count ?
Significant digit of a calculated number

 Multiplication and division of numbers.

The outcome will have number of significant digit equals to the original
number which possess the least number significant digit
่ ้จะมีจานวนเลขนัยสาคัญเท่ากับ
(การคูณหรือการหารกันของตัวเลข เลขผลลัพธ ์ทีได
้ ้นทีมี
จานวนเลขตังต ่ จานวนเลขนัยสาคัญน้อยทีสุ
่ ด)

Ex. 3454.23 x 2.24 = 7737.4752 , 3454.23 has 6 significant digits

2.24 has 3 significant digits

Therefore the result of 3454.23 x 2.24 must have only 3 significant

digits which is  of 3454.23 x 2.24 = 7.74 x 103 (cannot write 7740
because it has 4 significant digits)

14
 Sig. Fig. (cont’d) – How to count ?
Significant digit of a calculated number (cont’d)

 Addition and subtraction of numbers.

Use the decimal numbers (number of decimal digit) as the key!!!

The outcome will have number of decimal digit equals to the original number
which possess the least number decimal digit. Then the significant digits can be
counted on the result obtained from the rule mention above.

่ ้จานวนหลักทศนิ ยมท่ากับของจานวนเลขตังต
(การบวกลบกันตัวเลข เลขผลลัพธ ์ทีได ้ ้นทีมี
่ จานวน
่ ด)
หลักทศนิ ยมน้อยทีสุ

Ex. 2.342 + 454.86 = 457.20 (not 454.202 !!!), 454.86 has 2 decimal
digits, while 2.342 has 3 decimal digits, 2 is less than 3, so the result
must have only 2 decimal digit  457.20  The result then has 5
significant digits.
15
 Theory of Measurements
 Means of measurement:
 Direct measurement (วัดโดยตรง)
We can measure the property that we want by using appropriate instruments
and get the value right from the that measurement.
Ex. Measuring distance, angles, heights
 Indirect measurement (วัดโดยอ้อม)
The property that we want to measure is obtained by calculations through the
use of other measured properties.
Ex. We want to measure volume, we measure angle and distance and used
them for calculating area and get volume.

!!! Don’t mix up the direct and indirect measurement with the term “remote
sensing” (which means measure remotely). They are in different aspect i.e.
a measurement can be considered as the type of direct measurement and is
performed by remote sensing method !!!  ex. measuring distance by laser

16
 Theory of Measurements (cont’d)
 Measurement reading (การอ่านค่าการวัด):

In practice of measurement, the last digit of value came from the

approximation in reading.

0.0087 m (7 is from approximation)

17
Theory of Measurements (cont’d)

18
 Theory of Measurements (cont’d)
้
 Repeated measurement (การวัดซา):

The way of remeasuring the same thing for multiple times in order to find
the best value or the representative value by averaging over all those
measured values.

่ ยวกันหลายๆ ครงเพื
(การวัดสิงเดี ้ั อให
่ ้ได ้ข ้อมูลเพือน
่ ามาหาค่าเฉลียหรื
่ ่ ทสุ
อค่าทีดี ี่ ดต่อไป)

่ ทสุ
 Best value (ค่าทีดี ี่ ด):

It is the average value computed from

all measurement values (all observations)

19
 Theory of Measurements (cont’d)
 Rounding off numbers (การปั ดเศษตัวเลข):

Intends for making the number to have the number of significant digits as
desired. Rules for rounding off numbers are as follows:

At a place where we want to perform rounding

 If number > 5 do the rounding up

 If number < 5 do the rounding down

Ex. 4857.2436  4857.244, 843.982  843.98, 123.798  123.80

 If number = 5, consider a number right before it

 if it is odd number, do the rounding up

 if it is even number, do the rounding down

Ex. 753.135  753.14, 753.125  753.12

20
 Errors in Measurement
 What is error?

 Types of error

 Systematic error

 Random error

 Blunders (some textbooks considered blunders separately, not

considered it as a type of error)

 Sources of error

21
 Errors in Measurement
่
 What is error? (ความคลาดเคลือน)
 Every measurement has error !!!
 Error (e) is the difference between measured value (x) and the true value (µ)
e=x-µ (1)
่ ้จริง) !!!
 But the “true value (µ)” is not known (ไม่มใี ครรู ้ค่าทีแท
 “Best value” is the average value computed from all repeated
measurements, denoted as “𝑥”ҧ
 With enough repeated measurements, the “Best value” is adopted as
reference (as if it is the “true value”, approximating the “true value”)
 Difference between a observed value (xi) and the best value (𝑥)ҧ is called
“residual” (ค่าเศษเหลือ), denoted as “vi”
vi = xi - 𝑥ҧ (2)
 Then, residual is approximating the error (e) of the measurement.

22
 Errors in Measurement (cont’d)
 Types of error
 Systematic error

 Systematic error occur according to a system that, if known, always can

be expressed by mathematical formulation. They follow a defined
pattern, and if the experiment is repeated while maintaining the same
conditions, the same pattern will be duplicated and the systematic errors
will reoccur.

 Systematic error are defined as those errors whose magnitude and

algebraic sign can be determined, therefore can be eliminated.

 Ex. Error due to effect of temperature on a steel tape, when temperature

is known, lengthening or shortening effects can be determined.

23
 Errors in Measurement (cont’d)
 Random error (Accidental error)

 Random error is the error that its magnitude and sign can not be
predicted. It tends to be small and tend to distribute themselves equally
on both sides of zero.

 Random errors associated with the skill and vigilance of the surveyor. It
is introduced into each measurement mainly because no human being
can perform measurement perfectly.
่
เป็ นความคลาดเคลือนที ่ ดขึนจากการวั
เกิ ้ ่
ดทัวไปมีขนาดเล็กและ
้ั
อาจเป็ นได้ทงทางบวกและทางลบ ้
มีโอกาสเกิดขึนได้เท่าๆ กัน
ลักษณะและทิศทางไม่แน่ นอน ไม่สามารถหาความสัมพันธ ์ของการ
่
เกิด ได้ จึงเรียกว่าค่าความคลาดเคลือนสุ ม
่ (random error)
 Blunders (Mistakes)

 It is the error made by careless surveyor personnel.

 Ex. Miscounting or misreading the number, measuring to or from the 24
 Errors in Measurement (cont’d)
 Sources of error
Natural

Environment (temperature, pressure, humidity, etc.)

Personal

Unskillful or careless personal

Instrumental

Imperfect condition of instrument, old instruments, off-calibration

Calculation

Use inappropriate calculator in calculation

่ านวณทีมี
(ใช ้เครืองค ่ ความไม่ละเอียดเพียงพอ)
25
 Discrepancy, Accuracy and Precision
 Discrepancy (ค่าความแตกต่าง)

 Difference between two measured values of the same quantity.

 Small discrepancy indicates no blunders and random errors are small

 Small discrepancies do not preclude the presence of systematic errors.

 Help detecting any gross errors in measurement

N0 Distance
1 20.250
2 20.253
3 20.251
4 20.264 Gross Error
5 20.252

26
Discrepancy, Accuracy and Precision (cont’d)
 Accuracy (ค่าความถู กต้อง)

Accuracy of a measurement is an indicator of how close it is to the

“true value” of the quantity that has been measured. It denotes the
absolute nearness of measured quantities to their true values.

(use average value to represent “true value” )

27
Discrepancy, Accuracy and Precision (cont’d)
 Precision (ค่าความแม่นยา)

Precision describes the ability to repeat the same measurement with

consistently small variations in the measurement (i.e. no large
discrepancies)

 Multiple measurements have small discrepancies  high precision

 Degree of attainable precision depends on equipment sensitivity and

observer skill.

 Accuracy and precision are not directly related, measurement with high
precision can have low accuracy and vice versa.

28
Discrepancy, Accuracy and Precision (cont’d)
High Accuracy Low Accuracy

Low Precision

High Precision

29
 Facts of Measurements
 Every measurement has errors
้ั ความคลาดเคลือนเกิ
การวัดทุกครงมี ่ ้
ดขึนเสมอ
 No true value of measurement is known
่ กต้องของการวัดไม่สามารถทราบได้
ค่าทีถู
แน่ นอน
 Every measurement has no exact precision
้ั มค
การวัดทุกครงไม่ ่ นอน
ี วามแม่นยาทีแน่
 No exact error is known
่
ค่าความคลาดเคลือนที ่ นอนไม่สามารถทราบได้
แน่

30
 Components of Measurement
 Each measurement has 4 components
Measured value
Ex. Distance from point A to point B is
measured as 4.1
Used/adopted unit
Ex. Kilometer (km) is the adopted
length unit
Approximated error range
Ex. ± 0.2 means measured values range
from 3.9 – 4.3
Level of confidence
Ex. 95% means chance that measured values
will deviate from 4.1 ± 0.2 km is 5% (5% of
measured value will be out of this range) 31
 Contents (Re-show)
 Concepts of Measurements
 Fundamental concept of measurements
 Types of measurements (distance, angles, area, …)
 Units of measurements
 Significant figures in measurement
 Theory of measurements and errors
 Errors
 Concept of accuracy and precision
 Related standards and statistics

32
 Revision of Basic Statistics

 For a observed dataset (for a set of observations), it has

these followings statistics parameters
 Mean (average)
 Median
 Mode
 Variance
 Standard deviation (SD)

33
 Revision of Basic Statistics (cont’d)

 Average or Mean
 Estimate value most representative of population.
 Sum value of all observed data / Total number of observed data
 Median
 Put observations in ascending order!
 Value between lower half and upper half
 If number of observations is odd, median is middle value.
 If even, median is average between two values at the center.
 Mode
 Value (observation) with most frequency (occurs with maximum
number of times)

34
 Revision of Basic Statistics (cont’d)
 Example
1) Determine the mean of this dataset
NO Measured
Temperature (F) 11
(xi)
1 35.4 ෍ 𝑥𝑖 = 473.6
2 42.8 𝑖=1
3 35.7
4 34.7
5 38.5 σ11
𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 473.6
6 42.2 𝑥ҧ = = = 43.1
7 43.8
𝑛 11
8 47.1
9 52.1 n is a total number of observations, in this case is 11
10 54.4
11 46.9

35
 Revision of Basic Statistics (cont’d)
2) Determine the median of this dataset

NO Measured NO Measured
Temperature (F) Temperature (F)
(xi) (xi)
1 35.4 4 34.7
2 42.8 Rearrange in 1 35.4
3 35.7 an ascending 3 35.7
4 34.7 order 5 38.5
5 38.5 6 42.2
6 42.2 2 42.8
7 43.8 7 43.8
8 47.1 11 46.9
9 52.1 8 47.1
10 54.4 9 52.1
11 46.9 10 54.4

Median of this dataset is 42.8 F

36
 Revision of Basic Statistics (cont’d)

 Variance
 How much are values scattered around mean?
 Denote as “V”
 Original units are squared!

σ𝒏 𝒙
𝒊=𝟏 𝒊 −ഥ
𝒙 𝟐
Variance =
𝒏−𝟏

37
 Revision of Basic Statistics (cont’d)

 Standard deviation (SD or σ)

 Square root of variance
 Used to restore data to original units
 Denote as “σ” so variance can be denoted as “σ2”

σ𝒏𝒊=𝟏 𝒙𝒊 − 𝒙
ഥ 𝟐
𝜎𝑥 =
𝒏−𝟏

Data set in previous example has variance = 44.6 F2

and standard deviation = 6.68 F

38
 Revision of Basic Statistics (cont’d)
 Distribution
Distributions are used to show changes in data from expected
values (from normal)

39
 Natural Behavior of Random Errors
 Before studying/analyzing error in any measurement, we must
 Eliminate systematic errors from the measurement
 Eliminate blunders from measurement
 Eliminate gross errors from measurement

 Now that measurement has only random errors

 When plotting residuals of observations, it will have
normal distribution pattern.

40
 Revision of Basic Statistics (cont’d)
 Normal distribution shows that
 Random errors occur in both positive(+) and negative(-)
 There are small size random errors more than big size
random errors
 There is no large random error

41
Stop Here !!!!

42