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 Distance Between Two
    Points

 Pacing
 Chaining
 Temperature
 Standardisation
 Catenary
 Slope
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 Tachaeometry
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 Measurement of
    Tacheometric Constants

 Refraction and Curvature
 Theodolite
    Tachaeometry

 Field Tachaeometry
 Electronic Tachaeometry

Linear Distance:
Distance Between Two Points

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One of the fundamentals of surveying is the need to measure distance. Distances are not necessarily linear, especially if they occur on the spherical earth. In this subject we will deal with distances in Euclidean space, which we can consider a straight line from one point or feature to another.

Needless to say many varied methods have been developed over the millenia to measure distances, and depending on the desired quality of the result, many of these are still current today. The table below gives a brief summary of relevant techniques and their respective accuracies.

Method Relative Accuracy Use
Pacing 1:100 Rough identification surveys
Chainage 1:10,000 Title & Engineering surveys, Control
Range Finder Equipment 1:300 Navigation, Artillery ranging
Tachaeometry

1:1000
1:5000

Site Investigation, Mapping, Plans

Electronic Distance Measurement (EDM) Equipment

1:10,000
1:100,000

Title & Engineering surveys, Control, Geodetic surveys, Deformation monitoring

Apart from guessing and pacing, all methods need a tool or instrument of some kind, and the higher the order of accuracy the more sophisticated (and expensive) the instrument.

Some of the instruments and their usage are summarised as follows:

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The Department of Geomatics
Maintained by:  Nicole Jones
Date Created:  October 1998