Why errors should be of considerable attention in the life of a surveyors activities are first presented before moving to the topics to be covered in the series. We begin with a discussion what errors are, where they come from (sources) and how they are classified into types. Mistakes or blunders, which are not errors, are also discussed. Precision and accuracy are covered, using the bull’s-eye analogy. The discussion then moves on to a discussion of residuals as a way of modeling errors. Concepts such as the mean, standard deviation and the histogram are presented. How uncertainty and probably are presented in surveying measurements are discussed, with concluding discussion on how standard deviation is calculated and how it can be used to analyze data, and when it can be used as an indicator accuracy, not just precision.
Objectives
- Understand why the ability to identify, compensate for and analyze errors is important to surveying.
- Learn about sources and types of errors.
- Know how to differentiate between accuracy and precision.
- Learn about residuals, means, histograms and standard deviation calculation.
- Learn to relate uncertainty in measurements and probability using standard deviation.
