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18-Geom-A2 Adjustment of Observations: May 2014

Nivaar worked solution (AI-drafted; not reviewed by a licensed engineer)

  1. Question 1 Weighted Least-Squares Adjustment of a Level Network
  2. Question 2 Weighted Adjustment of a Plane Triangle
  3. Question 3 Closed-Polygon Traverse — Compass-Rule Balancing
  4. Question 4 Closed Link (Connecting) Traverse
  5. Question 5 Best-Fit Parabola for a Vertical Curve
  6. Question 6 Weighted Adjustment of a Closed Level Network
  7. Question 7 Three-Dimensional Conformal Coordinate Transformation

Start with Question 1 →

National Exams — May 2014 — 04-Geom-A2, Adjustment of Observations and Data Analysis. Three-hour, CLOSED-BOOK exam; any non-communicating calculator permitted. Format: seven questions are given and any five (20 marks each) constitute a complete paper — all seven are solved below for completeness. Least-squares adjustments are carried out in the Canadian survey frame (heights on CGVD2013, horizontal on NAD83(CSRS)); US-foot units are retained in Q4 wherever the printed question uses them.

Reference texts: Ghilani, Adjustment Computations: Spatial Data Analysis (6th ed., Wiley, 2017); Wolf & Ghilani, Elementary Surveying: An Introduction to Geomatics (15th ed., Pearson); Mikhail & Gracie, Analysis and Adjustment of Survey Measurements (Van Nostrand, 1981).

Method note. Every weighted least-squares result below was formed from the normal equations $N\hat{x}=A^{\mathsf T}W\,\ell$; the reference (unit-weight) standard deviation is $s_0=\sqrt{v^{\mathsf T}Wv/(n-u)}$ with $n$ observations and $u$ unknowns.