CHAPTER 8

TACHEOMETRY
Tacheometry is the branch of survey in which the horizontal and vertical distances of points are
obtained by instrumental observations such as staff intercepts and angles.
 The process of measuring horizontal distance is eliminated
 Less accurate, but more rapid
 Best useful in case of rough & difficult terrain
 Primary objective is preparation of contour maps or plans
 Used in Hydrographic surveys, location surveys etc.

Instruments used in Tacheometry are:

 Tacheometer – a transit Theodolite fitted with a stadia diaphragm

o Diaphragm is the frame upon which is mounted the crosshairs to give a definite
line of sight.
o Stadia hairs / Stadia Lines are a pair of horizontal hairs provided in addition to
the regular crosshairs. Each on of this is equidistant from the central horizontal
hair. Commonly used Stadia diaphragms are shown here.

 Levelling Staff / Stadia Rod – a scale, shown below, graduated in metres and
centimeters. They may be single solid, folding or telescopic.

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Prepared by Kiran S. R., Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Government Polytechnic College
Important Terminology
 Stadia Interval (i)– the actual physical distance between the top & bottom stadia hairs
 Staff intercept (S) – the difference between the leveling staff readings corresponding to
the top & bottom stadia hairs

CLASSIFICATION OF TACHEOMETRY – based on the underlying principle

1) Stadia Tacheometry – make use of stadia hairs. Involves observation of either staff
intercepts or stadia intervals.
a. Fixed Hair method –
 Stadia hairs are stationary => Stadia interval (i) is constant
 Staff intercept depends upon the horizontal distance between the
tacheometer and stadia rod => Staff intercept (S) is variable
 Most commonly used
b. Movable Hair method –
 Here, the stadia rod or leveling staff is provided with two fixed targets. The
stadia hairs can be moved to coincide the targets accurately, using
micrometer screws => Stadia interval (i) is variable
 Since the same staff with fixed targets is used everywhere => Staff
intercept (S) is constant
 Rarely used
2) Tangential Tacheometry – does not use stadia hairs, hence stadia diaphragm is not
required. Here, a transit Theodolite is used to measure vertical angles to the two fixed
targets on a staff held at a station point.

STADIA TACHEOMETRY
Principle: The principle of Stadia method of Tacheometry is as follows:
Let i = Stadia interval
S = Staff intercept
f = Focal length of the objective lens
f1 = horizontal distance between objective lens and object (leveling staff)
f2 = horizontal distance between objective lens and image (stadia diaphragm)
d = horizontal distance between objective lens and vertical axis of tacheometer
D = horizontal distance between vertical axis of tacheometer and object (leveling
staff)

Page 74 of 80
Prepared by Kiran S. R., Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Government Polytechnic College
From similar triangles in the above figure,
i S
f2 = f1 -----------------------------------------(1)

From lens formula,

1 1 1
=
f f1 + f2 -----------------------------------------(2)

Solving both equations (1) and (2), we get

f
f1 =( i ) S + f -----------------------------------------(3)

The horizontal distance between the vertical axis of the Tacheometer and the staff (object) is
D = f1 + d
f
Substituting equation (3) => D =( ) S + (f + d)
i
=> D = K S + C
f
where, K= i = Multiplying Constant

and, C = (f + d) = Additive Constant

 Generally, the value of K = 100 and C = 0.
 Anallatic lens is a convex lens provided between objective & eyepiece of a tacheometer,
in order to eliminate the additive constant (i.e., to make the value of C to be zero).
 The above equation concludes that, the horizontal distance in tacheometry is a function
of Staff intercept only.

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Prepared by Kiran S. R., Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Government Polytechnic College
DIFFERENT CASES INVOLVED:
1) Line of Sight is Horizontal

 D=KS+C

2) Line of Sight is Inclined

a) Staff held vertical:

AC = S = Staff intercept
A’C’ = S cos θ = projection of staff intercept on the plane perpendicular to the line of collimation
 From figure, L = K (A’C’) + C
=> L = K S cos θ + C

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Prepared by Kiran S. R., Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Government Polytechnic College
 D = L cos θ
 V = L sin θ = D tan θ
 RL of the given point = HI + V - h

b) Staff held normal to Line of Sight:

 From figure,
L=KS+C
 D = L cos θ + h sin θ
 V = L sin θ
 RL of the given point = HI + V – h cos θ

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Prepared by Kiran S. R., Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Government Polytechnic College
TANGENTIAL TACHEOMETRY
Here, the vertical angles to the two fixed targets on the staff are observed at the instrument
station. Horizontal distances to the staff station are determined in the following cases as follows.
DIFFERENT CASES INVOLVED:
1) When both the observed angles are Angles of Elevation

s +V
Tan α1 = D ----------------(1)

V
Tan α2 = D ------------------(2)

Eliminating V from above

equations:
s
 D = tan α 1−tan α 2

 V = D tan α2

2) When both the observed angles are Angles of Depression

s
 D = tan α 2−tan α 1

 V = D tan α2

3) When one angle observed is Angle of Elevation & the other an Angle of
Depression

s
 D = tan α 1+tan α 2

 V = D tan α2

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Prepared by Kiran S. R., Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Government Polytechnic College
 REFERENCES
1. Surveying Fundamentals and Practices, sixth edition, by Jerry Nathanson Michael T.
Lanzafama, and Philip Kissam.
2. Elementary surveying: an introduction to geomatics, Fourteenth edition, by Charles D.
Ghilani and Paul R. Wolf.
3. Surveying, sixteenth edition, by BC Punmia, Ashok Kumar Jain and Arun Kumar Jain.
4. Surveying, sixth edition, by A Bannister, S Raymond and R Baker.

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Prepared by Kiran S. R., Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Government Polytechnic College