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DIN 18723 Specification

for Theodolite Accuracy

urveyors have seen the expression

per DIN 18723 associated with
statements of accuracy of theodolites since the introduction of electronic
theodolites. DIN stands for Deutsches Institut fr Normung which loosely translates into the German Institute for Standards (English language website located at
http://www2.din.de/index.php?lang=en). At
the time the standard was first quoted by
manufacturers (mostly from continental
Europe) as an accuracy specification, it
was actually a draft (~1983). However it
has become widely accepted by manufacturers worldwide for specifying the accuracy of theodolites. It should be noted
here that DIN accuracy cannot be inferred
from the least count of a theodolite, which
is the finest measurement or count that an
instrument is able to make. In fact, with
the advent of electronic instruments, reliance on the least count for anything but
an estimate of precision achievable (not
accuracy) is highly inadvisable.
DIN Spec vs. Accuracy
The standard is equally applicable to
optical theodolites, and in fact has occasionally been used for that purpose. But
whether the theodolite is optical or electronic, surveyors have tended to assume
that a 5-second theodolite measures angles with an accuracy of 5 seconds. This
is rarely the case (except by coincidence). The specification is useful for
comparing theodolites however, in that
all theodolites classified as having a DIN
accuracy of 3 seconds, for example, will
be roughly equal in terms of angle measurement performance. For purposes of
survey design, analyzing data after a survey, especially when trying to apply a
weight to the accuracy of angle measurement, the DIN specification value must
be interpreted in the light of how the instrument was used.
If you read the fine print, you are likely to find text in manufacturers specifications that reads something like standard deviation of the mean of a face I

. . . One needs to apply

the rules for random
error propagation, for the
particular way you use
your instrument.
and a face II direction. Understanding
this is key to using the DIN specification
value. If you take a theodolite or total
station with an angle measuring accuracy according to DIN of 5 seconds, for
example, and observe the horizontal circle reading to a precise target in face I
(telescope in the direct position) and
then invert the telescope and take another horizontal circle reading to the same
target in face II (reversed position), the
specification tells you that the standard
deviation (that is, confidence level of
~68%) of the mean (or average) of the
two directions is 5 seconds. This however is not an angle as surveyors are used
to thinking about. To measure a single
angle, we are required to measure two directions (first a backsight, then a foresight). Using the equations for propagation of random error, the standard deviation of the angle, if measured in face I
and face II and then averaged is 7 seconds! (Take the square root of the sum of
the squares of the errors in each direction, which in this case simplifies to

2 5.)
Thus the first lesson to be learned
from this discussion is that one needs to
apply the rules for random error propagation, for the particular way you use
your instrument. For example, if you
measure the angle twice in face I and
twice in face II, the standard deviation of
the angle will be 5 seconds. If, however,
you only measure the angles in face I,
you can expect the angles to have an uncertainty of 10 seconds.
The second lesson, which may be the
more important, is that the method of determining the accuracy of theodolites us-

DISPLAYED WITH PERMISSION PROFESSIONAL SURVEYOR MAGAZINE November 2002

ing DIN 18723 is actually one that measures precision. As with surveying, by accounting as well as possible for systematic errors, it is possible to arrive at an estimate for accuracy. Thus if the angles are
not measured in face I and face II, if collimation has not been checked and adjusted, if the instrument has not been
leveled properly, if the so-called height
of standards adjustment is incorrect, and
so on, then the fundamental accuracy
of the theodolite as given by the DIN
spec may not be true at all!
Environmental Influences
In addition to the above-mentioned
sources of error resulting from practices
and instrumentation, there are the influences of circumstances, mostly environmental (such as atmospheric disturbances) and the practices and adjustment
(or lack thereof) of the accessories that
will affect the accuracy that is achieved.
Examples of these are: optical plummet(s) adjustment, whether the targets
are prisms or precise traverse targets,
whether these targets are mounted on
tripods or on range poles, or whether the
targets are subject to the problem of
phase error, particularly if a pole or mini-pole is used as the target.
In summary, DIN accuracy values indicated for instruments are not the values
to be assumed that can be obtained
when measuring angles. Depending on
how the instrument is used (ignoring accessories and conditions), the angle accuracy may be higher or lower than the
specified value. Once the correct value is
computed, however, it must then be
combined with knowledge of practices,
instrumentation and conditions, including knowledge of the level of adjustment
of all the component parts of the surveying system and accuracies.
Note: Information for this article was
compiled by the technical staffs of the
GIAA members that manufacture theodolites and total stations.
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