Engineering Surveying, Sixth Edition
With many worked examples and illustrations of tools and techniques, this important text gives readers a clear understanding of fundamentals such as vertical control, distance, angles and position.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Engineering Surveying, Sixth Edition
Appendix A: An Introduction to Matrix Algebra
Matrix algebra is the only realistic and practical way to deal with the subject of least squares as applied to the solution of survey control networks. This appendix aims to be a primer for those new to the subject and presents the minimum necessary information to make good sense of the material in Chapter 7. For others it will be a handy reminder or reference.
A.1 THE MATRIX AND ITS ALGEBRA
A matrix is nothing more than an array of numbers set in a regular rectangular grid. To be useful the array must have some mathematical meaning, reflecting in survey, a physical purpose. The algebra that defines the properties of matrices must be one for which the rules of matrix manipulation lead to useful results. This appendix presents a summary of the rules. It is not written to be an authoritative mathematical text but more as a useful aide m moire of the collected rules of matrix algebra as they apply to survey.
Matrix methods lend themselves to the solution of large sets of simultaneous equations. Solutions by matrix methods involve repetitive numerical processes that, in turn, lend themselves to computer manipulation. It is this that makes matrix methods particularly useful to the surveyor.
An element of a matrix may be referred to by its position in the matrix in terms of row and column numbers. The matrix as a whole is represented in upper case in bold type whereas the elements are represented in lower-case in ordinary type, sometimes with...
Copyright W. Schofield and M. Breach 2007 under license agreement with Books24x7
