Traverse Calculation

This calculator runs a fixed 4-leg closed traverse through the standard latitude/departure math: each leg's Bearing and Distance are resolved into a latitude (north-south component, distance times cosine of bearing) and departure (east-west component, distance times sine of bearing), and the four legs' latitudes and departures are each summed. Total Traverse Length is the plainest of the outputs — it's simply the four Distance inputs added together, completely unaffected by any of the four Bearing values. Linear Closure Error, by contrast, is the straight-line distance between where the traverse starts and where it actually ends up after all four legs, computed from the summed latitude and departure misclosures; a perfectly closed traverse (the field crew's shots exactly matching the true shape) produces zero error, while any bearing or distance error opens a gap.

Precision Ratio expresses that gap as "1 in N" by dividing Total Traverse Length by the Closure Error, the standard way surveyors report how tight a traverse closed. Enclosed Area uses the Double Meridian Distance method on the compass-rule-adjusted coordinates: every leg's latitude and departure receives the same proportional closure-error correction first, so the running DMD sum always combines two consistently-adjusted departures (the current leg and the one before it), then multiplies by adjusted latitude to accumulate area. This tool always assumes exactly four legs and a closed loop; it cannot analyze an open traverse or one with more or fewer sides.