Define a closed traverse and how misclosures are assessed.

• A. A survey loop of connected lines; misclosure is the vector sum of differences that should be near zero within tolerance.
• B. A survey loop of independent lines.
• C. A network of circles.
• D. A grid-based coordinate system.

Answer: (A)

A closed traverse is a survey that records a sequence of connected straight-line measurements forming a loop, with the last point intended to return to the starting point. To assess misclosure, you propagate the measured distances and directions around the loop to compute where the end point would land; the misclosure is the difference between that computed end point and the starting point. This closure error has east and north components, ΔE and ΔN, and its total magnitude is the vector length √(ΔE² + ΔN²). For a well-executed traverse, this misclosure should be near zero within a prescribed tolerance; if not, adjustments are made to distribute the error along the lines so the network becomes internally consistent. The other options describe concepts that do not capture the idea of a loop of connected lines whose end should close on the start, nor the vector closure check used to evaluate misclosure.