What is the primary purpose of conducting a network adjustment in surveying?

• A. To measure only a single point precisely.
• B. To compute the most probable positions for network points by minimizing the weighted sum of squared residuals.
• C. To replace all observations with a model.
• D. To determine the color of survey markers.

Answer: (B)

In network adjustment, the goal is to compute the most probable positions of all points in the survey network by combining all measurements and minimizing the weighted sum of squared residuals between the observed values and those predicted by the model. Since each observation has error and some measurements are more reliable than others, each residual is weighted to reflect its confidence. The result is an adjusted set of coordinates with known precision and correlations, making the whole network internally consistent and as accurate as possible given the data. This approach reconciles redundant observations and propagates uncertainties through the network, rather than focusing on a single point, replacing observations with a model, or dealing with marker colors.