Definition of North

Introduction
At any point there are several different directions which may be described as north.
In plane surveying it is sufficient to consider the following four directions. These
are True North, Magnetic North ,Grid North and Arbitrary North.

True North
This is the horizontal direction lying in the plane containing the north point and the
earth axis of rotation which points in the direction of the north pole. It is the
direction of the meridian determined by astronomical observations.

Magnetic North.
This is the direction of the horizontal component of force of the earths magnetic
field and does not in general coincide with true north. It is the direction indicated
by the needle of the magnetic of the magnetic compass. Assuming that it is entirely
free of instrumental errors and not affected by any local attraction. The difference
between true north and magnetic north is known as magnetic declination or
magnetic variation and from determination made at observatories, maps showing
lines of equal magnetic or isogonal lines have been compiled for the whole world.
Topographic maps produced by national survey organization usually indicate the
magnetic declination of the area concerned. Since magnetic declination is not
constant but changes slowly from year to year, it is incomplete unless the date and
the annual change are specified.

With the instruments available to the surveyor it is not possible to determine the
direction of magnetic north to an accuracy of better than 10. The magnetic
compass is thus used mainly in exploratory or reconnaissance surveys, or for
obtaining an approximate or provisional orientation

Where the time or facilities are not available for an accurate determination of true
north, a single magnetic bearing, determined with a tubular compass mounted on a
theodolite, may be used to provide an orientation for an entire survey. The absolute
error of the bearing of any individual line of survey may be quite large, it is the
same for all the lines, and the internal accuracy of the survey is not affected.

Grid North
In almost all surveys, the position of points is expressed in terms of coordinates in
a plane rectangular system, or grid. Grid north is the direction parallel to the
northward pointing co-ordinate axis of such a system. Directions referred to grid
north are referred to as grid bearings, plane bearings or simply bearings. These are
the most important of the three types of bearing considered in this section as far as
plane surveying is concerned, but further aspects of it are best discussed in the
context of rectangular co ordinate systems.

Arbitrary North

Arbitrary North is the north direction commonly used on site to define bearings
and co-ordinates. The co-ordinate grid for a construction project could therefore be
aligned using any convenient direction to represent north even though this is not a
True, Grid or Magnetic North. For example, a co-ordinate grid may be aligned by
using existing control points or it could be aligned along some feature such as the
centerline of a long bridge or along a building line) to suit the site conditions.

For sites where traversing is used to provide control, it is usual that an independent
or local co-ordinate grid is adopted in which an arbitrary north is used.