An examination of the southern California field test for the systematic accumulation of the optical refraction error in geodetic leveling

Appraisals of the two levelings that formed the southern California field test for the accumulation of the atmospheric refraction error indicate that random error and systematic error unrelated to refraction competed with the systematic refraction error and severely complicate any analysis of the test results. If the fewer than one-third of the sections that met less than second-order, class I standards are dropped, the divergence virtually disappears between the presumably more refraction contaminated long-sight-length survey and the less contaminated short-sight-length survey.