Trench Profile Area
Integrate vertical cut thickness between measured positive-down surface and base profiles on supplied station distances; no coordinate mapping or rectangular area assumption.
Description
A trench profile area integrates excavated thickness across measured stations.
A trench profile area integrates excavated thickness across measured stations. Surface and base depths must use a common positive-down convention to describe the cut correctly.1
Integrate vertical cut thickness between measured positive-down surface and base profiles on supplied station distances; no coordinate mapping or rectangular area assumption.
When to use Trench Profile Area
Use this tool to integrate vertical cut thickness between measured positive-down surface and base profiles on supplied station distances; no coordinate mapping or rectangular area assumption.
Prepare the artifact, site or survey measurements and any independently established calibration or model choices. Keep paired observations aligned and confirm units and coordinate conventions.
How to use Trench Profile Area and understand its results
- Prepare the artifact, site or survey measurements and any independently established calibration or model choices. Keep paired observations aligned and confirm units and coordinate conventions.
- Enter profileStationDistancesM, surfaceDepthsM, excavationBaseDepthsM using the field table and calculation rules, then run the tool.
- Read excavatedProfileAreaM2. The explanation below defines the units, signs, ordering and any flags or placeholder values.
- If the tool reports an input issue, correct the values and run it again. Apply the stated assumptions when interpreting a successfully returned result.
| Input field | Meaning | Value type; see rules below | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| profileStationDistancesM | Profile station distances m | list of number | Required |
| surfaceDepthsM | Surface depths m | list of number | Required |
| excavationBaseDepthsM | Excavation base depths m | list of number | Required |
Supply at least two increasing station distances in m and aligned nonnegative surface and base depths. At every station the base must be at least as deep as the surface. Apply trapezoidal integration and return excavated cross-sectional area in m².
Paired lists must be nonempty and have equal lengths.
area = Σ Δstation × (thickness_left+thickness_right)/2; thickness = baseDepth−surfaceDepth Units, indexing, boundary conditions and exceptional cases are defined in the calculation rules above.
| Output field | Meaning | Value type |
|---|---|---|
| excavatedProfileAreaM2 | Excavated profile area m2 | number |
{
"input": {
"profileStationDistancesM": [
0,
1,
3
],
"surfaceDepthsM": [
0,
0.2,
0.1
],
"excavationBaseDepthsM": [
1,
1.2,
2.1
]
},
"output": {
"excavatedProfileAreaM2": 4
}
}Limitations and assumptions
The calculation assumes linear thickness changes between stations. It is an area rather than a trench volume and does not convert coordinates, infer unmeasured surfaces or model slumping.
Numeric inputs must be finite. Follow the calculation-specific rules for overflow, underflow and exceptional cases. Numeric lists are limited to 100,000 entries; the rules above may require smaller limits. Missing required fields, extra fields, wrong value types and violations of the calculation rules are input errors.
Alternative or Complementary methods
Use Excavation Spit Volume: Sum distinct plan-area/thickness excavation cells and subtract independently measured obstructions; not a uniform rectangular box alias or loose-spoil volume. For a complementary task, use Arbitrary Level Thickness: Partition a measured positive-down depth interval into caller target spits, retaining the final partial level and scale-relative rounding slack; no stratigraphic boundaries inferred.
References
-
Trench Profile Area — tool.io
Similar or alternative tools
- Excavation Spit Volume
Sum distinct plan-area/thickness excavation cells and subtract independently measured obstructions; not a uniform rectangular box alias or loose-spoil volume.
- Arbitrary Level Thickness
Partition a measured positive-down depth interval into caller target spits, retaining the final partial level and scale-relative rounding slack; no stratigraphic boundaries inferred.