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Geodessy

Geodesy is the science of measuring the Earth's shape, orientation, and gravitational field, playing a crucial role in mapping, navigation, environmental monitoring, disaster management, infrastructure development, space exploration, and military applications. It encompasses various branches, including geometrical, physical, and satellite geodesy, and utilizes concepts like ellipsoids and geoid to model the Earth's shape. Geodesic coordinates are essential for accurately determining locations on Earth, with transformations necessary for aligning data across different geographic coordinate systems.

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24 views8 pages

Geodessy

Geodesy is the science of measuring the Earth's shape, orientation, and gravitational field, playing a crucial role in mapping, navigation, environmental monitoring, disaster management, infrastructure development, space exploration, and military applications. It encompasses various branches, including geometrical, physical, and satellite geodesy, and utilizes concepts like ellipsoids and geoid to model the Earth's shape. Geodesic coordinates are essential for accurately determining locations on Earth, with transformations necessary for aligning data across different geographic coordinate systems.

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Introduction to Geodesy

The science of measuring and understanding the Earth's geometric shape, orientation in
space, and gravitational field.

Importance of Geodesy

1. Mapping and Navigation:

• Geodesy provides the framework for creating accurate maps and global navigation
systems like GPS. It enables precise location tracking, essential for transportation,
logistics, and emergency services.

2. Earth Observation and Environmental Monitoring:

• Geodesy helps monitor changes in Earth's surface, such as land subsidence, coastal
erosion, and ice-sheet melting. These observations are critical for understanding
climate change and managing natural resources.

3. Disaster Management:

• By analyzing Earth's movements and deformation, geodesy contributes to predicting


and assessing earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic activity, aiding disaster
preparedness and response.

4. Infrastructure Development:

• Geodesy supports the construction of large-scale projects like bridges, dams, and
tunnels by providing precise measurements of land elevations and geospatial data.

5. Space Exploration and Astronomy:

• It helps determine Earth's position and motion in space, supporting satellite


operations, space missions, and celestial observations.

6. Military Applications:

• Geodesy is vital for defense systems that rely on accurate geospatial data for strategic
planning and operations.

Branches of Geodesy
· Geometrical geodesy is concerned with describing locations in terms of geometry.
Consequently, coordinate systems are one of the primary products of geometrical geodesy.

· Physical geodesy is concerned with determining the Earth's gravity field, which is
necessary for establishing heights.

· Satellite geodesy is concerned with using orbiting satellites to obtain data for geodetic
purposes."

Earth's orientation in space


Earth's orbit
The plane of Earth's orbit around the sun is called the ecliptic plane

The Earth's axis


The Earth's axis is tilted at an angle of about 23.5° relative to the ecliptic plane. This tilt is
known as the obliquity of the ecliptic.

Earth's Gravitational Field:

• It is the force of attraction that surrounds the Earth and pulls objects toward its center.
• Strength Variations: The strength of the gravitational field differs across the planet
due to:
1. Mass Distribution: Uneven distribution of Earth's mass because of varying
surface topography and water movement.
2. Distance from the Center: The Earth is not a perfect sphere, so the radius is
smaller at the poles than at the equator, affecting gravitational strength.
3. Dynamic Factors: Tides, atmospheric disturbances, and mantle convection
also influence variations.

Ellipsoid and Geoid: Mathematical and physical models of the Earth’s shape.
Equipotential surface that mostly closely corresponds to mean sea level.

The Ellipsoid

Semi major axis(a)= major axis/2, Semi minor axis(b)= minor axis/2
1. Flattening (f):

o Describes how "flat" the ellipsoid is.

o Formula: f=(a−b)/a ,

o where a = equatorial radius(semi major axis), b= polar radius.(semi minor


axis)

2. Inverse Flattening (1/f):

• The reciprocal of flattening.


• Formula: 1/f=a/(a-b)

3. Eccentricity (e)

o Measures the shape's deformation from a perfect sphere.

o Formula: e=[(a2- b2)]1/2/a (r==[(a2- b2)]1/2 focal radius)

4. Second Eccentricity (e′):


o Another way to describe deformation.
o Formula: e′==[(a2- b2)]1/2/b

eccentricity = 1:

• The shape becomes a parabola, which is an open curve and no longer a closed shape
like an ellipse.

Types of Ellipsoid

• Local Ellipsoid
• Global Ellipsoid
Coordinate Systems: Geodetic, Cartesian, and geographic coordinate
systems

Geodetic Coordinate System

Geodetic coordinates are a type of curvilinear orthogonal coordinate system used in geodesy
based on a reference ellipsoid. They include geodetic latitude (north/south) φ, longitude
(east/west) λ, and ellipsoidal height h (also known as geodetic height). The triad is also
known as Earth ellipsoidal coordinates."
• Geodetic Latitude (ϕ\phi):

• Measures the angle north or south of the equatorial plane.


• Range: −90∘ (South Pole) to +90∘ (North Pole).

• Geodetic Longitude (λ\lambda):

• Measures the angle east or west of the Prime Meridian.


• Range: −180∘ (West) to +180∘ (East).

• Ellipsoidal Height (h):

• Represents the height above or below the reference ellipsoid.


• Range: Can be positive (above the ellipsoid) or negative (below the ellipsoid),
depending on the Earth's surface and reference ellipsoid.
Geographic Coordinate System

"A geographic coordinate system is a system that uses a three-dimensional spherical surface
to determine locations on the Earth. Any location on Earth can be referenced by a point with
longitude and latitude coordinates. The geographic coordinate system is appropriate for
global data sets and applications, such as satellite imagery repositories.

For example, the following illustration shows a geographic coordinate system where a
location is represented by the coordinates longitude 80 degrees east and latitude 55 degrees
north."
Datum Transformation

A geographic datum transformation is a calculation used to convert between two geographic


coordinate systems to ensure that data is properly aligned within a map. Geographic
coordinate systems describe how locations on the earth are placed on a hypothetical reference
spheroid.

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