MODULE 1

GEODESY

INTRODUCTION

According to James R. Smith, Geodesy is the science that deals with the Earth's
figure and the interrelationship of selected points on its surface. This is the only book on
the market designed to provide readers with an introduction to geodesy without the usual
emphasis on complex mathematics. Describes such positioning techniques as horizontal
and vertical geodetic datums. Satellite geodesy, electromagnetic distance measurement,
laser ranging and emerging technologies including the global positioning techniques and
GIS are among the topics discussed. Features scores of two-color diagrams and
examples to facilitate understanding.

At the end of this topic, the students must be able to know the topics covered by
the subject Laws in the Geodetic Engineering Licensure Examination and answer
Licensure Examination type problems and questions from review center references and
licensure examination books covered by the subject Geodesy.

HISTORY OF GEODESY
Geodesy is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and
representation of the Earth. The history of geodesy began in pre-scientific antiquity and
blossomed during the Age of Enlightenment.
Early ideas about the figure of the Earth held the Earth to be flat (see flat Earth),
and the heavens a physical dome spanning over it. Two early arguments for a spherical
Earth were that lunar eclipses were seen as circular shadows which could only be caused
by a spherical Earth, and that Polaris is seen lower in the sky as one travels South.
According to Homer (9th century B.C.), one of the early Greeks in their speculation
and theorizing, the earth surface is a square, in which it has only one horizon and time of
day been independently measured from its location and it was postulated by Pythagoras
(6th century B.C.), a mathematician and to him the most perfect figure to represent the
earth was a sphere. He reasoned that the gods would create a figure and therefore the
Earth was created to be spherical in shape.

Figure 1. Illustration of Homer's Theory in the early 9th century.

Pythagoras’ theory was supported later on by Aristotle (4th century B.C.), in which
he gives arguments to support the hypothesis that the earth is sphere by observing that
the changing horizons as one travels around the earth and the shadow of the earth during
lunar eclipses. In addition, it was observed that the ship appears to be sinking or rising
from the horizon.
In Egypt, a Greek scholar and philosopher, Eratosthenes (230 B.C.), also known
as “the father of scientific Geodesy”, measured Earth’s circumference with a great
precision. He discovered that at summer solstice, the sun shone directly into a deep well
in Syene. In Alexandria, the sun cast a shadow of 1/50 of 360 degrees (7 degrees 12
minutes) with a formula used “Circumference = s/α” where circumference = 250,000
stadia, s = 5000 stadia (probably from Egyptian step counters) and radius of 6317km.
Therefore, as a result, the Alexandria and Syene are not on the same meridian and the
sun was not directly overhead at the time of the measurement.

Figure 2. Illustration of Eratosthenes’ theory

In 1st century B.C., Posidonius, also a Greek scholar, noted that the star Canopus
or Alpha Carinǣ to determine the separation between Rhodes and Alexandria. When the
star was on the horizon at Rhodes, it was at an angle of 1/48 of a full circle at Alexandria.
Therefore, as a result, the angular separation is 7.5 degrees, the distance between the
two cities was determined to be 5000 stadia and the radius is 11% less than today’s
estimate.
The Indian mathematician Aryabhata (AD 476–550) was a pioneer of mathematical
astronomy. He describes the earth as being spherical and that it rotates on its axis, among
other things in his work Aryabhata, also estimates the circumference of Earth. He gave
the circumference of the earth as 4967 yojanas and its diameter as 1581+1/24 yojanas.
The length of a yojana varies considerably between sources; assuming a yojana to be 8
km (5 miles) this gives as circumference nearly 39,736 km (or 24,800 miles).
There are many more discoveries and theories from different countries about the
determination of the true size and shape of the Earth. But the one that prevails, The result
are consistent with the theories of Newton and implied that the Earth’s figure could be
represented by an ellipsoid slightly flattened at the poles. Measurements were made by
other people such as Gauss, Bessel, etc... in order to verify and improve the knowledge
of the size, and now the shape of the earth.
In order to do this, we consider the actual topographic surface of the earth, and a
surface closely associated with the ocean surface. We recognize that the oceans
comprise approximately 70% of the surface area of the earth. It is therefore appropriate
to visualize the figure of the earth as that of the ocean surface. In 1873, Listing introduced
the concept of the geoid as the surface of the undisturbed sea and its continuation into
the continents. The ellipsoid of previous studies now became an approximation to the
geoid. Then in 1884, Helmert defined more precisely the geoid identifying it with an ocean
with no disturbances such as would be caused by tides, winds, waves, temperature,
pressure, and salinity differences.

OTHER DISCOVERIES INVOLVED IN GEODESY (HIGHLIGHTS)

 Eratosthenes – made the first estimate of the Earth’s size using the shadow cast
by the sun on a well in Syene, Egypt.
 Ptolemy – made world maps which influenced cartographers and navigators of the
Middle Ages
 Homer – the first proponent of disk-shaped Earth.
 Pythagoras – the first proponent of sphere-shaped Earth.
 Posidonius – provided an estimation of the Earth’s radius by stellar observation.
 Al-Biruni - provided an estimation of the Earth’s radius by using a dip angles from
a mountain and the law of sines.
 Al-Khwarizmi – led a group of astronomers to almost accurately measure a length
of 1 degree of latitude by ropes.
 Willebrord Snellius – conducted the first triangulation to determine the figure of the
Earth.
 Sir Isaac Newton – hypothesized an oblate spheroid shape of the Earth.
 Jean-Dominuque Cassini – hypothesized a prolate spheroid shape of the Earth.
 Jean Richer – discovered an increase of gravity from the equator to the poles.
  Pierre-Simon Laplace – determined the attraction on a particle outside it, which
introduced the study of spherical harmonics. He was the one invented the
instrument “heliotrope”.
 Alexis Claude Clairaut – created a theorem that permits the computation of
flattening from two gravity measurements at different latitudes.
 Friedrich Robert Helmert – established geodesy as a proper science.
 Carl Gauss – introduced the concept of the “geoid”.
 Sir George Airy – the royal astronomer who presented the Earth’s spheroid
parameters which became the basis for all national mapping in Great Britain.

THE EARTH AS A SPHEROID

Oblate Spheroid – it is the approximate shape of the earth. An irregular solid
approximated by an ellipsoid of revolution generated by rotating an ellipse about its
shorter axis.
Polar axis (b) is shorter than its equatorial axis (a) by about 21 km.
0.34% - relative to the radius of the Earth.
Curved Surface – the surface of the imaginary spheroid, every element is normal to the
force of gravity.
Equipotential surface – also called as level surface.
Geoid – the irregular earth surface, which cannot be represented mathematically. It is the
equipotential surface at mean sea level, which means at any point is perpendicular to the
direction of gravity. It is the reference for the values of the semi-major and semi-minor
axis.

BRANCHES OF GEODESY
1. GEOMETRIC GEODESY
Geometric Geodesy is concerned with the definition of the figure of the Earth using
the properties of an ellipsoid of revolution and other related geometric concepts. The
Earth is a viscous fluid body, rotating in space about its axis that passes through the poles
and center of mass and this axis of revolution is inclined to its orbital plane of rotation
about the Sun. The combination of gravitational and rotational forces causes the Earth to
be slightly flattened at the poles and the gently undulating equipotential surfaces of the
Earth's gravity field also have this characteristic. A particular equipotential surface, the
geoid, represents global mean sea level, and since the seas and oceans cover
approximately 70% of the Earth's surface, the geoid is a close approximation of the
Earth's true shape. The geoid is a gently undulating surface that is difficult to define
mathematically, and hence is not a useful reference surface for computation.
A better reference surface is an ellipsoid, which in geodesy is taken to mean a
surface of revolution created by rotating an ellipse about its minor axis. Ellipsoids, with
particular geometric properties, can be located in certain ways so as to be approximations
of the global geoid, or approximations of regional portions of the geoid; this gives rise to
geocentric or local reference ellipsoids. In any case, the size and shape of ellipsoids are
easily defined mathematically and they are relatively simple surface to compute upon;
although not as simple as the sphere. Knowledge of the geometry of the ellipsoid and its
generator, the ellipse, is an important part of the study of geodesy.

Figure 3. The reference ellipsoid

Figure 1 show a schematic view of the reference ellipsoid upon which meridians
(curves of constant longitude λ) and parallels (curves of constant latitude ϕ) form an
orthogonal network of reference curves on the surface. This allows a point P in space to
be coordinated via a normal to the ellipsoid passing through P. This normal intersects the
surface at Q which has coordinates of ϕ, λ, and P is at a height h = QP above the ellipsoid
surface. We say that P has geodetic coordinates, ϕ, λ, ,h . P also has Cartesian
coordinates x, y, z; but more about these coordinate systems later. The important thing
at this stage is that the ellipsoid is a surface of revolution created by rotating an ellipse
about its minor axis, where this minor axis is assumed to be either the Earth's rotational
axis, or a line in space close to the Earth's rotational axis. Meridians of longitude are
curves created by intersecting the ellipsoid with a plane containing the minor axis and
these curves are ellipses; as are all curves on the ellipsoid created by intersecting planes.
Note here that parallels of latitude (including the equator) are circles; since the
intersecting plane is perpendicular to the rotational axis, and circles are just special cases
of ellipses. Clearly, an understanding of the ellipse is important in ellipsoidal geometry
and thus geometric geodesy.

THE ELLIPSE
The ellipse is one of the conic sections; a name derived from the way they were
first studied, as sections of a cone. A right-circular cone is a solid whose surface is
obtained by rotation a straight line, called the generator, about a fixed axis.

Figure 4. The conic sections

In figure 4, if the cutting plane is parallel to the base of a cone, the section formed
a circle. If it is a parallel to the element or generator of the cone, the cone formed is a
parabola. If it perpendicular to the base, the section formed is a hyperbola. If it is oblique
to the base or element of the cone, the section formed is an ellipse.
 Figure 5. The cone and its generator (element)

Ellipse is the locus of point that moves such that the sum of its distances from two
fixed points called the foci is constant. The constant sum is the length of the major axis,
2a. It can also be defined as the locus of the point that moves such that the ratio of its
distance from a fixed point, called the focus, and a fixed line, called the directrix, is
constant and is less than one.

Figure 6. Illustration of the elements of an ellipse

ELEMENTS OF ELLIPSE.
1. Center (h, k). At the origin, (h, k) is (0,0).
2. Semi-major axis = a and semi-minor axis = b
3. Location of the foci c, with respect to the center of ellipse, 𝑐 = √𝑎 − 𝑏

4. Length of latus rectum, LR =

5. Eccentricity, 𝑒 = =

6. Location of directrix d, with respect to the center of ellipse. 𝑑 = 𝑜𝑟 𝑑 =

ELEMENTS OF ELLIPSE USED IN GEOMETRIC GEODESY

1. Flattening - measure of the compression of a circle or sphere along a diameter to form
an ellipse or an ellipsoid of revolution (spheroid) respectively.
 First flattening (f)
𝑎−𝑏
𝑓=
𝑎
 Second flattening (f’)
𝑎−𝑏
𝑓=
𝑏
 Third flattening (f’’, n)
𝑎−𝑏
𝑓=
𝑎+𝑏
 Inverse flattening
𝑎 1
𝑓 = =
𝑎−𝑏 𝑓
2. Eccentricity - e or ε, is a parameter associated with every conic section. It can be
thought of as a measure of how much the conic section deviates from being circular.
 First eccentricity (e)
√𝑎 − 𝑏
𝑒=
𝑎
 Second eccentricity (e’)
√𝑎 − 𝑏
𝑒′ =
𝑏
  Linear eccentricity (E)
E= ae
 Angular eccentricity (α)
𝑐 𝑏 𝑐
sin 𝛼 = ; cos 𝛼 = ; tan 𝛼 =
𝑎 𝑎 𝑏
NOTE: e < e’ – the relationship between the 1st and 2nd eccentricity.
3. Parametric equations for the ellipse
𝑥 = 𝑎 cos 𝛽
𝑦 = 𝑏 sin 𝛽

Figure 7. The ellipse and auxiliary circle

SAMPLE PROBLEM: GEOMETRIC GEODESY

Given: a = 6,378,206.4 f-1 = 294.9786982

1. Determine the value of b

𝑎−𝑏
𝑓=
𝑎

1 6,378,206.4 − 𝑏
=
294.9786982 6,378,206.4

𝒃 = 𝟔, 𝟑𝟓𝟔, 𝟓𝟖𝟑. 𝟖 𝒎
2. Determine the length of the minor axis.

Minor Axis = 2b

Minor Axis = 2 (6,356,583.8 m)

Minor Axis = 12,713,167.6 m

3. Determine the polar flattening.

𝑎 1
𝑓 = =
𝑎−𝑏 𝑓
1
𝑓 =
𝑓
𝒇 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟑𝟑𝟗𝟎𝟎𝟕𝟓
4. Determine the first eccentricity

√𝑎 − 𝑏
𝑒=
𝑎
6,378,206.4 − 6,356,583.8
𝑒=
6,378,206.4
𝒆 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟖𝟐𝟐𝟕𝟏𝟖𝟓𝟒𝟐𝟐

5. Determine the second eccentricity

√𝑎 − 𝑏
𝑒′ =
𝑏

6,378,206.4 − 6,356,583.8
𝑒′ =
6,356,583.8

𝒆′ = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟖𝟐𝟓𝟓𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟎𝟕𝟒

6. Determine the angular eccentricity:

𝑐 𝑏 𝑐
sin 𝛼 = ; cos 𝛼 = ; tan 𝛼 =
𝑎 𝑎 𝑏
6,356,583.8
cos 𝛼 =
6,378,206.4
𝜶 = 𝟒°𝟒𝟑 𝟖. 𝟗𝟗"
 a. sin α = 0.08227185422 = e

b. cos α = 0.9966099247 = 1 – f

c. tan α = 0.08255151074 = e’

7. Determine the linear eccentricity

E = ae

E = (6,378,206.4) (0.08227185422)

E = 524,746.8671

8. Express the first eccentricity as a function of the flattening.

√𝑎 − 𝑏
𝑒=
𝑎
√𝑎 − 𝑏
𝑒=
𝑎
𝑎 −𝑏
𝑒 =
𝑎
𝑏
𝑒 =1−
𝑎

NOTE: =1−𝑓
𝑒 = 1 − (1 − 𝑓)
𝑒 = 1 − (1 − 2𝑓 + 𝑓 )
𝒆𝟐 = 𝟐𝒇 − 𝒇𝟐
GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES

1. Geodetic Latitude (φ) - The angle between the normal to the ellipsoid at a point and
the equatorial plane.

Figure 8. Illustration of obtaining a geodetic latitude.

2. Geocentric Latitude (ψ) - The angle at the center of the ellipse between the plane of
the equator and line to a point.

Figure 9. Illustration of obtaining a geocentric latitude

3. Reduced Latitude (β) - The angle at the center of the sphere that is tangent to the
ellipsoid along the equator, between the plane of the equator and the radius to the point
intersected along the sphere by a straight line perpendicular to the plane of the equator
and passing through the point on the ellipsoid.
 Figure 10. Illustration of obtaining a reduced latitude.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LATITUDES

𝒁 𝒃 𝒃𝟐
= 𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝝋 = 𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝜷 = 𝟐 𝒕𝒂𝒏 ∅
𝑿 𝒂 𝒂
or
𝒁
= 𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝝋 = ( 𝟏 − 𝒆𝟐 )𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝜷 = (𝟏 − 𝒆𝟐 ) 𝒕𝒂𝒏 ∅
𝑿

SAMPLE PROBLEM: GEOMETRIC GEODESY

Given: a = 6,378,206.4 b = 6,356, 583.8 f -1 = 294.9786982

9. The geocentric latitude of a station is 14-21N. Determine the equivalent

reduced latitude.
𝑏 𝑏
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅
𝑎 𝑎
𝑏
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽
𝑎

6,356, 583.8
𝑡𝑎𝑛 14°21′ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽
6,378,206.4

𝜷 = 𝟏𝟒°𝟐𝟑 𝟒𝟖. 𝟒𝟑"

10. The geodetic latitude of a station is 14-21N. Determine the equivalent
geocentric latitude.
𝑏 𝑏
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅
𝑎 𝑎
𝑏
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅
𝑎
6,356, 583.8
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 14°21′
6,378,206.4
𝝋 = 𝟏𝟒° 𝟏𝟓 𝟐𝟒. 𝟔𝟑"

11. The geodetic latitude of a station is 14-21N. Determine the equivalent

reduced latitude.
𝑏 𝑏
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅
𝑎 𝑎
𝑏 𝑏
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅
𝑎 𝑎
6,356, 583.8 6,356, 583.8
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 14°21′
6,378,206.4 6,378,206.4
𝜷 = 𝟏𝟒°𝟏𝟖 𝟏𝟐. 𝟎𝟕"
12. The parametric latitude of a station is 14-21. Determine the equivalent
geodetic latitude.
𝑏 𝑏
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅
𝑎 𝑎
6,356, 583.8 6,356, 583.8
𝑡𝑎𝑛 14°21′ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅
6,378,206.4 6,378,206.4
∅ = 𝟏𝟒°𝟐𝟑 𝟒𝟖. 𝟒𝟑"
13. The reduced latitude of a station is 30-32 N for a sphere having 6,379
km radius. Determine the equivalent geodetic latitude.
NOTE: In a sphere, ∅ = 𝜑 = 𝛽
∅ = 𝟑𝟎°𝟑𝟐 𝑵
14. The geodetic latitude of a point on an ellipsoid is 34N and a flattening of
1/300. Determine the reduced latitude.
Given: ∅ = 34° 𝑁 f = 1/300 𝛽 =?
Use the formula,
𝑒 = 2𝑓 − 𝑓
1 1
𝑒 = 2( )−( )
300 300
𝑒 = 0.08158158834
Use the formula,

𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = ( 1 − 𝑒 )𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = (1 − 𝑒 ) 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅

( 1 − 0.08158158834 )𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = (1 − 0.08158158834 ) 𝑡𝑎𝑛 34°

𝜷 = 𝟑𝟑°𝟓𝟒 𝟒𝟎. 𝟗𝟑"
15. A spheroid has a value of a = 6378137 b=6356752. Determine the
geodetic latitude of a place whose reduced latitude is 22-45N.
Given: a = 6378137 b=6356752 𝛽 = 22°45′ 𝑁 ∅=?
𝑏 𝑏
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅
𝑎 𝑎
𝑏 𝑏
𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅
𝑎 𝑎
6356752 6356752
𝑡𝑎𝑛 22°45′ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅
6378137 6378137
∅ = 𝟐𝟐°𝟒𝟗 𝟕. 𝟑𝟒"
16. A spheroid has a value of reduced latitude of 42N and geocentric latitude
of 28N. Compute the value of the first eccentricity of the spheroid.
Given: 𝛽 = 42° 𝑁 𝜑 = 28° 𝑁 e=?

𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = ( 1 − 𝑒 )𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽 = (1 − 𝑒 ) 𝑡𝑎𝑛 ∅

𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝜑 = ( 1 − 𝑒 )𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝛽

𝑡𝑎𝑛 28° = ( 1 − 𝑒 )𝑡𝑎𝑛 42°

𝒆 = 𝟎. 𝟖𝟎𝟕𝟎𝟐𝟎𝟕𝟎𝟎𝟏
17. At what latitude/s will the geocentric, reduced and geodetic latitudes be
the same?
NOTE: At 0 or 90 degrees, the geodetic latitude, the geocentric
latitude and reduced/parametric latitude are equal.

5 MAJOR CIRCLES OF LATITUDE

a. Arctic Circle (66°33′48.3″ N) - It marks the northernmost point at which the noon sun
is just visible on the northern winter solstice and the southernmost point at which the
midnight sun is just visible on the northern summer solstice.
b. Tropic of Cancer (23°26′11.7″ N) - It is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at
which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when
the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun to its maximum extent.
c. Equator (0° latitude)– the circle that is equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole.
It divides the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Of the
parallels or circles of latitude, it is the longest, and the only 'great circle' (a circle on the
surface of the Earth, centered on Earth's center). All the other parallels are smaller and
centered only on Earth's axis.
d. Tropic of Capricorn (23°26′11.7″ S) - This latitude corresponds to the southernmost
declination of the Sun's ecliptic to the celestial equator.
e. Antarctic circle (66°33′48.3″ S) - the most southerly of the five major circles of latitude
that mark maps of the Earth.

Figure 11. Illustration of the 5 major circles of a celestial sphere.

RADII OF CURVATURE ON THE ELLIPSOID
1. Meridional Section - a plane passing through the given point and the two poles. The
radius of curvature in the meridian is designated M.

𝑎(1 − 𝑒 )
𝑀=
(1 − 𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ∅)

2. Prime Vertical Section – a section through the point and perpendicular to the meridional
section at the point. The radius of curvature in the prime vertical is designated N

𝑎
𝑁=
(1 − 𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ∅)

Figure 12. Illustration of the cutting plane on identifying the radii of curvature on the ellipsoid

SAMPLE PROBLEM
Solve for the Meridional Section (M) and Prime Vertical Section (N).at 20 degree latitude
Given: Use Clarke’s Spheroid of 1866 Parameters
a = 6378206.4 b = 6356583.8
Solution:
Solve for the eccentricity,
√𝑎 − 𝑏
𝑒=
𝑎
 √6378206.4 − 6356583.8
𝑒=
6378206.4
𝑒 = 0.08227185422
Then solve for the Meridional Section,
𝑎(1 − 𝑒 )
𝑀=
(1 − 𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ∅)

6378206.4(1 − 0.08227185422 )
𝑀=
(1 − 0.08227185422 𝑠𝑖𝑛 20)

𝑴 = 𝟔, 𝟑𝟒𝟐, 𝟓𝟔𝟓. 𝟗𝟏𝟏

Then solve for the Prime Vertical Section,
𝑎
𝑁=
(1 − 𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ∅)

6378206.4
𝑁=
(1 − 0.08227185422 𝑠𝑖𝑛 20)

𝑵 = 𝟔, 𝟑𝟖𝟎, 𝟕𝟑𝟐. 𝟗𝟕𝟕

Therefore, the other values of Meridional Section and Prime Vertical Radius are as
follows:

Note:
1. At the equator N = a (semi-major axis)
2. As the geodetic latitude changes, values of M and N also changes.
3. N > M
4. At the poles, M = N
ADDITIONAL FORMULAS USED IN GEOMETRIC GEODESY
1. Radius of Curvature of Normal Sections at any Azimuth
𝑀𝑁
𝑅 =
𝑀 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼 + 𝑁 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛼

Note:
a. Rα= M for a normal section in azimuth 0, 180
b. Rα= N for a normal section in azimuth 90, 270
c. R30= R150 = R210 due to symmetry.
d. Values of Rα = repeat mirror fashion with respect to both axes throughout all
quadrants.
e. Values of Rα will always be greater than M and smaller than N.

Figure 13. Illustration of Radiues of Parallel and Prime Vertical Radius in a celestial sphere.

SAMPLE PROBLEM
Using the M and N values from the previous section, solve for the value of 𝑅 at 60
degrees
Given: M = 6,342,565.911 N = 6,380,732.977
𝑀𝑁
𝑅 =
𝑀 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼 + 𝑁 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛼
(6,342,565.911)(6,380,732.977)
𝑅 =
(6,342,565.911) 𝑠𝑖𝑛 60 + (6,380,732.977) 𝑐𝑜𝑠 60

𝑹𝜶 = 𝟔, 𝟑𝟕𝟏, 𝟏𝟒𝟖. 𝟐𝟏𝟏

2. Radius of Parallel
𝑝 = 𝑁 cos ∅
Sample Problem
Determine the radius of the parallel at latitude 20 degrees, if a = 6,378,206.4m and b =
6,356,583.8m.
Solution:
Solve for the value of Prime Vertical Section (N),
𝑎
𝑁=
(1 − 𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ∅)

6378206.4
𝑁=
(1 − 0.08227185422 𝑠𝑖𝑛 20)

𝑁 = 6,380,732.977

Then, solve for the value of the radius of the parallel (p):

𝑝 = 𝑁 cos ∅
𝑝 = 6,380,732.977 cos 20°
𝒑 = 𝟓, 𝟗𝟗𝟓, 𝟗𝟐𝟕. 𝟔𝟗𝟒𝒎

3. Length of Parallel Arc

𝐿 = 𝑁 cos ∅ ∆𝜆
Sample Problem
Determine the length of 1 second of arc along the parallel at latitude 20 degrees, if a =
6,378,206.4m and b = 6,356,583.8m.
𝑎
𝑁=
(1 − 𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ∅)

6378206.4
𝑁=
(1 − 0.08227185422 𝑠𝑖𝑛 20)

𝑁 = 6,380,732.977
 𝐿 = 𝑁 cos ∅ ∆𝜆
𝐿 = 6,380,732.977 cos 20° (0°0′1")
𝑳 = 𝟏𝟔𝟔𝟓. 𝟓𝟑𝟓
4. Gaussian Mean Radius - The integral mean radius of the earth on a point taken over
the azimuth varying from 0 to 360 degrees.
/
𝑅 = (𝑀𝑁)
Sample Problem:
Determine the Gaussian Mean Radius at latitude 20 degrees, if a = 6,378,206.4m and b
= 6,356,583.8m.
Solution:
From the previous problem, M = 6,342,565.911 and N = 6,380,732.977
/
𝑅 = (𝑀𝑁)
/
𝑅 = [(6,342,565.911)(6,380,732.977)]
𝑹 = 𝟔, 𝟑𝟔𝟏, 𝟔𝟐𝟎. 𝟖𝟐𝟏
5. Radii of Spherical Approximation to the Earth or Mean Radius of the Earth
 Radius of a Sphere Having the Mean of the Three Semi Axes of the Ellipsoid
𝟐 √𝟏 − 𝒆𝟐
𝑹𝑴 = 𝒂 +
𝟑 𝟑
𝒂+𝒂+𝒃
𝑹𝑴 =
𝟑
 Radius of a Sphere Having the Same Area as the Ellipsoid
𝒆𝟐 𝟏𝟕𝒆𝟒 𝟑𝟔𝟕𝒆𝟔
𝑹𝑨 = 𝒂 (𝟏 − − − + ⋯.)
𝟔 𝟑𝟔𝟎 𝟑𝟎𝟐𝟒
 Radius of a Sphere Having the Same Volume as the Ellipsoid
𝟑
𝑹𝑽 = 𝒂𝟐 𝒃
 Comparison of Radii
Using Clarke’s Spheroid of 1866
RM = 6,370,998.87
RA = 6,370,997.04
RV = 6,370,990.71
Space Rectangular Coordinates
Now we consider the computation of X, Y, Z coordinates of a point located at a
geometric height, h, above the reference ellipsoid. The geometric height is measured
along the ellipsoidal normal.

Figure 14. Illustration of determining the space rectangular coordinates

𝑿 = (𝑵 + 𝒉) 𝒄𝒐𝒔∅ 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝀
𝒀 = (𝑵 + 𝒉) 𝒄𝒐𝒔∅ 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝝀
𝒁 = (𝑵(𝟏 − 𝒆𝟐 ) + 𝒉) 𝒔𝒊𝒏 ∅
Sample Problem
Find the rectangular space coordinates of a point on the ellipsoid has geodetic
coordinates ∅ = 14° 𝑁, 𝜆 = 121° 𝐸 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ = 455 𝑚. (N = 6,380,732.977 and e =
0.8070207001.
𝑋 = (𝑁 + ℎ) 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜆
𝑿 = −𝟑, 𝟏𝟖𝟖, 𝟗𝟑𝟎. 𝟎𝟒𝟗

𝑌 = (𝑁 + ℎ) 𝑐𝑜𝑠∅ 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜆
𝒀 = 𝟓, 𝟑𝟎𝟕, 𝟐𝟕𝟎. 𝟖𝟓𝟏

𝑍 = (𝑁(1 − 𝑒 ) + ℎ) 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ∅
𝒁 = 𝟓𝟑𝟖, 𝟒𝟎𝟒. 𝟏𝟓𝟏𝟕
DATUM AND REFERENCES
a. Geoid – the hypothetical shape of the Earth, coinciding with the mean sea level and
its imagined extension under (or over) land areas.

Figure 15. The model of the earth

In the figure displayed, the geoid approximates mean sea level. The shape of the
ellipsoid was calculated based on the hypothetical equipotential gravitational surface. A
significant difference exists between this mathematical model and the real object.
However, even the most mathematically sophisticated geoid can only approximate the
real shape of the earth.
b. Mean sea level - a tidal datum that is the arithmetic mean of hourly water elevations
observed over a specific 19-year cycle. This definition averages out tidal highs and lows
caused by the changing effects of the gravitational forces from the moon and sun.

Figure 16. Relationship between the ellipsoidal, orthometric and geoid height
 In the figure above, the accuracy of GPS height measurements depends on
several factors but the most crucial one is the "imperfection" of the earth's shape. Height
can be measured in two ways. The GPS uses height (h) above the reference ellipsoid
that approximates the earth's surface. The traditional, orthometric height (H) is the height
above an imaginary surface called the geoid, which is determined by the earth's gravity
and approximated by MSL. The signed difference between the two heights—the
difference between the ellipsoid and geoid—is the geoid height (N). The figure above
shows the relationships between the different models and explains the reasons why the
two hardly ever match spatially.
c. Datum – any numerical or geometrical quantity or set of quantities which serves as a
reference or base for other quantities.
d. Geodetic Datum – includes the size and shape of the ellipsoid, its location and
orientation, and its relation to the geoid by means of geoid undulations and deflection of
the vertical.
 ELEMENTS OF A GEODETIC DATUM
 Latitude of the origin
 Longitude of the origin
 Azimuth of the origin to a second point (azimuth mark)
 Reference ellipsoid with constants: semi-major axis and flattening.
 Geoid-ellipsoid separation, also known as geoid undulation or geoidal
height, deflection in the vertical plane.
e. Reference System – a set of prescriptions and conventions together with the
modelling required to define at any time a triad of coordinate axes.
f. Reference Frame – realizes the system by means of coordinates of definite points that
are accessible directly by occupation or by observation.
2. PHYSICAL GEODESY
Physical geodesy utilizes measurements and characteristics of the earth's gravity
field as well as theories regarding this field to deduce the shape of the geoid and in
combination with arc measurements, the earth's size. With sufficient information
regarding the earth's gravity field, it is possible to determine geoid undulations,
gravimetric deflections, and the earth's flattening.

GRAVITY MEASUREMENTS
An attracting force, called gravitational force, operates between the earth and
every object that is located within, on, or above the earth's surface. At the same time, any
object within or on the earth's surface pursues a circular path as the earth rotates on its
axis. If the body is on the earth's surface, it follows the circular path because it is held
onto the earth's surface by the gravitational force. According to Newton’s Law of
Gravitation, the gravitational force between two objects (Fg) is given by,
𝒎𝟏 𝒎𝟐
𝑭𝒈 = 𝑮
∆𝒓𝟐
where G is the Newton’s gravitational constant (6.67 x 10-9 cm3 g-1 sec-2), m1 and m2 are
the masses that attract each other and L is the distance between them.

However, the body as it pursues a circular path exerts an outward force called the
centrifugal reaction. The centrifugal reaction can be experienced by revolving an object
at the end of a string. It is given by,
𝑪𝑭 = 𝑴𝝎𝟐 𝒓
The sum of the gravitational force and centrifugal reaction acting on a body is called
gravity. Since the gravitational force is much stronger than the centrifugal reaction, gravity
causes an object to have weight and, if the object is free to move, to fall with increasing
speed (i.e., the body accelerates) toward the center of the earth.
Gravity = CF + Fg
The acceleration experienced by that object as it moves toward the earth's center is called
the acceleration of gravity, which is the quantity observed when gravity measurements
are made.
To measure the local gravitational field of the Earth, an instrument used in gravimetry
called as “gravimeter”. There are two distinctly different types of gravity measurements
are made:
1. Absolute gravity measurements - If the value of acceleration of gravity can be
determined at the point of measurement directly from the data observed at that point. An
example of an absolute gravity measurement was a pendulum, which was a relatively
massive object hung by a string from a fixed support. The formula to be used was:

𝑳 𝑳
𝑷 = 𝟐𝝅 𝒐𝒓 𝑷 = 𝝅
𝒈 𝒈

𝟒𝝅𝟐 𝑳 𝝅𝟐 𝑳
𝒈= 𝒐𝒓 𝒈 =
𝑷𝟐 𝑷𝟐

2. Relative gravity measurements - If only the differences in the value of the

acceleration of gravity are measured between two or more points. It was derived using
the formula:
𝒈 𝟏 𝒑𝟏 𝟐 = 𝒈 𝟐 𝒑𝟐 𝟐

OTHER RELATED PROBLEMS IN PHYSICAL GEODESY:

 Normal gravity – the theoretical value of representing the acceleration of gravity
that would be generated by a uniform ellipsoidal Earth. Variation in gravity due to
latitude is given by:
𝒈∅ = 𝒈𝒆 + (𝒈𝒑 − 𝒈𝒆 )𝒔𝒊𝒏𝟐 ∅
Where,
𝑔∅ = Gravity at a certain parallel
𝑔 = Gravity at the equator
𝑔 = Gravity at the poles
∅ = The given angle or latitude at a certain parallel
  Gravity Anomaly – the difference between a gravity measurement that has been
reduced to sea level and normal gravity. It is also called as free air (true air)
anomaly and the formula is given by,
𝑪𝑹 = −𝟎. 𝟑𝟎𝟖𝟔 (∆𝑯)
Where,
𝐶 = Correction due to gravity (𝐶 = 𝑔 − 𝑔 )
∆𝐻 = the difference of elevation between two stations ∆𝐻 = ℎ − ℎ

Other Terminologies in Physical Geodesy:

 Luelen LaCoste – invented the first portable gravimeter.
 GRAIL – twin satellites used to measure the gravity field around the moon.
 Instrumental Drift – the variation in gravity due to the fact that the gravimeter
registers different readings in time, due to mechanical, thermal and electric
changes.
 Tidal corrections – applied to account for time varying gravitational acceleration
due to the motion of the sun and moon.
 Theoretical gravity corrections – applied to account for the shape and rotation of
the Earth.
 Free air (True air) corrections – applied to account for the variations in gravitational
acceleration with elevation.
 Simple Bouguer (Bullard A) corrections – applied to account for the average
density of rocks as a function of elevation.
 Spherical cap (Bullard B) corrections – applied to account for the change in the
Bouguer correction due to the roughly shape of the Earth.
 Terrain (Bullard C) corrections – applied to account for the exact formation of the
terrain and its influence on density distribution around the gravity station.
 Isostatic corrections – applied to account for the broad (long wavelengths)
variations in gravity due to isostatic compensation of the crust.
 Free-fall meter – an absolute meter. It measures the time an object falls and
thereby determine its acceleration.
  Restricted fall meter – this gravimeter contains a mass attached to a cantilever
beam and suspended with metal or quartz spring. The tension on the spring can
be adjusted to bring the beam in null position. The force required to move the beam
to the null position is proportional to the change in gravity.
 Lorand Eotvos – an Hungarian physicist, who is known for the invention of the
torsion pendulum used to measure the density of the underlying rock strata and
direction of the gravity.
 Eotvos torsion balance - a very sensitive instrument which measures variations in
the force of gravity.

Sample Problems in Physical Geodesy:

1. Calculate the correction to gravity using true-air method when the elevation of the
station is 1,837.46 m.
𝐶 = −0.3086 (∆𝐻)
𝐶 = −0.3086 (1,837.46)
𝑪𝑹 = −𝟓𝟔𝟕. 𝟎𝟒 𝒎, 𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒔
2. The mean corrected period of a set of pendulums at a station is 0.5013 and at the base
station is 0.5007 with gravity as 980.112 gals. What is the gravity at the station?
Given: g1 =? g2 = 980.112 gals p1 = 0.5013s p2 = 0.5007s
𝑔 𝑝 =𝑔 𝑝
(𝑔 )(0.5013𝑠) = (980.112 𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠)(0.5007𝑠)
𝒈𝟏 = 𝟗𝟕𝟕. 𝟕𝟕 𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒔
3. The gravity at the mean surface of the Earth is 978.71 gals and the radius of the earth
is 6,378,000 m. Determine the elevation of a point on the surface of the earth where the
gravity is 978.33.
Given: g2 = 978.33 gals g1 = 978.71 gals Rearth = 6,378,000 m ℎ =?
ℎ = 0𝑚
𝐶 = −0.3086 (∆𝐻)
𝑔 − 𝑔 = −0.3086 (ℎ − ℎ )
978.33𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠 − 978.71𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠 = −0.3086 (ℎ − 0)
−0.38𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠 = −0.3086 (ℎ )
 Convert – 0.38 into m.gals.
1000 𝑚. 𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠
−0.38𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠( ) = −0.3086 (ℎ )
1𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠
−380 𝑚. 𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠. = −0.3086 (ℎ )
𝒉𝟐 = +𝟏, 𝟐𝟑𝟏. 𝟑𝟕𝒎
4. Determine the gravity if a 0.40 m pendulum oscillates at 0.634 s.

𝑳 𝑳
𝑷 = 𝟐𝝅 𝒐𝒓 𝑷 = 𝝅
𝒈 𝒈

Trial 1:

0.40𝑚
0.634𝑠 = 2𝜋
𝑔

𝑔 = 39.29 𝑚/𝑠
Trial 2:

0.40𝑚
0.634𝑠 = 𝜋
𝑔

𝒈 = 𝟗. 𝟖𝟐 𝒎/𝒔𝟐
NOTE: The answer should be near to the normal gravity (9.81m/s 2).

5. Determine the gravity at the 45th parallel if the gravity at the pole is 983.221 gals and
the gravity at the equator is 978.079 gals.
Where, 𝑔∅ =? 𝑔 = 978.079 gals 𝑔 = 983.221 gals ∅ = 45°
𝑔∅ = 𝑔 + (𝑔 − 𝑔 )𝑠𝑖𝑛 ∅
𝑔∅ = 978.079 gals + (983.221 gals − 978.079 gals)𝑠𝑖𝑛 45°
𝒈∅ = 𝟗𝟖𝟎. 𝟔𝟓 𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒔
6. The earth is a sphere having a radius of 6,370 km with a gravity on the mean surface
g = 981 gals. Points A and B have gravities 980.7 gals and 981.9 respectively. Compute
the difference in elevation between A and B.
Given: g2 = 980.7 gals g1 = 981.9 gals ∆𝐻 =?
𝐶 = −0.3086 (∆𝐻)
𝑔 − 𝑔 = −0.3086 (∆𝐻)
980.7 𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠 − 981.9 𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠 = −0.3086 (∆𝐻)
−1.2 𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠 = −0.3086 (∆𝐻)
Convert – 1.2 gals into mgals,
1000𝑚𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠
−1.2 𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠 ( ) = −0.3086 (∆𝐻)
1𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠
−1200 𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑠 = −0.3086 (∆𝐻)
∆𝑯 = +𝟑𝟖𝟖𝟖. 𝟓𝟑 𝒎
3. GEODETIC ASTRONOMY
Geodetic Astronomy is concerned with the study of determining the position using
measurements made by observing celestial bodies. In making observations of the sun
and the stars, the surveyor is not interested in the distance of the celestial bodies from
the earth but merely in their angular positions. It is convenient to imagine their being
attached to the inner surface of a hollow sphere infinite radius of which the earth is the
center. The imaginary sphere is called as the celestial sphere.
The portion of the celestial sphere seen by the observer is the hemisphere above
the plane of his own horizon. The reference plane passes through the center of the earth
parallel with the observer’s horizon, but the radius of the earth is so small in relation to
the distances of the star.

Figure 17. The Celestial Sphere

Definition of terms
 Celestial Poles – the points on the surface of the celestial sphere pierced by the
extension of earth’s polar axis.
 Zenith – the point where the plumb line at the place of observation projected above
the horizon meets the celestial sphere. It is the point on the celestial sphere
vertically above the observer.
 Nadir – the point on the celestial sphere directly beneath the observer and directly
opposite to the zenith.
 Great Circle – the trace in its surface of the intersection of a plane passing through
the center of the sphere.
 Observer’s Horizon – a great circle on the sphere where a plane perpendicular
through a plumb at the place observation and passing through the center of the
earth, cuts the celestial sphere.
 Observer’s Vertical – a vertical line at the location of the observer which coincides
with the plumb line and is normal to the observer’s horizon.
 Celestial Equator – a great circle which is perpendicular to the polar axis of the
celestial sphere. It is an extension on the plane of the earth’s equator outward until
it intersects the celestial sphere.
 Vertical Circle – a great circle passing through the observer’s zenith and any
celestial body.
 Hour Circle – a great circle joining the celestial pole and passing through a celestial
body and whose plane is perpendicular to the plane of the celestial equator.
 Observer’s Meridian – the great circle of the celestial sphere which passes through
the celestial poles and observer’s zenith.
 Vernal Equinox – the point of zero declination of the ecliptic.
 Ecliptic – the intersection of the plane of the Earth’s axis and celestial sphere.
 Equinoctial Colure – an hour circle passing through the vernal equinox.
THE MOST COMMON CELESTIAL COORDINATE SYSTEM
1. HORIZON SYSTEM: ALTITUDE AND AZIMUTH
In the horizon system of coordinates, the position of a star is uniquely specified by
its azimuth and either its altitude or its zenith distance.

Figure 18. The Horizon System

 Azimuth (A) – the angular distance measured along the horizon of the observer’s
meridian to the vertical circle through the body.
 Altitude (h) – the angular distance measured along the vertical circle from the
horizon to the body.
 Zenith (z) – the complement of the altitude.
Note: The horizon system is also called as the Altazimuth System.
2. Right Ascension System (Equatorial System)
In the Right Ascension System of coordinates, the position of the star is uniquely
specified by its Right Ascension (B) and either its declination ((𝛿) or its polar distance (p).

Figure 19. The Equatorial System

 Right Ascension (B) – the angle taken counter-clockwise along the celestial
equator from the First Point of Aries (Vernal Equinox) to the hour circle of the star.
 Declination (𝛿) – the angular distance measured along the hour circle from the
celestial equator to the celestial body.
 Polar Distance (p) – the complement of the declination. It is the angular distance
measured from the celestial pole to the star along the hour circle passing through
the celestial body.
3. Hour Angle System: Declination and Hour Angle
In the hour angle system, the position of the celestial body is based on the location
of the observer. The position of the star is defined by the local hour angle of the star and
its declination or polar distance.

Figure 20. The hour angle system

 Local Hour Angle (LHA) – the angle measured from the clockwise from the upper
branch of the meridian of observation to the meridian of the celestial body.
 Declination (𝛿) – the angular distance measured along the hour circle from the
celestial equator to the celestial body.
 Polar Distance (p) – the complement of the declination. It is the angular distance
measured from the celestial pole to the star along the hour circle passing through
the celestial body.
MOTIONS OF THE EARTH
 Earth’s Rotation – the rotation of Planet Earth around its own axis. Earth rotates
eastward in prograde motion. As viewed from the north pole star Polaris, Earth
turns counter-clockwise.

Figure 21. Illustration of Earth's rotation

 Earth’s Orbit – it is the trajectory along which travels around the sun.

Figure 22. Illustration of Earth's orbit

Aphelion – the planet’s position farthest distance from the sun. It happens around
January 3 of the year.
Perihelion – the planet’s position closest approach from the sun. It happens around
July 4 of the year.
 Axial Precession - a change in the orientation of the rotational axis of the earth
in a 26,000-year cycle.

Figure 23. Axial Precession

 Axial Tilt or Nutation – a rocking, swinging, or nodding motion in the axis of

rotation of the Earth.

Figure 24. Axial Tilt

 Barycenter – the center of mass of two or more bodies that are orbiting each other,
or the point around which they both orbit.

Figure 25. Barycenter

 Ellipticity - The degree of deviation of an ellipse, elliptical orbit, etc. from circular form,
or of a spheroid from spherical form. noun.

Figure 26. Ellipticity

  Apsidal Precession - the precession (gradual rotation) of the line connecting the
apsides (line of apsides) of an astronomical body's orbit.

Figure 27. Apsidal Precession

Aberration – an astronomical phenomenon which produces an apparent motion

of celestial objects about their true position, dependent on the velocity of the
observer.

 Ecliptic Plane – the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun. From the perspective of an
observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of
a year traces out a path along the ecliptic against the background of stars.

Figure 28. The ecliptic planes

EARTH’S POSITION IN EVERY SEASON
 VERNAL (SPRING) EQUINOX  WINTER SOLSTICE
 MARCH 23  DECEMBER 21
 EQUATOR (0 DEGREES)  TROPIC OF CAPRICORN
 12 HOURS OF DAYLIGHT (23°27' SOUTH)
 SHORTEST DAY (JUST OVER
9 HRS)

 SUMMER SOLSTICE
 JUNE 21  AUTUMNAL EQUINOX
 TROPIC OF CANCER  SEPTEMBER 21
23°27'NORTH)  EQUATOR (0 DEGREES)
 LONGEST DAY (JUST OVER  12 HOURS OF DAYLIGHT
15 HRS)

Figure 29. Seasonal Position of the earth

Definition of Terms:
3 months – the interval between the summer solstice and vernal equinox.
Lunar Variation – due to the effect of the magnetic attraction of the moon on the needle
and that effect is small that sometimes it is neglected.
23°27′ N – the maximum declination of a point on the ecliptic.
23°27′ S – the minimum declination of a point on the ecliptic.

PARALLELS AND MERIDIANS

 Parallels – the lines formed by passing a series of imaginary planes perpendicular
to the axis of the Earth. It is numbered from 0 to 90 degrees North and South of
the Equator.
  The parallel at 0-degree latitude (Equator) - a great circle that divides the earth
with the northern and southern hemisphere.
 Meridians – the lines formed by passing a series of imaginary planes through the
Earth’s poles. It is numbered from 0 to 180 degrees east or west.
 The meridian at 0-degree longitude (Prime Meridian) – a great circle that divide the
earth in the eastern and western hemisphere.
 Poles – the maximum declination of the celestial sphere.
 Celestial Equator – the points of zero declination on the celestial sphere.

Figure 30. Illustration of Parallels and Meridians

DEFINITION OF POLARIS
 Polaris (north star) – a circumpolar star since it rotates very close to the celestial
north pole. It is a fairly bright star found about 1 degree from the north celestial
pole also called as DOA STAR.
 Ursa Minor (Little Dipper) – the constellation to locate the Polaris.
 Figure 31. Relative position of the Polaris

APPARENT MOTION OF POLARIS

Figure 32. Apparent Motion of Polaris

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE UPPER AND LOWER CULMINATION
NOTE: LATITUDE (∅) = EQUATOR TO ZENITH (EZ) &
LATITUDE (∅)= HORIZON TO CELESTIAL POLE (HP)
KEY VARIABLES:
∅ = 𝑳𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑻𝑼𝑫𝑬
h = ALTITUDE (HORIZON TO STAR)
p = POLAR DISTANCE (POLE TO STAR)
z = ZENITH DISTANCE (ZENITH TO STAR)
𝜹 = 𝑫𝑬𝑪𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 (EQUATOR TO STAR)

h = COMPLEMENT OF ZENITH DISTANCE = 90 - z

p = COMPLEMENT OF DECLINATION = 90 - 𝜹

UPPER CULMINATION (SOUTH OF ZENITH)

ZENITH

EQUATOR POLE
𝒛
𝜹

SOUTH NORTH
Based from the illustration:
∅= 𝜹+𝒁
∅ = 𝜹 + (𝟗𝟎 − 𝒉)
∅ = (𝟗𝟎 − 𝒑) + (𝟗𝟎 − 𝒉)
UPPER CULMINATION (NORTH OF ZENITH)

ZENITH

EQUATOR 𝒛
POLE
𝜹

SOUTH NORTH

Based from the illustration:

∅= 𝜹−𝒁
∅ = (𝟗𝟎 − 𝒑) − (𝟗𝟎 − 𝒉)
∅= 𝒉−𝒑

UPPER CULMINATION (SOUTH OF ZENITH – BELOW THE EQUATOR)

ZENITH

EQUATOR POLE
𝒛

SOUTH NORTH
Based from the illustration:
∅= 𝒁−𝜹
∅ = (𝟗𝟎 − 𝒉) − 𝜹
 ∅ = (𝟗𝟎 − 𝒉) − (𝟗𝟎 − 𝒑)

LOWER CULMINATION

ZENITH

EQUATOR POLE

SOUTH NORTH

Based from the illustration:

∅= 𝒉+𝒑
∅ = (𝟗𝟎 − 𝒛) + (𝟗𝟎 − 𝜹)
∅ = 𝟏𝟖𝟎 − 𝒛 − 𝜹

ADDITIONAL NOTES: In some problems, there are other corrections involved in

solving the apparent location of the latitude.
 INDEX ERROR  ALWAYS NEGATIVE
 REFRACTION ERROR  ALWAYS NEGATIVE
 PARALLAX ERROR  ALWAYS POSITIVE
 REFRACTION AND PARALLAX ERROR - ALWAYS NEGATIVE
 SEMI-DIAMETER – EITHER POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE
SAMPLE PROBLEM:
On July 12, 1905, BLLM No. 1 was established and its latitude was determined from a
meridian observation of a star upper culmination on that date. The following notes of
observation are:
 Altitude: 41°34’30”
 Polar distance: 27°45’31”

ZENITH

EQUATOR POLE
𝒑

SOUTH NORTH
SOLUTION:
NOTE: EZ HP
∅= 𝒉−𝒑
∅ = 41°34’30” − 27°45’31”
∅ = 𝟏𝟑°𝟒𝟖’𝟓𝟗”
THE ASTRONOMICAL (PZS) TRIANGLE
A spherical triangle is the figure formed by joining any three points on the surface of a
sphere by arcs of great circles.

Components of a PZS-Triangle
 Point P – the north pole of the celestial sphere.
 Point Z – the observer’s zenith which is a point on the celestial sphere found by
projecting the center of the instrument at the time of observation upward along the
direction opposite to that of gravity.
 Point S – the heavenly body observed which may be the sun or any other known
star such as Polaris.
 Side PS or p – the polar distance or co-declination. (𝑝 = 90° − 𝑑)
 Side PZ or y – the colatitude of Z. (𝑝 = 90° − 𝑙)
 Side ZS or z – the zenith distance or co-altitude of the observed heavenly body
(S). (𝑝 = 90° − 𝑙)
 Angle Z – true azimuth of the heavenly body. Its value may exceed 90° but is
always less than 180°.
 Angle S – the parallactic angle. It is usually unnecessary to use the value of this
angle. (equal to 90°).
 Angle t – is known as the meridian angle.

Correction for Refraction and Parallax

 Refraction – the change in direction or bonding of light.
 Parallax – the difference in direction of a heavenly body as seen from the surface
and from the center of the Earth.
ℎ = ℎ −𝑅+𝑃
where h is altitude, h’ is the measured altitude, R is the refraction correction and P
is the correction for parallax.
  Sun’s declination – At any given instant the declination of the sun is obtained by
interpolating between values in a solar ephemeris for the current year.

ZENITH
DISTANCE

Figure 33. The PZS Triangle

In surveying, the PZS triangle is solved in connection with determinations of azimuth (Z)
and the solution involves spherical trigonometry.

Solving for the angle Z from the law of spherical trigonometry yields,
sin 𝛿 − sin ∅ sin ℎ
cos 𝑧 =
cos ∅ cos ℎ
Since the azimuth here in the Philippines is reckoned from south, the azimuth of the body
would then be:
180 degrees + z  if the celestial body is east of the observer’s meridian or morning
observation of the sun.
180 degrees – z  if the celestial body is west of the observer’s meridian or afternoon
observation of the sun.
 z
z

MORNING OBSERVATION AFTERNOON OBSERVATION

Note: The angle Z is reckoned from north.

Solving for the angle A,
𝐴
cot( ) = sec 𝑆 sec(𝑆 − 𝑃) sin(𝑆 − 𝐻) sin(𝑆 − 𝐿)
2
Where,
𝑃+𝐻+𝐿
𝑆=
2

A A

MORNING OBSERVATION AFTERNOON OBSERVATION

Note: The angle A is reckoned from south.

Solving for the angle t yields,
sin ℎ − sin ∅ sin 𝛿
cos 𝑡 =
cos ∅ cos 𝛿
The angle t (converted to hours units) is subtracted from 12 o’ clock for morning
observations and added to 12 o’clock for afternoon observation.

SAMPLE PROBLEM:
A solar observation is made in the morning and the following quantities have been
determined:
Latitude of place of observation, ∅ = 𝑁 38°10.1′
True altitude of sun corrected for refraction and parallax, ℎ = 32°58.1′

Sun’s apparent declination, 𝛿 = −16°37.2′

Find the value of the azimuth of the sun.

SOLUTION:
sin 𝛿 − sin ∅ sin ℎ z
cos 𝑧 =
cos ∅ cos ℎ
sin(−16°37.2′ ) − sin(38°10.1′ ) sin(32°58.1′ )
cos 𝑧 =
cos(38°10.1′) cos(32°58.1′ ) 𝜶

𝑧 = 160°38 31.92"

AZIMUTH OF THE SUN = 180 + z

𝜶 = 𝟑𝟒𝟎°𝟑𝟖 𝟑𝟏. 𝟗𝟐"

MORNING OBSERVATION
AZIMUTH OF POLARIS AT ELONGATION
For the eastern and western elongation, it exists when the angle s or the parallactic
angle is equal to 90 degrees.
sin 𝑧 sin 𝑃𝐴
=
sin 𝑃𝐷 sin(𝑐𝑜 − 𝑙𝑎𝑡)
NOTE: sin 90° = 1
sin 𝑃𝐷
sin 𝑧 =
sin(𝑐𝑜 − 𝑙𝑎𝑡)
𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝑷𝑫
𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝒛 =
𝐜𝐨𝐬 ∅
SAMPLE PROBLEM:
Polaris was observed at its greatest western elongation in Manila. The polar distance of
the star during the observation was 1°05′30"and the latitude of the place of observation
equals 14°34 𝑁. Compute the azimuth of Polaris.

SOLUTION:
sin 𝑃𝐷
sin 𝑧 = z
cos ∅
sin 1°05′30"
sin 𝑧 =
cos 14°34′
𝑧 = 1°7 54"
𝜶

AZIMUTH OF THE STAR = 180 – z

𝛼 = 180 − 1°7′54"
𝜶 = 𝟏𝟕𝟖°𝟓𝟐 𝟏𝟗. 𝟒𝟔"

WESTERN ELONGATION
AZIMUTH OF POLARIS AT ANY HOUR ANGLE:
Given the hour angle (t), declination (𝛿) and the altitude (h)
sin 𝑡 cos 𝛿
sin 𝑧 = −
cos ℎ
If the latitude ∅ of the place of observation is known:
sin 𝑡
tan 𝑧 =
tan 𝛿 cos ∅ − sin ∅ cos 𝑡

SAMPLE PROBLEM:
A station at 42°20 𝑁 was occupied by an observer. Using a reference mark, an angle
equal to 62°40 was measured from azimuth mark to Polaris (bearing east) clockwise. If
the hour angle of Polaris is 45°30 and the declination of Polaris is equal to 86°40 ,
Compute:
 Azimuth of Polaris
 Azimuth of the line from observer to reference mark
 Altitude of Polaris at the instant of observation.

SOLUTION:
42°20 𝑁  Latitude (∅)
62°40  Line from observer to reference mark
45°30  Hour angle (t)
86°40  Declination of Polaris (𝛿)
 Azimuth of Polaris
sin 𝑡
tan 𝑧 =
tan 𝛿 cos ∅ − sin ∅ cos 𝑡
sin 45°30
tan 𝑧 =
tan 86°40 cos 42°20 − sin 42°20 cos 45°30
𝒛 = 𝟑°𝟐𝟎 𝟐𝟓. 𝟐𝟗"
  Azimuth of the line from observer to reference mark

Azimuth of the star = 180 + z

62°40 z
Azimuth of the star = 183°20 25.29"
2
Azimuth of RM = Azimuth of the star - 62°40
Azimuth of RM = 𝟏𝟐𝟎°𝟒𝟎 𝟐𝟓. 𝟐𝟗"

 Altitude of Polaris at the instant of observation.

Based on the illustration of the PZS triangle:
Using the function of sine law of the spherical triangle:
sin (90 − 𝛿) sin(90 − ℎ)
=
sin 𝑧 sin 𝑡 MORNING OBSERVATION
cos 𝛿 cos ℎ
=
sin 𝑧 sin 𝑡
cos 𝛿 sin 𝑡
cos ℎ =
sin 𝑧
cos 86°40 sin 45°30
cos ℎ =
sin 3°20 25.29"
𝒉 = 𝟒𝟒° 𝟑𝟕 𝟐𝟎. 𝟒𝟓"

STEPS IN CONDUCTING A SOLAR OBSERVATION

Below were the data gathered from a solar observation:
Station Occupied: P-1
Station Observed: P-2

Latitude of P-1: 14°00 15” 𝑁

Date of Observation: November 7, 1987

Declination of the Sun from Table: 15°24 00" 𝑆
NPD Hourly Variation: 28.15”
Index Error: 15”
Parallax Correction: 01’10”
Correction for Refraction: 02’05”

HORIZONTAL CIRCLE READING TIME ZENITH ANGLE

357°50 12" 8:30:18 48°31 50"
358°02 37" 8:30:51 48°35 26"
177°51 37" 8:31:09 311°24 32"
178°02 31" 8:31:37 311°27 25"

Compute the following values:

a. Mean altitude of the sun
48°31 50+48°35' 26" + (360 − 311°24 32") + (360 − 311°27 25")
𝑍𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 =
4
𝑍𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 = 48°33 49.75"
ℎ = 90 − 𝑧
𝒉 = 𝟒𝟏°𝟐𝟔 𝟏𝟎. 𝟐𝟓"
b. Corrected altitude
ℎ = ℎ − 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 + 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑥 − 𝑅𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
ℎ = 41°26 10.25" − 15” + 01’10” − 02’05”
𝒉 = 𝟒𝟏°𝟐𝟓 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓"
c. Correction for North Polar Distance
𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑉𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 − 8: 00𝑎𝑚)
8: 30: 18 + 8: 30: 51 + 8: 31: 09 + 8: 31: 37
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 =
4
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 = 8: 30: 58.75
𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 28°15′ (8: 30: 58.75 − 8: 00𝑎𝑚)
𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 28°15′ (0: 30: 58.75))
𝑵𝑷𝑫 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 = 𝟏𝟒. 𝟓𝟗"
d. Corrected NPD
𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑎𝑡 8𝑎𝑚 = 90 − 𝛿
 𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑎𝑡 8𝑎𝑚 = 90 − (15°24 𝑆)
𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑎𝑡 8𝑎𝑚 = 90 − (−15°24 )
𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑎𝑡 8𝑎𝑚 = 105°24′

𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑎𝑡 8: 30: 58.75 𝑎𝑚 = 𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑎𝑡 8𝑎𝑚 + 𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑁𝑃𝐷 𝑎𝑡 8: 30: 58.75 𝑎𝑚 = 105°24 + 14°35 9.69"
𝑵𝑷𝑫 𝒂𝒕 𝟖: 𝟑𝟎: 𝟓𝟖. 𝟕𝟓 𝒂𝒎 = 𝟏𝟎𝟓°𝟐𝟒 𝟏𝟒. 𝟓𝟗"
e. “S” in the formula for angle A.
𝑃+𝐻+𝐿
𝑆=
2
105°24 14.59" + 41°25 0.25" + 14°00′15"
𝑆=
2
𝑺 = 𝟖𝟎°𝟐𝟒 𝟒𝟒. 𝟗𝟐"
f. Azimuth of the sun
𝐴
cot( ) = sec 𝑆 sec(𝑆 − 𝑃) sin(𝑆 − 𝐻) sin(𝑆 − 𝐿)
2
𝐴
cot( ) = 1.95448609
2
𝐴 1
tan( ) =
2 1.95448609
𝐴
= 27°05 46.42"
2
𝑨 = 𝟓𝟒°𝟏𝟏 𝟑𝟐. 𝟖𝟒"
g. Mean horizontal angle
∑ 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔
𝑀𝐻𝐴 =
𝑁𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
357°50 12+358°02'37 + (180° + 177°51 37)+(180°+178°02'31)
𝑀𝐻𝐴 =
4
𝑴𝑯𝑨 = 𝟑𝟓𝟕°𝟓𝟔 𝟒𝟒. 𝟐𝟓"
h. Azimuth of the line from P-1 to P-2

𝜃 = 360° − 𝑀𝐻𝐴 𝑀𝐻𝐴 = 357°56 46.47"

𝜃 = 360° − 357°56 44.25"
𝜃 = 2°3 15.75"

𝐴𝑧𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 = 360° − (𝐴 − 𝜃)

𝐴𝑧𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 = 360° − (305°48 27.16" − 2°3′15.75") 𝜃
𝑨𝒛𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 = 𝟑𝟎𝟕°𝟓𝟏 𝟒𝟐. 𝟗𝟏"
𝐴 = 54°11 32.84"

MORNING OBSERVATION

In the previous illustration about the hour angle system, the relation between the Local
Hour Angle (LHA), Greenwich Hour Angle (GHA), Sidereal Hour Angle (SHA) and the
right ascension is shown in the figure:

Figure 34. The relation between the hour angles.

  Local Hour Angle (orange) – the angle measured clockwise from the upper
branch of the meridian of observation to the meridian of the celestial body.
 Sidereal Hour Angle (red-violet) – the angle measured clockwise from the
meridian of the First Point of Aries or Vernal Equinox to the meridian of the body.
 Greenwich Hour Angle (yellow) – the angle measured clockwise from the
Greenwich meridian to the meridian of the celestial body.
 Longitude (black) – the longitude of the place of observation.
 Right Ascension (lower black) – the angle taken counterclockwise from the
Vernal Equinox to the meridian of the celestial body.

ALL ABOUT TIME IN ASTRONOMY

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LONGITUDE AND TIME

∆𝑻 = 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 − 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆
∆𝑻 = 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 − 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆

WEST PRIME MERIDIAN EAST

+ -

Sample Problem:
Determine the standard time if the local time of Cebu at longitude 123-54 is 4:30:20 pm
Given: Local time = 4:30:20 pm or 16:30:20
𝜆 = 123°54′
Standard time =?
𝜆 = 120°
Note: Standard time is taken every 15° or 1 hour apart.
∆𝑇 = 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 − 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒
∆𝑇 = 123°54′ − 120°
∆𝑇 = 3°54 (𝐶𝑂𝑁𝑉𝐸𝑅𝑇 𝐼𝑇 𝑇𝑂 𝑇𝐼𝑀𝐸)
 1 ℎ𝑟
∆𝑇 = 3°54 𝑥
15°
∆𝑇 = 0: 15: 36

∆𝑇 = 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 − 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒

0: 15: 36 = 16: 30: 20 − 𝑆𝑇
𝑺𝑻 = 𝟏𝟔: 𝟏𝟒: 𝟒𝟒 𝒐𝒓 𝟒: 𝟏𝟒: 𝟒𝟒𝒑𝒎
From the previous problem, determine the corresponding Universal Time.
Solution:

WEST PRIME MERIDIAN 120 EAST

+ -

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 120° = 16: 14: 44

𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑙 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 = 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 120° − (𝑈𝑇𝑀 + 8)
𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑙 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 = 16: 14: 44 − (8 ℎ𝑟𝑠)
𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 = 𝟖: 𝟏𝟒: 𝟒𝟒 𝒂𝒎

LOCAL TIME – a time at a particular place as measured from the sun’s transit over the
meridian at that place, defined as noon.
Two Types of Local Time
 Local Apparent Time (LAT) – also called a solar time, as derived from the real
sun at any particular location.
 Local Mean Time (LMT) – a form of solar time that corrects the variations of local
apparent time, forming a uniform time scale at a specific longitude.

STANDARD TIME – the mean time at meridians at 15° or 1 hour apart, measured either
eastward or westward.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SOLAR TIME, SIDEREAL TIME AND THE
MERIDIANS
SOLAR TIME
MERIDIAN SIDEREAL TIME
APPARENT MEAN
Local Apparent Local Mean Local Sidereal
LOCAL MERIDIAN
Time (LAT) Time (LMT) Time (LST)
Greenwich Mean
Time / Greenwich
Greenwich Greenwich Civil Sidereal Time /
GREENWICH MERIDIAN Apparent Time Time / Greenwich
(GAT) Greenwich Apparent Sidereal
Standard Time Time (GST/GAT)
(GMT/GCT/GST)
Local Apparent Standard Time Local Sidereal
STANDARD MERIDIAN
Time (LAT) (ST) Time (LST)

DIFFERENT SYSTEMS USED FOR THE DETERMINATION OF TIME

1. Apparent Solar Time – it is called as “true solar time” which was determine with respect
to sun.
2. Sidereal Time – the hour angle of the vernal equinox referred to the meridian of that
place.
3. Mean Solar Time or Civil Time – it is assumed to move along the equator at the average
or mean rate of motion of the real sun during the year.
4. Greenwich Civil Time – it is the standard time used for astronomical observation
 Assumed Meridian – an arbitrary chosen line of reference.
 Grid Meridian – a meridian parallel to a central meridian.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOLAR TIME AND SIDEREAL TIME

LHA
Formula:
𝑳𝑺𝑻 = 𝑳𝑯𝑨 + (𝑹𝑨𝑴𝑺 + 𝟏𝟐) + 𝑪

LST
RA

SOLAR AND SIDEREAL TIME

ADDITIONAL NOTES ABOUT TIME:

 Time is derived from both heavenly body and the meridian used.
 Local time is later at east of the meridian, earlier at west of meridian.
 Positive hour angle values are measured from east to west, positive right
ascension value is measured from west to east.
 Negative values are drawn on the opposite direction.
 Local mean time is used to determine difference in longitudes.
 The sun has a constant time of upper culmination and lower culmination. Starts do
not. This varies per day.
 The Laplace correction (c) is always added when converting solar time and
sidereal time.
SAMPLE BOARD EXAM QUESTIONS
1. A time required for one apparent revolution of a true sun about the earth is called.
a. Apparent solar day
b. Sidereal time
c. Mean solar time
d. Mean solar day
2. How many times per year will the apparent solar time be the same as civil time.
a. 2 times
b. 4 times
c. Once only
d. 3 times
3. How much longer is the apparent solar day compared to a sidereal day.
a. 3 min and 56 sec.
b. 5 min and 42 sec.
c. 10 min and 12 sec.
d. 12 min and 42 sec.
4. A sidereal day equals how many hours and minutes of mean solar time?
a. 22 hours 26.12 min.
b. 24 hours 00’00’’
c. 23 hours 56.09 min.
d. 12 hours 00’00’’
5. The time required for one revolution of the mean sun is called.
a. Apparent solar day
b. Mean solar day
c. Mean solar time
d. Apparent solar time
6. Equation of time is expressed as.
a. Apparent solar time – mean solar time
b. Apparent solar day – mean solar day
c. Mean solar time – apparent solar day
d. Apparent solar time – apparent solar day
7. When will autumnal equinox occur.
a. June 22 each year
b. Sept. 23 each year
c. July 4 each year
d. March 21 each year
8. When will summer solstice occurs?
a. Jan 4 each year
b. Sept 23 each year
c. June 22 each year
d. July 6 each year
9. How many months between the summer solstice from the autumnal equinox?
a. 6 months
b. 3 months
c. 9 months
d. 7 months
10. What is the difference between mean solar time and true solar time at any particular
instant?
a. equation of time
b. right ascension of the mean sun
c. sidereal time
d. right ascension of the true sun

OTHER TERMINOLOGIES ABOUT ASTRONOMY

 Circumpolar star – a star which rotates around the celestial north pole and never
goes below the observer’s horizon.
 Octantis – the star listed as closest to the south celestial pole.
 Uranography – the science of the geography of the heavenly bodies.
 Ephemeris – an astronomical almanac containing tables giving the computed
positions of the sun, planets and various stars for everyday of a given period.
 Analemma – a graph or plot that shows the position of the Sun in the sky at a single
location and at the same time of the day throughout a year.
MAP PROJECTION
A map projection is a way to flatten a globe's surface into a plane in order to make
a map. This requires a systematic transformation of the latitudes and longitudes of
locations from the surface of the globe into locations on a plane. All projections of a sphere
on a plane necessarily distort the surface in some way and to some extent. Depending
on the purpose of the map, some distortions are acceptable and others are not; therefore,
different map projections exist in order to preserve some properties of the sphere-like
body at the expense of other properties.

Figure 35. Illustration from a spherical shape of the earth into a map

Classification of Map Projection

 Based on Developable Surface - A surface that can be unfolded or unrolled into a
plane or sheet without stretching, tearing or shrinking is called a developable
surface.
 Cylindrical Projections
It was developed by wrapping paper around the globe in the shape of a
cylinder. The lines on the globe are projected to the cylinder and the
resultant graticule is rectangular. There is no distortion along the equator
(its point of tangency), but distortion increases toward the Earth’s poles.
It was also known as equirectangular projection. It is one of the simplest
projections composed of an evenly spaced network of horizon parallels and
vertical meridians. Its areas away from the equator are distorted.
 Example of a Cylindrical Projection:
1. Mercator Projection – one of the famous and widely used projection. It
was introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator. The projection enlarged
areas at an exaggerated and increasing towards the higher latitudes. It is
not advisable to carry this projection beyond 70 degrees latitude because
of its great distortion. It is quite popular for world maps of all kinds despite
of its extreme variations in scale.
2. Gall Projection – derived from cylinder cutting the sphere at the 45
degrees north and 45 degrees south parallels. It was devised by James
Gall, an Edinburgh clergyman, in 1855 while working on an atlas of the
stars.
3. Miller Projection – this resembles the Mercator projection but shows less
exaggeration of areas in the higher altitudes. It was O.M. Miller of the
American Geographical Society, who worked out this projection. It is widely
used in atlases in climatic maps to portray temperature and barometric
pressure distributions.
 Conical Projection - a common projection surface, are conceptualized by
placing a paper cone on the globe, and the lines on the globe are projected
to the cone. It was derived from a tangent or secant cone that can be
developed. Along these lines, a constant scale is maintained with distortions
increasing away from the standard parallel,
Example of a Conical Projection:
1. Polyconic Projection – this projection was derived by Ferdinand Hassler,
the first director of the U.S. Coast Survey. It has a series of cones with their
apexes all on the extension of the Earth’s polar axis are placed over the
sphere. Its scale error is small near the central meridian but increases
tremendously away from it. Therefore, it is not suitable for a large-scale
map.
2. Bonne Projection – it is very useful when an easily constructed equal
projection is desired from an area where tables needed to construct is not
available. Its distortion increases progressively towards the left and right.
 3. Lambert Projections – a conic based upon 2 parallels where the cone
cuts through the sphere at 2 chosen standard parallels.
 Planar / Azimuthal Projection – it is used most often to map polar regions.
Some planar projections view surface data from a specific point in space.
The point of view determines how the spherical data is projected onto the
flat surface. One which all lines radiating from the center of the map have
some directions as the corresponding lines on the surface of the Earth.

Figure 36. lllustration of the classification of map projections

Variants of Map Projection

 Case
 Tangent Case - the cylinder’s circumference touches the reference globe’s
surface along a great circle (any circle having the same diameter as the
 sphere and thus dividing it into two equal halves). The diameter of the
cylinder is equal to the diameter of the globe. The tangent line is the equator
for the equatorial or normal aspect; while in the transverse aspect, the
cylinder is tangent along a chosen meridian (i.e. central meridian)
 Secant Case - the cylinder intersects the globe; that is the diameter of the
cylinder is smaller than the globe’s. At the place where the cylinder cuts
through the globe two secant lines are formed.

Figure 37. Tangent vs secant cylindrical projection

Figure 38. Tangent vs secant case conical projection

 Figure 39. Tangent vs secant case planar projection
 Aspect
 Normal - A map projection with a developable surface that is oriented
according to the Earth’s axis of rotation (with north at top and south at
bottom by default). On normal tangent planar projections at the poles, the
standard point is at the North or South Pole.
 Transverse - Transverse map projections turn the developable surface 90
degrees from the normal orientation. A transverse aspect results in standard
lines that run along meridians (north and south). Think of transverse aspect
as the Uranus projection – the planet that spins north-to-south.
 Oblique - Oblique map projections tilt the developable surface at an angle
that is neither normal nor transverse. (These are often the most novel and
fun projections!) Oblique aspects are generally used to 1. show great circle
routes (with the Mercator), 2. perspective (e.g., how the Earth would look
from a specific point in the atmosphere/from space), and 3. for aesthetic
purposes.
 Figure 40. Illustration of Normal, Transverse and Oblique Map Projections

 View Point / Perspective

 Gnomonic - the perspective, azimuthal projection with point of perspective
at the center of the globe. Hence, with the gnomonic projection, the interior
of a hemispherical region of the globe is projected to the UV plane with the
rim of the hemisphere going to infinity. Except at the center, there is great
distortion of shape, area, and scale. The default clipping region for the
gnomonic projection is a circle with a radius of 60 degrees at the center of
projection.
 Stereographic - a true perspective projection with the globe being projected
onto the UV plane from the point P on the globe diametrically opposite to
the point of tangency. The whole globe except P is mapped onto the UV
plane. There is great distortion for regions close to P, since P maps to
infinity.
 Orthographic - This projection looks like a globe because it is a perspective
projection from infinite distance. As such, it maps one hemisphere of the
 globe into the UV plane. Distortions are greatest along the rim of the
hemisphere where distances and land masses are compressed.

Figure 41. Azimuthal Map Projections

Properties of Map Projections

 Conformality – shapes of small features on the Earth are preserved; scale and
direction of Earth and map are equal for small areas. It is useful for navigation and
topographic mapping

Figure 42. Illustration of Conformality in Map Projections

 Equal Area / Authalic / Equivalence – areas on the map are always proportional
to areas on the Earth’s surface. It is useful for area computations applications.
Aphylactic – maps that are neither conformal nor equal-area.

 Equidistance – preserves distances between points; scale is preserved (not

distorted) in the direction perpendicular to the line of zero distortion or radially
outwards from a point of zero distortion.

 Azimuthality – true directions are preserved; direction measurements on the map

are the same as those made on the ground. It is useful for air and sea navigation.
 Figure 43. Azimuthal Equidistant

Projection classification is based on type of projection surface that is used. The

projections are described in terms of placing a gigantic planar surface in contact with the
earth, followed by an implied scaling operation. These surfaces are classified as
cylindrical (ex. Mercator projection), conic (ex. Albers projection), azimuthal or plane
(polar region projections). There are several different types of projections that aim to
accomplish different goals while sacrificing data in other areas through distortion.
 Area preserving projection – equal area or equivalent projection
 Shape preserving – conformal, orthomorphic
 Direction preserving – conformal, orthomorphic, azimuthal (only from the central
point)
 Distance preserving – equidistant (shows the true distance between one or two
points and every other point)
NOTE: It is impossible to construct a map projection that is both equal area and
conformal.
 The two major concerns that drive the choice for a projection are the compatibility
of different data sets and the amount of tolerable metric distortions. On small areas (large
scale) data compatibility issues are more important since metric distortions are minimal
at this level. In very large areas (small scale), on the other hand, distortion is a more
important factor to consider.

HISTORY OF REFERENCE SYSTEM USED IN THE PHILIPPINES

 The Philippines has a long history of diverse settlers. Chinese traders visited the
Philippines in the 10th century AD, and Muslims settled in the southern part of the
islands during the 15th century. The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan
discovered the islands in 1521, and the first successful European settlement was
made by the Spanish under the explorer Miguel López de Legazpi in 1565. The
battle of Manila Bay was fought during the Spanish-American War, and the Treaty
of Paris with Spain ceded the Philippines to United States control in 1898. The
treaty limits of the Philippines consisted of an enclosing box with appropriate
zigzags to accommodate the island of Borneo.
 USC&GSS Research was a survey vessel owned by the Philippine Insular
Government to be the first vessel operated by the United States Coast and
Geodetic Survey in the Philippines from 1901 until 1918. The U.S. Coast and
Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) executed the earliest topographic work of
significance from 1901-1942.
 Numerous local datums were established at “Astro stations” that include:
Bancalan Island, Cagayan Sulu Island, Davao, Iligan, Misamis Oriental, and
Zamboanga on Mindanao Island, Legaspi and Vigan on Luzon Island, Ormoc and
Tacloban on Leyte Island, and Iloilo on Panay Island. This large number of Datums
is the result of numerous triangulation parties starting work in different areas of the
Philippines all about the same time. For example, at one time in Luzon alone-
detached surveys were based on 13 different astronomic stations.
 Eventually these surveys were brought together on what was known as the Vigan
Datum of 1901. This Datum was the mean of the values for Vigan astronomic
station as derived through the unadjusted field computations from five astronomic
 stations. This datum served its purpose for a time but as the triangulation was
extended to the central and southern part of the islands it was found necessary to
establish a new datum. The results of the basic trigonometric surveys were
reported on topographic and hydrographic field sheets that have never been
published. A 1:200,000 series of city plans and topographic sheets were the only
series printed before World War II.
 The Luzon Datum of 1911 is defined by its origin near San Andres Point on
Marinduque Island in the Southern Tagalog Region. That point is at station
Balanacan (a port name) where: 𝜙= 13° 33’ 41.000” North, 𝜆 = 121° 52’ 03.000”
East of Greenwich, and the geoid/spheroid separation Ho - ho = 0.34 meters. The
defining geodetic azimuth (from south) to station Baltasar is: a o = 009° 12’ 37.000”,
the ellipsoid of reference is the Clarke 1866 where: a = 6,378,206.4 meters, and
1/f = 294.9786982. All original survey work was Second-Order or lower. It was well
controlled by 98 measured base lines, 52 observed azimuths, and 49 latitude and
telegraphic longitude stations. The supplementary triangulation extended along
the shores of bays and harbors and up rivers and creeks. Most of the coast
triangulation was Third-Order accuracy, notably the chain along the west and north
coasts of Luzon Island and that on the west and south coasts of Panay Island.
 The first Grid system used in the Philippines was devised by the USC&GS in 1919,
which was also the first Grid used in the United States. The “Grid System for
Progressive Maps in the United States” was the defining design for the World
Polyconic Grid (WPG), the predecessor of the Universal Transverse Mercator
(UTM) Grid. It was used in the Philippines until 1952.
 From 1947 to 1962, a national civil Grid was used on the Luzon Datum of 1911
known as the Philippine Transverse Mercator Grid with four zones. All four
Gauss-Schreiber zones had a False Easting at the Central Meridian of 500 km, all
four had a Scale Factor at Origin = 0.99995, and all four had a False Northing
Latitude of Origin of: = 04° 00’ 00” North. Zones II, III, and IV had Central Meridians
= 121°, 123°, and 125°, respectively. For some reason unfathomable to me, Zone
I had a Central Meridian = 118° 20’ East of Greenwich.
 In a recent telephone conversation with Mr. Joseph F. Dracup (retired Chief of
Triangulation at USC&GS), he suggested that the weird Central Meridian might
have been designed to minimize the Grid scale factor somewhere in the Philippine
Islands. On examination of a map of the area, Palawan Island fits that criterion. Of
course, the military 1: 50,000 mapping was based on the Gauss Kruger Transverse
Mercator projection with the UTM Grid. Therefore, In 1962, a new national civil
Grid was introduced for the Luzon Datum of 1911, and it was changed to the
Gauss-Kruger Transverse Mercator projection. The previous Grid Scale Factor at
Origin and False Easting was retained, the False Northing Latitude of Origin was
changed to the equator, and the Central Meridians = 117°, 119°, 121°, 123°, and
125° for Zones I to V. A civilian edition of the 1:50,000 topographic series was
produced in association with U.S. agencies starting in 1961 and completed in the
1970’s. All 967 sheets have been published in color.
 In 1987, the Philippine Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey was incorporated as
a part of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA). A
total of 467 GPS stations were observed which included 330 First Order stations,
101 Second Order stations, and 36 Third Order stations.
 This series of new observations was adjusted and published as the Philippine
Reference System of 1992 (PRS92). According to NAMRIA this included the
establishment of an EDM calibration baseline, and the determination of the seven
Bursa-Wolf transformation parameters between the Luzon Datum of 1911 and
WGS 84. Those parameters from WGS84 to PRS92 are published as: Dx =
+127.623 meters, Dy = +67.245 meters, Dz = +47.043 meters, Scale = +1.06002
X 10-6, Rx = +3.07”, Ry = -4.90”, and Rz = -1.58”. No accuracy statements were
published with the parameters. Since this work was done with Australian
government assistance, the sign of the rotation parameters is assumed to be the
standard right-handed system favored in Australian and U.S. practice. Although
some may favor the designator “PRS92,” it is in fact still the original Luzon Datum
of 1911 with published transformation parameters from WGS84 Datum. The
original Datum observations were not recomputed. It is hoped that NAMRIA will
resume their collaboration with the U.S. National Imagery and Mapping Agency
 and seek consulting services to modernize their geodetic system. An individualized
geoid model would be a welcome foundation to this hypothetical datum.

Figure 44. Images of Balanacan Station in Marinduque

TRANSFORMATION FROM GEOGRAPHIC TO GRID COORDINATES AND VICE

VERSA
a) From Geographic to Grid Coordinates:

N = (I) + (II)P2 + (III)P4 (Northing in meters)

E = (IV)P + (V)P3 + (VI)P5 + 500,000 (Easting in meters)

P = .0001 (∆‫( )”ג‬difference in Longitude)

PROCEDURES:

1. Establish first the Zone and Central Meridian to be used in the coordinate
conversion.

2. Compute for the value of ∆ ‫ ”ג‬using the equation: ‫ ג‬-‫ג‬CM

3. Convert the value of the computed ∆ ‫ ”ג‬in seconds
4. The coefficient p can now be computed using the equation: P=0.0001 (∆‫)”ג‬
 5. From the Geographic to Grid Tables found at Technical Bulletin #26, obtain
the values of the Roman Numerals I,II,III,IV, V and VI corresponding to the
given latitude, Ф. This could be done by interpolation using the Diff 1”
column

Figure 45. Sample Table of Values for Geographic to Grid from TB No. 26
6. Compute for the value of the Northing of the Station using the equation:
N = (I) + (II)P2 + (III)P4
7. Finally solve for the Easting of the Station using the equation:
E = (IV)P + (V)P3 + (VI)P5 + 500,000

b) From Grid to Geographic Position:

Ф = Ф’ – (VII) q2 + (VIII) q4 (Latitude)

‫( = ג‬IX)q – (X)q3 + (X)q5 + ‫ ג‬CM (Longitude)

q = 0.000001(E-500,000) (difference in Easting)

PROCEDURES:

1. Determine the Central Meridian of the given zone.

2. Compute for the value of E’ using the equation:
E’= E-500,000
3. The coefficient of q can now be computed using the equation:
q=0.000001 (E’)
4. Using the Grid to Geographic Tables, interpolate the value using the foot
point (initial) latitude Ф’. Do this by first finding the nearest I to the given
Northing: I1 < N < I2, Ф1 < Ф’ < Ф2
 5. Interpolate the value of the corresponding footpoint latitude based on the
range of the I values for the N:
Ф’ − Ф1 𝑁 − 𝐼
=
Ф2 − Ф1 𝐼 − 𝐼
6. From the Grid to Geographic Tables, obtain the values of the Roman
Numerals VII, VIII, IX, X and XI corresponding to the computed footpoint
latitude, Ф’. Again, this could be done by interpolation using the Diff. 1”
column.

Figure 46. Sample Table of Values for Grid to Geographic from TB No. 26

7. Compute for the value of the latitude of the Station using the equation:
Ф = Ф’ – (VII) q2 + (VIII) q4
8. Finally, solve the longitude of the Station using the equation:
‫( = ג‬IX)q – (X)q3 + (X)q5 + ‫ ג‬CM
NOTE: The result of ((IX)q – (X)q3 + (X)q5 is in seconds

MERIDIAN CONVERGENCE CORRECTION

Meridian convergence - On a curved surface (globular body) it is the mutual approach of
the meridians in passing from the equator to the poles. At the equator all meridians are
parallel. Extending poleward from the equator, they draw together until they meet at the
poles, intersecting in angles equal to their difference of longitude.
 The Grid North has its direction of the central meridian, but elsewhere a meridian
does not align with Grid North.
 Thus, in general, the grid azimuth of a line will not equal the true azimuth of that
line.
 To convert from grid to true azimuth, a convergence factor has to be applied.
∆𝜶 = (𝝀 − 𝝀𝒄𝒎 ) 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝝓 (𝒊𝒇 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏)
∆𝜶 = (𝝀 − 𝝀𝒄𝒎 ) 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝝓𝒂𝒗𝒆 (𝒊𝒇 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏)
Note: the correction ∆𝛼 is added to the computed grid azimuth algebraically.
 True Azimuth = Grid Azimuth + ∆𝜶
Where,
∆𝛼 → 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝜙 → 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒
𝜙 → 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 2 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑠
𝜆 → 𝐿𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡
𝜆 − Longitude at the central meridian
Grid azimuth is the same as the geodetic or true azimuth only when the point of
observation falls on the central meridian.

SAMPLE PROBLEMS:
1. Determine the grid coordinates under Zone 3 of a point whose geographic
coordinates of point A: ∅ = 14°00 00" 𝑁 ,𝜆 = 121°25 42.90" 𝐸

I = 1,699,469.335 II = 1,915.718
III = 1.738 IV = 298,224.054
V = 101.105 VI = 0.047

2. Convert to geographic coordinates:

𝑁 = 1,422,287.156 𝑚
𝐸 = 524,937.241 𝑚
∅′ = 12°51′43"
𝑍𝑂𝑁𝐸 𝐼𝑉
VII = 582.463 VIII = 6.154
IX = 33,167.397 X = 150.896
XI = 1.096

3. Compute for the meridian convergence (∆𝛼) of line AB located in Zone III given the
geographic coordinates of point A: ∅ = 14°00 00" 𝑁 ,𝜆 = 121°25 42.90" 𝐸
Terminologies in Map Projection
 Globes – usually have a spherical base upon which printed gores are pasted. Its
mouth in a wooden or metal stands with its axis titled about 23.5 degrees from
the vertical.
 Globe Gores – crescent-shaped pieces of paper which are wet and stretched to
conform the spherical base of a globe.
 Analemma – it used to show where the sun is directly overhead for each day of
the year when the Local Mean Time is 12 noon on the meridian.
 Orthodrome – it is the shortest distance between points on the Earth’s surface
which crosses successive meridians at different angles.
 Loxodrome – it is called as rhumb line, is one that has the same compass
direction along its length.
 Grid Azimuth – the angle in the plane of projection between the straight line and
central meridian of a rectangular coordinate system.

MAXIMUM ERROR /
AREA SCALE AZIMUTH
PROJECTION
POLYCONIC 7 7% 1°56′

LAMBERT CONFORMAL 5 2 % 0°

LAMBERT ZENITHAL 10 1 % 0°04′

ALDER’S 0 1 0°43′
3. SATELLITE GEODESY
Satellite Geodesy is concerned with studies using satellite positioning systems in
determining positioning and defining the Earth’s size and shape.

EVOLUTION OF NAVIGATION AND POSITIONING

 Stone Age
o Technique of navigation: Identifying and remembering objects and
landmarks as points of refence (ex. Stones, trees, mountains)
o Evolved through time with the advent of (and the need for) more
sophisticated techniques, objects and instruments.
 Star Age
o Identifying reference points is a matter of life and survival when man started
to explore the oceans,
o Points of reference: Sun, moon and stars  The only visible objects from
the oceans
o Era of celestial navigation began
- First serious solution to the problem of finding one’s position in unknown
territories, where celestial bodies were used as points of reference.
- Angles of view between stars + pre-calculated chats – very tedious and
yields inaccurate results.
 Radio Age
o Concept: measure the time it took for special radio signals to travel from a
transmitting station to a special device designed to receive them (where
speed = c)
o Signal travel time x speed = distance
o Needs accurate time measurement (1 millionth of a second error translates
to 300m!)
o 1 transmitter: You are in a certain radius
o 2 transmitters: You are at either of the 2 intersections
o 3 transmitters: EXACT POSITION!
 Satellite Age
o Satellite-based radio navigation systems were conceived in which improved
radio transmitters were put aboard satellites orbiting the earth at high
altitudes to give wider coverage.
o Signals from navigation satellites can cover large areas of the Earth, and
several satellites can cover the whole planet.
o Satellites act as the reference points and the distance to them is measured
to determine the three-dimensional position.
o The accuracy in computing a position depends on the accuracy in
computing the location of our reference points.
o Since satellites are not fixed:
- locations and their orbits are continuously monitored from several
observation centers around the world.
- predicts the orbit of the satellite for the next 24 hours based on the actual
orbit information received by the observation posts for the previous 24
hours.
- satellites broadcast their orbit information as part of the radio signal
structure.
SOME SATELLITE POSITIONING SYSTEMS
NO. OF
COUNTRY SYSTEM OPERATIONAL
SATELLITES
USA NAVSTAR GPS 31
CHINA BEIDOU/COMPASS 21
INDIA IRNSS 7
EUROPEAN UNION GALILEO 23
RUSSIA GLONASS 24
JAPAN QZSS 4
THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM
The Global Positioning System is an all-weather satellite-based positioning system
that utilizes a constellation of 24 satellites to provide the user with an accurate position
on a 24-hour axis. It is based on a principle called triangulation. GPS was originally
designed by the U.S. Department of Defense for military use at any time anywhere on the
surface of the earth. Soon after the original proposals were made, it became clear that
civilians could also use GPS, and not only for personal positioning (as was intended for
the military). The first two major civilian applications to emerge were marine navigation
and surveying. GPS is the shortened form of NAVSTAR GPS. This is an acronym for
NAVigation System with Time And Ranging Global Positioning System.

The total GPS configuration is comprised of three distinct segments:

 The Space Segment
o The constellation of satellites consists of current constellation of 21 satellite
vehicles plus 3 active spare satellites (total of 24 satellites) distributed in 6
orbital planes inclined at 55 degrees and at altitude of 20,200 km.
o Its orbital configuration designed to ensure that at least 4 satellites will be
visible worldwide 24 hours a day.
o GPS satellites powered by 2 solar collectors (each 7.5 square meters)
weighs about 850 kilograms and has a design life of 7.5 years.
o 4 atomic clocks (2 cesium, 2 rubidium clocks) used by satellite to measure
transmission time of signal.
o Its satellite orbit must govern by Earth’s gravity field but satellite also has a
propulsion system for orbit maneuver and positional stabilization.
 The Control Segment
o It consists of ground stations around the world monitoring the health of each
satellite and uploading orbital parameters to the satellite.
o It collects and processes tracking data to compute satellite ephemeris and
clock parameters; also carries out satellite control as orbit maneuvers.
o Functions of Operation Center:
  Track the satellites for orbit and clock determination
 Time synchronization
 Upload the Navigational Message
o Control Stations:
 Master Control – Falcon Air Base in Colorado Springs
 Backup Master Control – Onizuka Air Force Base in Sunnyvale,
California; Hawaii; Ascension Islands; Diego Garcia and Kwajalein.
 The User Segment
o It consists of civilian and military users equipped with GPS receivers
seeking typical information such as 2D or 3D position, navigation
parameters and time.
o GPS equipment capabilities vary from handheld receivers costing about
P12,000 to P25,000 and giving accuracies about 10-20m,
o Precise geodetic receivers costing about P1 million to P2 million per pair
and giving accuracies of ±1 𝑝𝑝𝑚 with post-processing.

The GPS Signal Structures

 Two carrier frequencies – labelled as L1 (1575.42 Mhz) and L2 (1227.60 Mhz),
a sinusoidal signal that use the L1 and L2 carriers of the L-band of microwave
frequency.
𝒄
𝝀=
𝒇
Where, 𝜆 = 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ
c = vacuum speed of light
f = frequency
𝑫𝑬 = (∆𝑻)(𝒄)
Where, DE= 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟
∆𝑇 = 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟
c = vacuum speed of light
  Two pseudo-random codes (PRN codes) – it is a binary-codes (series of 1’s and
0’s) that appear to be like “radio noise signals” until processed by a GPS receiver.
o Coarse-acquisition code (C/A code) – it has a wavelength of 300 meters
carried only on the L1 carrier frequency and is generated at a rate of 1.023
million bits per second.
o Precise code (P-code) – it has a wavelength of 30 meters carried in L1
and L2 frequencies and is generated at the rate of 10.23 million bits per
seconds.

Figure 47. Illustration of the L1 and L2 capacity

 Navigation Message – it was sent along with the signals. It is a broadcast

message transmitted at 50 bits per second. It contains the following information:
o Satellite Almanac (status of other satellites)
o Broadcast ephemeris (orbital information) – a set of 16 parameters
allowing precise satellite location as a function of time
o Satellite Health
o Correction parameters for satellite, clock and ionospheric models.
Examples of Receivers based on signal received
 Navigation or mapping grade receivers – C/A code
 Single frequency / Survey grade receivers – C/A code and L1 carrier
 Dual frequency / Geodetic receiver – C/A code, P-code, L1 and L2 carrier
Minimum Number of Satellites
 At least 4 satellites (x, y, z and time) are needed for GPS observation
o Distance from 3 satellites: 3D coordinates
o Plus 1 satellite: to correct the clock errors
 Why 4 satellites are required to get a position?
o The problem is that the check signal from the satellite is corrupted by
atmospheric refraction.
o Another major problem is that the receiver’s clock is not very accurate.
o Because it is not synchronized in time and signals.
U.S. Government Degradation Policy
 Precise Positioning Services (PPS)
o For U.S. military, allied forces, authorized government agencies and
authorized contractors can obtain instantaneous horizontal position with
uncertainty of ±25 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 and probability of 95%.
 Standard Positioning Services (SPS)
o For commercial surveyors, geodesists, and navigators. It cannot achieve
some of PPS point positioning accuracy due to lack of access to PPS data,
but through relative or differential positioning, it can obtain positional
accuracies that equal or exceed those achieved by PPS users.
GPS Sources of Errors
 Denial of Accuracy
o The U.S. military uses 2 approaches to prohibit use of the full resolution of
the system:
 Selective authority (S/A) – noise is added to clock signal and the
navigation message has “LIES” on it.
 Anti-spoofing (A/S) – A policy of code denial that interchange the P-
code with encrypted Y-code.
  W-code – to encrypt the P-code.
 Y-code – to decrypt the P-code.
 Selective Availability (S/A) – Deliberate degradation of GPS satellite signals
designed to deny hostile forces opportunity to capitalize on accurate point
positioning capability provided by GPS. It introduced man-made intentional errors
to degrade the position accuracy of GPS to about 100 meters. It discourages
hostile forces from using GPS which cause as the largest source of error.
Degradation is done in 2 ways:
o Control segment disturbs satellite clocks causing errors in calculation of
signal transit time and position.
o Broadcast ephemeris in navigation message is truncated to make it less
accurate and thus introduce errors in computed positions of satellite and
receivers.
Fortunately, on May 1, 2000, the U.S. Government removed this Selective
Availability (S/A) error.
 Cycle Slip – A temporary loss of GPS signal during observation session which
causes the integer cycle ambiguity to change after a receiver has achieved lock-
on; it may occur when sites have a very dense obstruction.
 Receiver-based errors
o Antenna-phase center error – results whe electric center of GPS antenna
varies for signals arriving from different azimuths and elevation angles.
o Receiver clock error – caused by use of less accurate quartz clocks, and it
causes inaccuracy in distance measurement.
REMEDY: Make simultaneous measurements to 4 satellites.
o Height of instrument error – caused by incorrect measurement of distance
between station mark and antenna phase center.
𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 = (𝑆𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) − (𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠)
 Figure 48. Height of instrument error illustration

 Site dependent errors – introduced by poor selection of data and place to collect
signals but can be minimized through careful procedures and proper site
reconnaissance.
o Satellite Geometry – distribution of satellites in horizon during observation.
A measure of satellite geometry which is also called as Dilution of Precision
(DOP).
 Favorable or Low DOP – exists if satellites are distributed throughout
horizon at different angles.
 Large DOP – exists when satellites are poorly distributed throughout
horizon or when only few satellites
Note: GDOP less than 8 means poor geometry.

Figure 49. Satellite geometry

o Multipath error – results when a reflected GNSS signal reaches via 2 or more
different paths wherein the reflected paths are longer and cause incorrect pseudo-
ranges. It occurs when incoming GPS signal is reflected by obstructions and
reflected signals is received at GPS receiver antenna.
REMEDY: Selecting sites free from obstructions and reflective surfaces.
o Satellite-based error – It is the errors in satellite position due to differences
between predicted and actual positions of satellites. The satellite position given by
broadcast ephemeris are accurate to ±10𝑚.
𝒅
∆𝒓 = ∆𝒆
𝑫
Where,
∆𝒓 = 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟
∆𝒆 = 𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟
𝒅 = 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ
𝑫 = 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑒 (20,200 𝑘𝑚)
REMEDY: Precise ephemeris that provides adjusted orbital parameters can be
obtained from the U.S. National Geodetic Survey, within 2-7 days after completing
the observations.
o Satellite timing or clock errors – it is a very small residual error in atomic clocks.
Accurate timing is a critical requirement in determining position using GPS and
satellites have extremely precise atomic clocks that are stable, but residual timing
errors still exist.
REMEDY: Error can be modelled using correction parameters in data message.
o Effects of Atmospheric Conditions on Signal Transmission – GPS signal
velocity is altered by “ionospheric and tropospheric effects.”
 Ionosphere – a dispersive medium causing delay of PRN codes and
acceleration of GPS carrier phase making it “the largest source of GPS
error”.
 𝒊
𝑰𝑬 =
𝒇𝟐
Where,
𝑰𝑬 = 𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓
𝒊 = 𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒎
𝒇 = 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚
 Troposphere – a neutral layer, it is non-dispersive errors emanating this
layer cannot be eliminated by dual frequency methods, but these can
minimize relative positioning for short times only. The errors from this
source mainly influence the determination of heights and have a little effect
on horizontal positions.
 Tropospheric Errors – caused by water vapor, temperature and pressure.
o Ambiguity – constraint in using carrier-phase measurements in signals while
receiver accurately measures phase difference between incoming signal from
satellite and similar signal generated by oscillator in receiver, receiver is unable to
determine the whole number of wavelengths between satellite and receiver. This
factor is called “integer ambiguity”.

REMEDY: Differential GPS – an effective way to correct various inaccuracies in

the GPS system. It can yield measurements good to couple of meters in moving
application and even better in stationary stations. The positional accuracy in
differential GPS is 1 to 2 meters if rover is less than 1 to 2 kilometers from the
reference station.
GPS Receiver Components
 Antenna – receives signal from satellites and converts it into electrical energy
usable in receiver. The quality of raw GPS measurements primarily depends
on.
 Receiver – under control of a microprocessor, process signal and converts it
into a pseudo range and computes approximate coordinates for receiver. It
usually has one or more channels, where a channel consists of hardware and
 software needed to track signal from one satellite at one of two frequencies (L1
and L2).
 Command Entry and Display Unit
 Power Supply

GPS Positioning Models

 Point Positioning (Absolute positioning)

o It is also known as code-phase measurement because it measures time
between transmission and reception of PRN codes.
o One receiver is used to determine the 3D position of an unknown location
by measuring the PRN code phases.
o It provides real-time positioning but accurate only to ±10 𝑡𝑜 15 meters.
o Observation model for point positioning:
 Minimum of 4 satellites – required to compute distance resection
unknown 3D receiver coordinates of Antenna Center and Receiver-
Clock Error.
 16 satellites, orbital or ephemeris parameters are required to
determine a point position.
 Ephemeris parameters must be converted into Cartesian
coordinates before unknown receiver location is computed.
 Static Surveying (Static-Relative Positioning)
o The receiver is stationary, performed to establish the most accurate
positions.
o It is the most common mode for surveying and was the technique used on
the Geodetic Survey in the Philippines.
o Two or more receivers at two or more stations simultaneously receive
signals from a minimum of 4 satellites.
o Occupation time depends on:
 Types of GPS Receiver
 Separation distance between receivers
 Ionospheric Activity
  Number of satellites
 Geometry of satellites
o It is usually at least 15 minutes for dual frequency receivers and 30 minutes
for single frequency receivers.
o Use of Dual Frequency  The most effective method of receiving
ionospheric errors, especially baselines of 100 km or longer. In single
frequency, it is difficult to model ionospheric error using single frequency
receiver due to variable ion content of ionospher.
o Use of Single Frequency  It can obtain geodetic quality data for relatively
short baselines (<25 kilometers). It is the most reliable relative positioning
method.
o Distance – also called as pseudo range because it is affected by timing
errors, ionospheric and tropospheric errors, multipath errors and receiver
noise.
𝑫 = 𝑪(𝑻𝟐 − 𝑻𝟏 )
Where,
𝐷 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒
𝐶 = 𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑢𝑚 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
𝑇 = 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝑇 = 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
o Resulting timing error – combination of a very small residual satellite atomic
clock error and a considerably larger receiver clock error.
 Relative Positioning (Differential Positioning)
o A positioning of a point with respect to another fixed point.
o Two or more GPS receivers simultaneously receiver signals from same
satellites.
o It is the most accurate procedure for stabling spatial position.
 Pseudo – Kinematic Surveying
o A positioning of stationary points with one receiver occupying a known point
while one or more rover receiver occupies stations for short period.
 o Five minutes for rovers to occupy points of interest and reoccupy the same
point about 1 hour to provide time interval for ambiguity resolution/
o Disadvantages: Each station must be reoccupied and loss of satellite lock
is not allowed.
o Advantages: When combined with kinematic surveying, it is an efficient
procedure to survey large number of points.
 Rapid Static Positioning
o The roving receivers do not have to maintain lock between stations and are
switched off.
o This technique requires move sophisticated receivers capable of recording
the frequency and P-code.
o It used one or more reference receivers that remain fixed during the
observation period and one or more receivers that occupy points of ineptest
from 1 to 20 minutes.
 Kinematic Surveying (Real-Time Kinematic)
o A method of determining relative position between known control and
unknown position using carrier phase measurements
o The receiver is on a moving platform. One or more receivers remain fixed
during the observation period and one or more receivers are rover that
occupy points of interest for several minutes at each point.
o Drawbacks: receivers must maintain a lock to minimum of 4 satellites. If
loss, rover must return to a previously surveyed point or occupy a known
survey point in order to re-establish ambiguities.
o Limited to areas that have clear view of horizon to avoid loss of lock when
tracking 4 or fewer satellites.
GPS Survey Planning and Data Acquisition Process
 Equipment Selection – Factors to be considered:
o Required accuracy
o Number of Stations
o Distance between stations
o Primary use of receivers
 o Intended use of positional data
o Cost
o Ease of use
 Point Selection
o Acquire the best available NAMRIA topographic maps of the project area:
 For Metro Manila  1:10,000
 For the rest of the Philippines  1:50,000
o Gather information from NAMRIA, DENR, LMS or LMB concerning all
existing control points within or in vicinity of project area.
o Plot known points and proposed locations for desired points on NAMRIA
map.
o Prepare written descriptions of how to reach known and proposed location
to help in the field reconnaissance.
 Satellite availability and geometry
o GPS survey planning software normally provided by GPS manufacturer.
o Inputs into planning programs:
 Latitude
 Longitude
 Estimated Date of Survey
o Software provides:
 Charts, diagrams or tables that furnish information on satellite
availability and visibility.
 Optimum observation interval within a given time span, date and
location.
o Geometry of satellite configuration is evaluated using:
 Polar satellite sky plot that shows orbital positions of satellites and
indicates their altitudes and azimuths.
 Plots of values for PDOP and GDOP superimposed on a satellite
availability chart that shows acceptable levels (low values) for PDOP
and GDOP.
 Site Reconnaissance
 o It consists of field verification of all selected locations of proposed station.
GPS Applications
 Geodetic Surveying – it used to establish geodetic controls to strengthen
geodetic networks.
 Photogrammetry – rapid-static and kinematic GPS are appropriate for
establishing geodetic controls for mapping.
 Land Surveying – it can be used to locate corners of lot parcels to supplement
conventional surveying equipment and techniques.
 Location of features for GIS – it utilizes GPS to obtain horizontal position data at
10 to 15-meter accuracies relative to a reference.
 Orthometric Heights – it can be determined from GPS-derived ellipsoidal heights
if the geoid-ellipsoidal separation is known at that point.
 Topographic, route and construction surveys – The control networks can be
established by relative positioning using static and rapid-static GPS techniques
 Deformation monitoring – GPS are effective for monitoring of natural or man-
made structures.
STAGES OCCURING IN GPS SYSTEM
 Detection of GPS System
 Decoding of GPS Signals
 Processing the data in the built-in computer
 Generation of an output to the user
RESIDUAL BIASES INVOLVES THE GPS ACCURACY
 Satellite dependent biases – due to the uncertainty in the orbital parameters of
the satellite.
 Receiver dependent biases – due to the clock stability with time.
 Signal Propagation biases – due to the ionosphere and troposphere propagation.

CLOCKS IN GPS SATELLITES

 The signal for each satellite is independent from the other satellites and is
generated from its own onboard clock.
 The clock in GPS satellites may be called oscillators or frequency standards.
  Every GPS satellite is launched with very stable atomic clock on board.

SATELLITE GEOMTERY FACTORS CONSIDERED WHEN PLANNING A GNSS

SURVEY

 The number of satellites available.

 The minimum elevation angle for the satellite
 Obstructions that limit satellite visibility.

SALIENT STEPS FOR DATA PROCESSING FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF GPS

 Baseline processing
 Pre-analysis
 Network Adjustment

IMPORTANT FACTORS FOR PREPARATION OF SURVEYING MAPS

 Scale
 Positional Accuracy
 Generalization of Details
 Control Interval

REMOTE SENSING

Foundations of Remote Sensing

Remote Sensing is the measurement or acquisition of some property of an object

or phenomenon, by a recording device that is not in physical contact with the object or
phenomenon under study.

Processes Involved in Remote Sensing

A. Energy Source or Illumination

B. Radiation with the Atmosphere

C. Interaction with the Target

D. Recording of Energy by the Sensor

E. Transmission, Reception and Processing

F. Interpolation and Analysis

G. Application

Electromagnetic Radiation and Remote Sensing

In remote sensing, a detector measures the EM radiation/energy that is reflected/emitted

from the Earth’s surface materials.

Electromagnetic Wave

Waves propagate through space in the form of sine waves. These waves are
characterized by two fields, electrical (E) and magnetic (M), which are perpendicular to
each other.

Wave Model:

Energy travels through atmosphere at the speed of light (c) at a certain (𝜆) wavelength.

𝑐 = 𝑣𝜆

Where,

𝑐 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 3 𝑥 10 𝑚/𝑠

𝑣 = 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦, it is the number of cycles of a wave passing a fixed point per unit of time.
Normally measured in Hertz (Hz)

𝜆 = 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ, the length of one wave cycle, is measured in meters (m).

Note:

 The shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency.

 The longer the wavelength, the lower the frequency.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

 The continuum of energy that ranges from m to nm in wavelength, travels at the

speed of light, and propagates through a vacuum such as outer space.

Primary colors in the visible spectrum

𝐵𝑙𝑢𝑒 → 0.4 𝑡𝑜 0.5 𝜇𝑚
𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛 → 0.5 𝑡𝑜 0.6 𝜇𝑚
𝑅𝑒𝑑 → 0.6 𝑡𝑜 0.7 𝜇𝑚
Note: Visible part of the spectrum comprises 2% of the whole Electromagnetic
Spectrum.
 WAVELENGTH
REGION NAME DETAILS
RANGE
 Very narrow of EMR
 It has short wavelengths
Ultraviolet (UV) 0.30 𝑡𝑜 0.38 𝜇𝑚
 Largely scattered by atmospheric
particles
 These regions can be perceived
by human eyes and are highly used
for RS.

Comprised of:
Visible 0.40 𝑡𝑜 0.75 𝜇𝑚  𝑉𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑡 → 0.4 𝑡𝑜 0.6 𝜇𝑚
 𝐵𝑙𝑢𝑒 → 0.446 𝑡𝑜 0.5 𝜇𝑚
 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛 → 0.5 𝑡𝑜 0.578 𝜇𝑚
 𝑌𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 → 0.578 𝑡𝑜 0.592 𝜇𝑚
 𝑂𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 → 0.592 𝑡𝑜 0.620 𝜇𝑚
 𝑅𝑒𝑑 → 0.620 𝑡𝑜 0.7 𝜇𝑚
Near Infrared  Frequently used in RS, especially
0.75 𝑡𝑜 1.5 𝜇𝑚
(NIR) in monitoring of vegetation
 Comprised of:
Middle Infrared  𝑆𝑊𝐼𝑅 → 1.5 𝑡𝑜 3.0 𝜇𝑚
1.5 𝑡𝑜 5 𝜇𝑚
(MIR)  𝑀𝐼𝑅 → 3.0 𝑡𝑜 5.0 𝜇𝑚
Both regions are useful in RS
 Long wavelength; Much of this
Thermal Infrared
5.0 𝑡𝑜 15.0 𝜇𝑚 energy is comprised of emitted
(TIR)
radiation from the Earth.
 Longest wavelengths used in
Remote Sensing. Used in both Active
Microwave 1𝑚𝑚 𝑡𝑜 1𝑚
and Passive modes. These signals
can penetrate into clouds and fog.
 Note:
 The spectral sensitivity of the human eye extends from 0.4 𝜇𝑚 to
approximately 0.7𝜇𝑚. Our eyes can detect only part of the visible spectrum
which we perceive as “colors”.
 Lots of radiation around are “invisible” to our eyes but can be detected by
other RS instruments and can be used to our advantage.

Electromagnetic Radiation: Particle Theory

 Electromagnetic Radiation is composed of many discreet units called

photons/quanta.
𝑐 = 𝑣𝜆 (𝐵𝐴𝑆𝐼𝐶 𝑃𝑅𝐼𝑁𝐶𝐼𝑃𝐿𝐸)
𝑄 = ℎ𝑣 (𝐸𝑁𝐸𝑅𝐺𝑌 𝑂𝐹 𝐴 𝑄𝑈𝐴𝑁𝑇𝑈𝑀)
ℎ𝑐
𝑄= (𝑃𝐿𝐴𝑁𝐶𝐾 𝑆𝐿𝐴𝑊)
𝜆
Where,
𝑐 = 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
𝑣 = 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 (𝑠 − 1)
𝜆 = 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ
𝑄 = 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 (𝐽)
ℎ = 𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑘 𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
 Blackbody – a hypothetical ideal radiator that totally absorbs and re-emits all
energy incident upon it. It is a diffuse emitter.
 Planck’s Law is the energy emitted by an object is a function of its temperature.
  Stefan-Boltzmann Law is the thermal energy radiated by a blackbody radiator per
second per unit area is proportional to the fourth power of the absolute temperature
and is given by:
𝑀 = 𝜎𝑇

Where,
𝑊
𝑀 = 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 ( )
𝑚
𝑊
𝜎 = 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑎𝑛 − 𝐵𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑧𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 (5.6697𝑥10 )
𝑚 𝐾
𝑇 = 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐾𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡
Note: The higher temperature, the greater amount of radiation emitted.
 Wien’s Displacement Law – it is when the temperature of a blackbody radiator
increases, the overall radiated energy increases and the peak of the radiation
curve moves to shorter wavelengths.
𝐴
𝜆=
𝑇
Where,
𝜆 = 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 (𝜇𝑚)
𝐴 = 2897.8 𝜇𝑚 𝐾
𝑇 = 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 (𝐾)
Note: Wavelength at which maximum energy is emitted is the “color” of emitting
object is called the brightness temperature.

Emissivity
The emissivity of the surface of a material is its effectiveness in emitting energy as thermal
radiation.
BLACKBODY 𝜺=𝟏
GRAYBODY 𝟎<𝜺<𝟏
PERFECT REFLECTOR 𝜺=𝟎
ALL OTHERS 𝜺 = 𝒇(𝝀)
ENERGY INTERACTIONS WITH THE ATMOSPHERE AND EARTH SURFACE
MATERIALS

Interaction with the Atmoshere

 Scattering and Absorption
o Scattering – when the incoming solar radiation passes through the
atmosphere. It will be affected by the atmospheric particles and this will
result in the “redirection of light” from its original path. There are three
common kinds of scattering:
 Rayleigh Scattering – it occurs when particles are “very small” when
compared into solar radiation.
Example: Gas Molecule, Snowflake or Raindrop

Note: The effect of Rayleigh scattering is much shorter than longer

wavelengths.
 Mie Scattering – it occurs when the incoming solar radiation and the
atmospheric particles have the same size. It tends to affect longer
wavelengths than those affected by Rayleigh Scattering.
Example: Dust, pollen, smoke or water vapor
 Note: It causes “white” to the clouds, because it composed of a water
vapor.
 Non-selective Scattering – it is a wavelength independent scattering.
(Near UV, visible, NIR). It occurs when lower atmosphere contains
sufficient numbers of suspended aerosols. The diameter is 10 times
longer than wavelengths under consideration.
\

10x larger

o Absorption Bands – the gases absorb the EM radiation at a specific

wavelength. However, the high interviewing transmittance region are often
known as Atmospheric Windows.
  The Major Atmospheric Windows:

Atmospheric Window Spectral Region (𝜇𝑚)

1 0.3 – 1.3
2 1.5 – 1.8
3 2.0 – 2.6
4 3.0 – 3.6
5 4.2 – 5.0
6 7.0 – 15.0

Energy Interactions with Earth Surface Materials

 All incident energy at a particular wavelength is either absorbed by the object it

strikes, reflected from it, or transmitted through it.
o The proportion of energy reflected, absorbed, and transmitted will vary for
the different features depending on the material type and condition.
o The wavelength dependency means that even within a given feature type,
the proportion of reflected, absorbed and transmitted energy will vary at
different wavelengths.
 𝐸 (𝜆) = 𝐸 (𝜆) + 𝐸 (𝜆) + 𝐸 (𝜆)
𝐸 (𝜆) = 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦
𝐸 (𝜆) = 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦
𝐸 (𝜆) = 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦
𝐸 (𝜆) = 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦

𝜌+𝛼+𝜏 =1
𝐸 (𝜆)
𝜌 = 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 =
𝐸 (𝜆)
𝐸 (𝜆)
𝛼 = 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑝𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 =
𝐸 (𝜆)
𝐸 (𝜆)
𝜏 = 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 =
𝐸 (𝜆)
 Why is the sky being blue?
o Short wavelengths of the sunlight are more intensely scattered than
radiation at longer wavelengths. The shorter (blue) wavelengths of the
sunlight are scattered more dominantly than other visible wavelengths. For
this reason, the sky appears blue.
SPECTRAL SIGNATURES

 Every natural and synthetic object on the earth’s surface and near surface reflects
and emits EMR over a range of wavelengths in its own characteristic way
according to its chemical composition and physical state.
 With some limited wavelength region, particular object/feature or condition often
exhibits a diagnostic spectral response pattern that differs from other objects.
 In principle, each object reflects/emits a unique spectral signature, which could be
used for identification much like a fingerprint.

 Vegetation
o Green vegetation has a distinctive reflectance curve:
 Absorption in blue
 Reflectance in green
 Absorption in red
 String reflectance in NIR
o Dominated by strong water absorption bands (1.4, 1.9, 2.7um)
o Reflectance peaks at 1.6 and 2.2 um
o Degree of absorption is a function of the total amount of water in the leaf
(dependent on moisture content and leaf thickness)
o Visible:
 Pigmentation dominates the spectral response.
 Low reflectance in the B and R due to two Chi Absorption Bands
(centered at 0.45 𝜇𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 0.65 𝜇𝑚).
 Variation due to difference in pigmentation of plants.
o NIR:
 Drastic increase in reflectance in passing from the visible to NIR
portion (at 0.7um)
 If vegetation is healthy:
 Very high reflectance (45-50%)
 Very high transmittance (45-50%)
 Very low absorptance (<5%)
 Internal structure (cell) of leaves largely governs the spectral
response
 Different vegetation types, different cell structure → different
NIR response
o Red Edge – it refers to the region of rapid change in reflectance of
vegetation from Red to NIR portion of the electromagnetic spectrum due to
the plant’s cellular structure.

o Blue Shift - The shift of red-edge of leaf reflectance to shorter wavelengths.

This is a universal property of leaves under stress because of the increase
in R reflectance, and reduction in NIR reflectance (and slight decrease in
G).
o Vegetation Indices:
 It may help in discrimination between soils and vegetation
 Most discrimination between green vegetation, soil and water
occurs in the R and IR regions
 NIR/Red (RVI) will yield:
o High values for green vegetation
o Values slightly > 1 for soils
o Values < 1 for water
o Normalized Difference Vegetation Index:
 Standardized vegetation ratio used in long-term global monitoring
and in multitemporal comparisons of vegetation cover.
 Vegetation: 0.2 to 0.8
o 0.2 to 0.4  grass / shrublands
o 0.4 to 0.8  “greener” areas (rainforests)
 Barren areas of rocks, sand, soil or snow  0 to 0.1
 Water  close to 1.00
𝑁𝐼𝑅 − 𝑅
𝑁𝐷𝑉𝐼 =
𝑁𝐼𝑅 + 𝑅
 SOIL:
o General: Increasing level of reflectance with increasing wavelength,
particularly in the visible and NIR portions
o The spectral signature of soil is influenced by:
 Moisture Content ↑↓
 Amount of Organic Matter ↑↓
 Amount of Iron Oxide ↑↓ (↑red)
 Soil Texture (refers to the relative percentages of sand, silt, and
clay.) ↑↓
 Roughness Characteristics of Soil Surface ↑↓
 WATER
o Longer wavelength visible, NIR and MIR radiation is absorbed more by
water than shorter visible wavelengths.
o Thus, water typically looks blue or blue-green due to stronger reflectance at
these shorter wavelengths, and darker if viewed at red or near infrared
wavelengths.
 Max. Absorption Min. Absorption
Blue violet
Pure Water IR
(0.30 to 0.45 𝜇𝑚)
Green
Clear sea water IR
(0.46 to 0.54 𝜇𝑚)
River water Yellow-orange
Blue-violet & NIR
(more turbulent) (0.576 to 0.609 𝜇𝑚)

o Factors that Affect Water’s Spectral Response

 Surface roughness/topography
o Smooth: either an increase or decrease in reflectance,
depending on sensor location
o Rough: increased reflectance
 Turbidity ↑↑
 Suspended sediments ↑↑
 Water depth (bottom reflectance) ↑↓
 Clarity ↑↑
 Submerged/Emergent vegetation
o Vegetation dominant, spectral curve of water is obscured.
o Little vegetation, increased G, lowered B, R
o Chlorophyll in algae absorbs more of the blue wavelengths and
reflects the green, making the water appear greener in color
when algae is present.
 Solar elevation
o Sun at 90 degrees minimal reflectance (max absorption)
REMOTE SENSING SYSTEMS
 Passive Remote Sensing
o The sensor uses sun’s energy as the source of illumination.
o It can collect or detect objects during daytime only.
o It can record the naturally emitted energy like thermal infrared.
o It has the ability to produce fine resolution image.
o It is a weather-dependent.
 Active Remote Sensing
o The sensors emit the energy to the target and collects back the reflected
energy.
o Gives its own energy for illumination.
o Can detect and record at any time.
o Artificial microwaves can penetrate clouds, light and shadow.
o Radar signals can penetrate into vegetation and soil and provides surface
information.
o It is a weather independent.
SENSORS AND PLATFORMS

 Sensor
o It refers to the instrument or device that makes the measurement
o Example of Sensor: Radiometer, Spectrometer, Sounder, Interferometer,
Synthetic Aperture RADAR, Altimeter, LiDAR, Scanner, Spectroradiometer
 Platform
o ◦It is the type of vehicle that supports or carries the sensor.
o Example of Platform: Satellite, Space shuttle, Airplane, Helicopter, Balloon,
Ship

SATELLITE CLASSIFICATION BY MASS

CATEGORY MASS RANGE (kg)

Large Satellite > 1000
Medium-sized Satellite 500 to 1000
Mini-satellite 100 to 500
Microsatellite 10 to 100
Nanosatellite 1 to 10
Picosatellite 0.1 to 1
Femto satellite < 0.1

SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEMS

 First Generation (Multi-spectral)
o LANDSAT
o NOAA-AVHRR
o SPOT
o IRS SERIES
 Commercial Satellites
o IKONOS
o QUICKBIRD
o GEOEYE
 o ALOS
o WORLDVIEW
o KOMPSAT SERIES
 RADAR Satellites
o SIR SERIES
o ERS SERIES
o JERS-1
o RADARSAT
o SENTINEL
o ALOS/PALSAR

SATELLITE CHARACTERISTICS

 Orbit
o The path followed by the satellite
o Orbits vary along with their altitude and their orientation and rotation related
to the Earth.
o The orbital change also influences the satellite’s view of earth portion.
 Geostationary or Geosynchronous Orbit
o Revolve at speed matching the rotation of the earth.
o Used for cellphone satellites, television satellites, weather satellites.
  Polar or Near-Polar Orbit
o Move relative to a line running between the north and the south poles
o Also called sun-synchronous because they cover each area of the world at
a constant time of day.

INSTANTANEOUS FIELD OF VIEW (IFOV) & DWELL TIME

 IFOV defines smallest area viewed by the sensor

o It establishes the lower limit for level of spatial detail
 Dwell time is the time interval allowing accumulation of enough photons to
generate strong signal.
o Depends on altitude, speed, and sensitivities of detectors
FRAMING AND SCANNING SYSTEM

 Framing System
o Instantaneously acquire an image of an area, or frame, on the terrain.
 Scanning System
o Employs a sensor with a narrow field of view (IFOV) that sweeps over the
terrain to build up and produce a two-dimensional image of the surface.
o Scanning Modes:
 Across / Cross track scanning
 Scans the earth in a series of lines.
 Lines are perpendicular to the direction of motion of the
sensor/platform (across swath).
 Each line is scanned from one side of the sensor to the other,
using a rotating mirror.
 “Whiskbroom Scanning”
 Along-track scanning
 Uses the platform’s forward motion to record successive scan
lines and build a 2D image.
 Scan lines are perpendicular to the flight direction.
 Linear array of detectors (A) located at the focal plane of the
image (B) formed by lens systems (C).
 Detectors are "pushed" along in the flight track direction.
 “Push broom Scanning”
 Advantages:
o Increase life of sensor
o Eliminates geometric errors due to variation in scan
mirror velocity.
o Longer dwell times (increase Signal-to-Noise Ratio)
REMOTE SENSING AND DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING

 Digital Image
o A representation of a 2D array of so-called picture elements or pixels.
o It contains a fixed number of rows and columns of pixels.
 Pixel
o Each pixel has an intensity value (represented by a digital number) and a
location address (referenced by its row and column numbers).
 Resolution
o An ability of imaging system to record fine details in a distinguishable
manner.
o Often, there is a tradeoff between the different types of resolution:
 Spatial Resolution
 Describes how much detail in an image is visible to the human
eye.
 The ability to “resolve”, or separate small details is one way of
describing what we call spatial resolution.
  High spatial resolution: 0.6 - 4 m
 Medium spatial resolution: 4 - 30 m
 Low spatial resolution: 30 - > 1000 m.
 Spectral Resolution
 Ability of sensor to define fine wavelength intervals
 Refers to the specific wavelength intervals in the
electromagnetic spectrum that a sensor can record.
 Radiometric Resolution
 The maximum number of brightness levels available depends
on the number of bits used in representing the energy
recorded.
 Every time an image is acquired by a sensor, its sensitivity to
the magnitude of the EM energy determines radiometric
resolution.
 The finer the radiometric resolution of a sensor, the more
sensitive it is to detecting small differences in reflected or
emitted energy.
 Imagery data are presented by positive digital numbers (DNs)
which vary from 0 to a selected number of power of 2.
 Bits Max. number (2 bits)
1 2
2 4
3 8
6 64
8 256
11 2048
12 4096

 Radiometric Resolution
 It specifies the revisiting frequency of a satellite sensor for a
specific location.
 The duration of the production depends on the quality of the
resolution:
o High temporal resolution: < 24 hours - 3 days
o Medium temporal resolution: 4 - 16 days
o Low temporal resolution: > 16 days
DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING
 Manipulation and interpretation of digital images with the aid of a computer. There
are three general steps:
o Pre-processing: Removal of systematic errors in data
 Geometric Correction (e.g. georeferencing/registration)
 Radiometric Calibration (e.g. atmospheric correction)
o Display and Enhancement: Increasing data’s intelligibility as a
representation of the object being sensed
 Spatial (e.g. filtering)
 Spectral (e.g. indices, pan-sharpening)
o Classification and Information Extraction: Extracting meaningful patterns
from the data
 Pattern Recognition
 Image Classification
GEOREFERENCING / IMAGE REGISTRATION
 It refers to the process of aligning images with ground control points (GCPs) on
the Earth’s surface in order to adopt a certain coordinate system.
IMAGE CLASSIFICATION
 The process of examining the attributes of each pixel in order to give the pixel a
label identifying it as belonging to a particular class of pixels of interest to the user.
There are types of Image Classification:
o Unsupervised Classification:
 No ground data is used during classification: classes are determined
purely on difference in spectral values.
 The objective is to group multi-band spectral response patterns into
clusters that are statistically separable.
o Supervised Classification:
 Requires “training pixels”, pixels where both the spectral values and
the class is known.
 Classification proceeds by statistical processing where every pixel is
compared with the various signatures of the training data and
assigned to the class whose signature comes closest.
o Hybrid Classification:
 Use unsupervised and supervised classification together

ACCURACY ASSESSMENT

 Assess how well a classification worked.

 Use of ground-truth and/or ancillary information about the study area.
 Rule of Thumb: 85% Accuracy for all assessment parameters (e.g. total, user’s,
producer’s accuracy, kappa statistic)
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Geographic Information
 Data that involves an aspect of location on the Earth's surface or near-surface,
which is converted to a form that is meaningful to a user.
 Sometimes referred to as Spatial Information.

Geographic Information System

 Roger Tomlinson  The father of GIS

 John Snow  The father of epidemiology who become popular by solving a
cholera outbreak in London through the use of Spatial Analysis.
 A system of hardware, software, and procedures designed to support the capture,
management, manipulation, analysis, modeling, and display of spatially-
referenced data for solving complex planning and management problems.” --
Rhind (1989)
 In simpler terms, GIS is a set of computer-based systems for managing geographic
data and using these data to solve real-world spatial problems.
 It is able to easily INTEGRATE data from various sources and in different formats
to come up with more accurate and timely decisions, thereby solving problems
more efficiently.
 Faster analysis of multiple layers of map data than manual methods of analysis,
allowing the flexibility to try alternate variables in analysis
 Two usable data in GIS:
o Conventional Data:
 Paper map – static
 Snapshot of the real world at a given time only.
o Digital Geographic Data:
 Dynamic;
 Allows a range of functions for storing, processing, analyzing, and
visualizing spatial data.
CAPABILITIES OF GIS

 Data capture and preparation

 Data management, including storage and maintenance
 Data manipulation and analysis
 Data presentation

5 COMPONENTS OF GIS

 Hardware:
o Computer system on which the GIS software will run used for acquisition,
storage, analysis, and display of geographic information.
 Software:
o Provides the functions and tools needed to store, analyze, and display
geographic information.
 Data:
o Core of GIS
  People:
o GIS users range from technical specialists who design and maintain the
system to those who use it to help them perform their everyday work.
 Methods:
o Various techniques used for map creation and further usage for any project

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MODELS USED IN GIS

 Geographic Data Models
o Representation of the real world geographic features in a digital form to be
stored in a GIS database.
 Field-Based Models (Natural Phenomena)
o The world is a continuous field in 2 or 3 dimensions (ex. elevation, soils)
 Object-Based Models (Man-made Phenomena)
o Objects may have a well-defined (discreet) boundaries such as buildings
and roads; or
o diffused (fuzzy) boundaries such as forests and beaches.

RASTER AND VECTOR DATA

 Raster:
o Area is covered by grid with (usually) equal-sized, square cells containing
an attribute value for each cell.
o A set of regularly spaced and contiguous cells with associate fields.
o Example: BMP, TIFF, JPEG, GRD, etc.
 Vector:
o Features in the real world are represented either as points, lines, or areas
(polygons).
 Digitizing in GIS
o The process of converting geographic data either from a hardcopy or a
scanned image into vector data by tracing the features.
TOPOLOGY
 Topological Relationships:
o Spatial relationships between geographic features
o Elements:

 Adjacency – the common boundary between 2 areas of locality.

 Containment - the area features which are wholly contained with
another area feature.
 Connectivity – the geometric property which describes the linkage
between the line features.

DATA MANAGEMENT

 Database Management System (DBMS):

o A software designed to organize the efficient storage, manipulation and
access to data within an integrated database.
 Geographic Database:
o It contains geographic data of a particular subject for a particular area.
 Relational DBMS:
o A collection of tables or relations that can be connected to each other by
keys.

COMPONENTS OF A GIS DATA

 Spatial Data are used to provide the visual representation of a geographic space
and is stored as raster and vector types. There are key components in a spatial
data:
o Positional Accuracy
 o Temporal Accuracy
o Lineage and completeness
o Logical Consistency
 Attribute Data are descriptions, measurements, and/or classifications of
geographic features in a map.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF DATA VALUES IN GIS

 Nominal Data Values

o They are values that provide a name or identifier so that we can discriminate
between values.
o It is also called as “categorical data”.
 Ordinal Data Values
o They are values that can be put in some natural sequence (ranking scheme)
but that not allow any type of computation.
 Internal Data Values
o They are quantities that allow simple forms of computations like addition
and subtraction.
o They do not support multiplication or division.
 Ratio Data Values
o They allow must, if not all, forms of arithmetic computations.

SPATIAL ANALYSIS

 Manipulation of spatial data into various forms to be able to extract additional and
meaningful information to understand the real-world. The roles of GIS in Spatial
Analysis are:
o Data Gathering or Acquisition
o Pre-processing
o Analysis (main processing)
o Map generation and visualization
o Decision Making or Planning
 o Applied to the Real World or Evaluation or Validation.

 Spatial analysis is aimed at identifying and describing the pattern and identifying
and understanding the process.
 Some tool used in the processing of spatial analysis:
o Overlay
 A GIS operation that superimposes multiple data sets together for
the purpose of identifying relationships between them.
 An overlay creates a composite map by combining the geometry and
attributes of the input data sets.
o Raster Overlay
 Mathematical/logical operators also called as “Boolean
Operators”, which are performed on corresponding cells from one or
more layers to produce an output value for subsequent analysis.
 Logical overlays: combine two or more maps based on a set of
logical relationships.

INTERPOLATION TO RASTER

 To predict values for cells from a limited number of sample data points (few points
to fill all cells).
 There are types of interpolation used in GIS:
o Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW): each sample point has a local influence
that diminishes with distance.
 o Radial basis functions (spline): uses a mathematical function that minimizes
overall surface curvature, resulting in a smooth surface that passes exactly
through the input points.
o Kriging (Geostatistical interpolation technique): uses both the distance and
the degree of variation between known data points when estimating values
in unknown areas.

VECTOR OPERATIONS

 Querying:
o Performed to select features that satisfy a set of criteria based on the
attributes.
 Buffering
o Creation of zone of interest around an entity.

VECTOR OVERLAY TOOLS

 Intersect (AND)  combines two map layers by getting areas in common for both.
It finds all map units that have both attributes specified.

 Union (OR)  it finds all map units that have either one attribute or another
attribute or both specified.
 Symmetrical Difference (XOR)  A GIS tool for a vector dataset that retains
areas on Map A and Map B whose features in both maps “do not intersect” with
each other.

 Difference/Subtract/Erase (NOT)  only those features of the input features

falling outside the erase features outside boundaries are copied to the output
feature class.

 Identity  Computes a geometric intersection of the input features and identity

features. The input features or portions thereof that overlap identity features will
get the attributes of those identity features.
 Clip  Uses a polygon boundary to cut features and their attributes from a feature
class.

 Cover / Update  The input feature geometry is replaced by update layer. The
attributes and geometry of the input features are updated by the update features
in the output feature class.

 Dissolve  Generalizes features by combining features based on a specified

attribute/s.
  Append / Merge  Combines multiple input datasets into a single, new output
dataset. This tool can combine point, line, or polygon feature classes or tables.

 Spatial Join  Joins attributes from one feature to another based on the spatial
relationship. The target features and the joined attributes from the join features are
written to the output feature class.

Some Analysis used in GIS:

 Query and Overlay Analysis

 Proximity Analysis
 Suitability Analysis
 Visibility Analysis
 Hydrology Analysis
 Network Analysis
 3D Visualization Surface Analysis

Other Terminologies in GIS:

 Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN):

o A way of constructing a surface form a set of irregularly spaced data points.
o Adjacent data points are connected by lines to form a network of irregular
triangles.
 Delaunay Triangulation
o The triangles are equilateral.
o For each triangle, the circumcircle through its anchor points does not
contain any other anchor point.
 Temporal Dimension
o Time can be measured along a discrete or continuous scale.
 Euclidean Distance
o In GIS distance analysis, it refers to the shortest distance or path between
2 points or pixels.
 Manhattan Distance
o In GIS distance analysis, it refers to the distance along the raster cells from
one point to another.
 Metadata
o Data about data
o A set of data that describes and gives information about the data.
ASSESSMENT
These questions are the sample problems based on the previous Geodetic
Engineering Board Examination.
1.) In transforming geodetic and grid azimuth, the geodetic direction projected into a plane
is actually a ____ line, rather than a straight line, thus, the need for the ____ correction.
a. Spiral, arc to chord
b. Curved, chord to arc
c. Curved, arc to chord
d. Spiral, chord to arc
2.) A geodetic level ____ consist of lines of sprit levelling connected together to form a
system of ___ extending over an area
a. Net, loops
b. Frame, triangle
c. Net, triangle
d. Frame, loops
3.) Data collector is a handheld ___ field notebook the total station, level or GNSS receiver
to receive and ____.
a. Electronic, temporarily
b. Analogue, permanently
c. Electronic, permanently
d. Analogue, temporarily
4.) The curvature correction in cm/km is ___.
a. 7.6
b. 7.2
c. 7.9
d. 7.5
5.) A ___ error will always have the same magnitude and ___ algebraic sign under the
same condition.
a. Systematic, different
b. Random, different
c. Random, he same
 d. Systematic, the same
6.) The earth’s gravity is measured with a ___, while absolute position on the earth’s
surface are measured with a ___.
a. Seismometer, total station
b. Seismometer, GNSS receiver
c. Gravimeter, GNSS receiver
d. Gravimeter, total station
7.) ___ is the arc between the celestial body and the ____.
a. Declination, north pole
b. Altitude, south pole
c. Declination, celestial equator
d. Altitude, north pole
8.) The equipotential surface to which, at every point, the plumb-line is ___ is called ____.
a. Parallel, geoid
b. Perpendicular, ellipsoid
c. Parallel ellipsoid
d. Perpendicular, geiod
9.) In the classical spherical coordinates called geometric coordinates, consisting of
longitude, geocentric latitude, and distance (r) from the center of an ellipsoid, the x-
coordinate is equal to the product of distance (r) and ______.
a. Sin phi sin longitude
b. Cos phi sin longitude
c. Cos phi cos longitude
d. Sin phi cos longitude
10. Datum ____ is used to convert the coordinate of a _____ defined in one datum to
coordinate in a different datum.
a. Transformation, point
b. Convergence, point
c. Transformation, surface
d. Convergence, surface