Geometric Geodesy

Lecture 1
Introductiom
 Geodesy
An earth science that uses applied mathematics
which determines by measurements the

• Shape, size of the earth and position of points

(geometric geodesy)
• Gravity field of the earth (physical geodesy)
 Goals of Geodesy
1. To obtain a mathematical model-an
ellipsoid that best approximates the
earth’s shape.

2. To determine the spatial location of

points on the earth.

3. To determine the true shape of the

earth-the geoid.
 Fields of Specialization

1. Geometric Geodesy –spatial positioning of

points on the earth's surface are based on the
ellipsoid.

2. Physical geodesy – observing the earth’s gravity

field to determine the physical surface –the geoid.

3. Satellite Geodesy – observing the gravity field

of the earth and determination of spatial position of
points through the use of artificial satellites.
 Related Earth Sciences

Geology- study of the structure of the earth or another planet,

especially its rocks, soil and minerals and its history and
origins.

Geography- study of all the earth’s physical features, including its

climate and the distribution of plant, animal, and human life

Geophysics- branch of earth science which studies the physical forces

that shape the earth.

Cryospheric Sciences- the study of the frozen part of the earth’s

surface, including the polar ice caps, continental ice sheets,
glaciers, sea ice, and permafrost.

Geomagnetism – study of the geomagnetic properties of the earth.

 Related Earth Sciences

Aeronomy – the study of the upper atmosphere of the earth above 50

km, including its cosmic and ionizing radiation.

Meteorology – the study of the Earth’s atmosphere, especially its

patterns of climate and weather.

Seismology- study of earthquakes

Volcanology – study of volcanoes, its formation, signs of an eruption,

and other aspects of volcanic activity.

Oceanography- study of oceans, including their chemistry, biology,

and geology.
 Universities/Institutes engaged in Geodesy
Germany 1. The Institut für Erdmessung in Hannover - specialises in
astro-geodetic zenith cameras and geoid computations for many
European countries
2. The Institut für Theoretische Geodäsie in Bonn (Geodesy,
Radio astronomy and GPS)
3. The Institut für Astronomische und Physikalische Geodäsie in
Munich, southern Germany.
Austria: The Austrian Institute for Geodesy and Geophysics, Vienna
(astro-geological geoid, IGS and VLBI)
Swirtzerland The Swiss Geodetic Institute at the ETH Zürich (geophysical
geodesy, GPS etc.)
U.S.A. Geodesy at Ohio State University, Columbus OH,
(http://geodesy.eng.ohio-state.edu/)
 Universities/Institutes engaged in Geodesy
Canada Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, University of New
Brunswick, (http://gge.unb.ca/HomePage.php3)

Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary,

Alberta, (http://www.geomatics.ucalgary.ca/)

Finland Department of Surveying at Helsinki University of

Technology, Espoo, (http://www.hut.fi/Units/Departments/M/)
Australia Department of Spatial Sciences, Curtin University of
Technology, Perth, (http://www.spatial.curtin.edu.au/)
Malaysia Faculty of Geoinformation Science & Engineering, Malaysian
University of Technology, Johor Bahru,
Malaysia (http://geomatics.fksg.utm.my/index.htm)
 Organizations and Institutions

International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics(IUGG)

•Associations

 International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS)

 International Association of Geodesy (IAG)
 International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA)
 International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS)
 International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences (
IAMAS)
 International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (
IAPSO)
 International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's
Interior (IASPEI)
 International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's
Interior (IAVCEI)
Beginning of the Science of Geodesy
 Early Theories
• Pythagoras (582-500 BC) and
Aristotle (384-322 BC) - earth as a sphere.
• Plato-radius of the earth to be 40,000
miles
• Archimedes - radius to be 30,000 miles
ERATOSTHENES (276-195 BC) of Alexandria

Founder of scientific geodesy

 Arc measurement of
Era stosthenes
7 1/5 deg

el
r all om
Pa ys fr
ra n
su Rod Measured elevation of
Sun at Ale xandria

00 82 4/5 deg
50 adia
st
a
R
Well at
Syene
R

7 1/5 deg

Earth‘’s center

Illustration of Eratosthenes’ technique of computing the earth’s circumference

 Result of Measurement
• π=22/7 (Archimedes constant, 250 BC)
• 1 stadia = 1/10 mile
• Circumference= 25,000 miles
• radius of Earth = 6,267 km.
• present day mean radius = 6,371 km.

• Error = 2%
 Beginning of Modern Geodesy
• 1609 Galileo introduced telescope for astronomical observation
• 1614 Publication of logarithmic tables John Napier Scot
• 1615 first triangulation to determine the figure the earth by
Willeboard Snellius
• 1667. Jean Piccard (France 1669-1670), was the first to use a
telescope with spider-web cross hairs.
• 1750’s James Watt first used stadia cross hairs on the telescope
• 1790 Metric System was adopted. the arc distance from the equator
to pole and established it to be 10,000,000 meters. This would serve
to be the definition of the meter as a natural unit of length.
• 1831 William J. Young in Philadelphia invented the first transit.
• 1920 the first optical micrometer theodolite introduced by Carl Zeiss
 Ellipsoidal Earth Theory
Cassini ellipsoid (1718)
• length of 1° arc N

in the northern part

was shorter than the
southern part. Equator

• earth is elongated at the

Poles but yielded f= -1/95
S
 Flattened Pole Ellipsoid
•1687, Isaac Newton theorized that the
Earth is flattened at the poles, based on
the law of universal gravitation and gave
a flattening of f=1/230.

•The English claimed that the earth is

flattened at the Poles
 French Expedition (1735)
French Academy of Science sponsored a
geodetic expedition in Ecuador and in
Finland
• Finland and Paris arcs : f=1/183
• Finland and Ecuador arcs : f=1/210
• Therefore, Earth is flattened at the poles.
 The ellipsoidal Earth
N

Equator Semi-major axis

Semi-minor axis

S
 Reference Ellipsoid
•1800's, numerous determinations of the
earth's size and shape were made.

•"best fitting" ellipsoid for any area of the earth

will not necessarily be best fitting elsewhere.

•survey control networks have been based on

different ellipsoids, depending on the part of
the world (or continent) in question.
 Reference Ellipsoid
Ellipsoid Semi-Major Axis 1/f

Airy 1830 6,377,563.396 299.3249646

Bessel 1841 6,377,397.155 299.1528128

Clarke 1866 6,378,206.4 294.9786982

Everest 1830 6,377,276.345 300.8017

 Metric System
• 1790’s France adopted the metric system as the standard
measure for weights and lengths.- System International (SI)
• Meter was defined as the arc distance from pole to
equator to be 10,000,000 meters.
• 1 meter = platinum-iridium bar 1 m long at the
International Bureau of Weights and Measures (Paris)
• 1960, 1 meter=1,650,763.73 wavelengths of Kr-86 isotope
•At present 1 meter = length travelled by light in a
vacuum in a time interval of 1/299,792,458 s
• 1 foot = 0.3048 meter
 Development of Modern Surveying
Instruments
• 150 BC Dioptra (Greece)
• 1600’s Galileo’s telescope (Italy)
• 1631 Invention of the vernier (France)
• 1639 Invention of the micrometer
• 1660’s Jean Picard’s quadrant (France)
• 1725 The first theodolite (Great Britain)
• 1782 The Great Theodolite (Great Britain)
• 1920 Invention of the glass circle by H. Wild (Germany)
• 1920 First optical micrometer theodolite by Zeiss (Germany)
• 1950’s First electronic distance measurement device (South Africa)
• 1980’s Start of satellite surveying