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• Geodesy involves the theory and measurement of the
size, shape and gravity field of the Earth.

• Modern geodesy is also concerned with temporal

(time) variations in these quantities, notably through
contemporary observations of geodynamic
phenomena such as plate tectonics.

• Geodesy is a branch of applied mathematics that

forms the scientific basis of all positioning and
mapping.

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Types of Geodesy

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 REFERENCE SURFACE
1.Real/Topographic Surface
2.Plane Surface
3.Geodetic Surface
I. Ellipsoidal Surface
II. Geoidal Surface

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REAL /GROUND SURFACE
• The actual topographic surface is most apparent
with its variety of land forms and water areas.
• This is, in fact, the surface on which actual earth
measurements are made.
• It is not suitable, however, for exact
mathematical computations because the
formulas which would be required to take the
irregularities into account would necessitate a
prohibitive amount of computations.
• The topographic surface is generally the concern
of topographers and hydrographers.
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ELLIPSE

Since the earth is in fact flattened slightly at the

poles and bulges somewhat at the equator, the
geometrical figure used in geodesy to most
nearly approximate the shape of the earth is an
ellipsoid of revolution.

The ellipsoid of revolution is the figure which

would be obtained by rotating an ellipse about its
shorter axis.

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 Rotational ellipsoid,
spheroid

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 Cont’d……

• An ellipsoid of revolution is uniquely defined by

specifying two dimensions.
• Geodesists, by convention, use the semi major axis and
flattening.
• The size is represented by the radius at the equator-the
semi major axis-and designated by the letter a.
• The shape of the ellipsoid is given by the flattening f,
which indicates how closely an ellipsoid approaches a
spherical shape.
• The difference between the ellipsoid of revolution
representing the earth and a sphere is very small.

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 Cont’d……
• Two solutions of the problem of how
to fit an ellipsoid onto the irregular geoid.

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 Cont’d……

Global solution = Geodetic datum WGS84 Fits as good as

possible over the entire Geoid

A geodetic datum = one

ellipsoid of a specified size
and shape (defined by a and
f) and how that ellipsoid is
placed into the geoid (position
and orientation).
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 The Geoid

The geoid is a surface along which the gravity potential is

everywhere equal and to which the direction of gravity is
always perpendicular. The later is particularly significant
because optical instruments containing leveling devices are
commonly used to make geodetic measurements.

The geoid coincides with that surface to which the oceans

would conform over the entire earth if free to adjust to the
combined effect of the earth's mass attraction and the
centrifugal force of the earth's rotation. The ”true” shape of
the Earth of equal geo-potential = Mean Sea Level.

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…..…The Geoid

When properly adjusted, the vertical axis of the

instrument coincides with the direction of gravity
and is, therefore, perpendicular to the geoid.

The angle between the plumb line which is

perpendicular to the geoid (sometimes called "the
vertical") and the perpendicular to the ellipsoid
(sometimes called "the normal") is defined as the
deflection of the vertical.

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…..…The Geoid

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 Classifications of Geodesy

According to the scope of the geo-space

studied, geodesy can be classified into ellipsoidal
geodesy (i.e., theoretical geodesy, higher surveying),
geodetic control survey, marine geodesy, and
engineering geodesy (i.e., plane surveying).
 Ellipsoidal geodesy studies the body of the Earth
as a whole, determines the shape of the Earth and
its external gravity field, and establishes the
geodetic reference system.
 Geodetic control survey measures the coordinates
and heights of a sufficient number of surface
points within one or several countries in an
appropriately chosen reference system and
establishes a unified national geodetic network to
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meet the needs MWU-CoE-SEng
of topographic
Advancedmapping
Geodesy and
 Cont.……….

 Marine geodesy establishes a geodetic control network on

the Earth’s surface covered by oceans to realize
positioning on the sea surface and underwater and to
measure the marine gravity field, sea surface
topography, and marine geoid.
 Engineering geodesy determines the details on the
Earth’s surface regionally in a small area and usually
refers to the horizontal plane for measurement. Ellipsoidal
geodesy, geodetic control survey, marine geodesy, and
engineering geodesy are closely related to one another.
 National geodetic control survey and Engineering
geodesy need the geodetic constants and reference
datum's determined by global geodetic surveying in order
to reduce the observational results taking into
consideration the effect
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Advanced Geodesy and the
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gravity field.
 Cont.……….

According to the spatial–temporal attributes of the

Earth that are being studied, geodesy can be classified
into geometric geodesy, physical geodesy, dynamic
geodesy, and integrated geodesy.
 Geometric geodesy adopts geometric methods to study
the shape and size of the Earth. It projects the
terrestrial geodetic control network onto the regular
reference ellipsoid as the basis for calculating the geo
metric positions of surface points.
 Physical geodesy is concerned with the external gravity
field of the Earth globally or regionally. It establishes the
theory of the Earth’s shape by physical methods and
deals with the geoidal undulation relative to the Earth
ellipsoid using measured data of gravity.

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 Cont.……….

 Dynamic geodesy studies the regional and

global movement of the Earth and makes
physical interpretations by accurately measuring
the time-varying positions of surface points and
the gravity field of the Earth.

 Integrated geodesy combines geometric and

physical space and deals with all geometric and
physical observed quantities of geodesy in a
uniform mathematical model within the spatial–
temporal reference system.

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 Cont.……….

According to the technical means of carrying out the

fundamental tasks, geodesy can be divided into terrestrial
geodesy (conventional geodesy), space geodesy (satellite
geodesy), and inertial geodesy.
 Terrestrial geodesy uses optoelectronic instruments to carry
out short-distance (usually shorter than 50 km) terrestrial
geometric survey (leveling, and astronomic surveying) and
gravity measurement to determine the horizontal positions and
heights of surface points and calculate the local gravity field
parameters indirectly. By observing extraterrestrial objects
 space geodesy realizes the positioning of surface points,
including the relative positioning and the absolute positioning,
which is relative to the center of the Earth. It uses the satellite
gravity technique to obtain information on the global gravity
field.
 Inertial geodesy applies the principle of inertia of a moving
object in mechanics to carry out the relative positioning of
surface points and measure the gravity field parameters.
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