GeometricalGeodesy

Thomas H. Meyer, Ph.D.

Department of Natural Resources Management &
Engineering
University of Connecticut

Surveying is
Measuring distance, angles, heights,

etc., to determine the relative locations

of points on the Earth -- NGS Glossary.
what you do to make a map
applied trigonometry

Technology
1. Global Positioning System

Technology
2. Optomechanical

The job is to
collect observations of features to be

mapped and thereby determine their

coordinates
observations are things, such as angles
and distances, a surveyor observed
using an instrument
maps are drawn using the coordinates of
the features

Surveying Observables
zenith angle

Surveying Observables, cont.

bearings

angles in the horizontal plane between features of

interest

slant distances

Derived Quantities
horizontal distance
vertical distance

bounds
metes

Suppose
you have a properly leveled instrument.
you site an object in the distance
at a zenith angle of exactly 90 degrees.

Is that object above, below or level to you?

How do you know the Earth is

round?

The Flat-Earth Assumption

causes objects to appear lower and

farther away than they really are.

c a so c / a
cos a /( a h) so
cos(c / a ) a /( a h)
a h a sec(c / a )
h a sec(c / a ) a
sec x 1 x 2 5 x 4 / 24 O( x 6 ) so
h a sec(c / a ) a (c / a) 2 O(c / a ) 4

Is this a practical problem?

if a = 6378137 m
then a one centimeter error occurs at
c = 357.159 m
Typical surveying accuracy for a 3500 m

line is around one millimeter

Ok, so far weve been using a

coordinate system
its Cartesian
In what reference frame does that

coordinate system reside within?

Geodesy

The science concerned with determining

the size and shape of the Earth.
--NGS Glossary

Why study geodesy?

With inches to spare

going aground in the Panama Canal is bad

fender benders

Barge-Bridge Collision

A horizontal geodetic
datum..

is a system by which latitude and

longitude coordinates are assigned to

places of interest
i.e., the foundation of spatial coordinates
note bene: height is not included

Surveying on the Sphere

To construct and use geodetic datums

we must be able to determine latitude

and longitude coordinates from
surveying observations.
That requires spherical trigonometry

Spherical
Triangles

Our fundamental figure

Geodetic Coordinates

Radii of Curvature in Geodesy

radius of curvature in the meridian
radius of curvature in the prime vertical
radius of curvature in the normal section

Radius of Curvature in the

Meridian
( )
2

a (1 e )

1 e

d ( )d
1

sin

3/ 2

Radius of Curvature in the

Prime Vertical

Radius of Curvature in the

Prime Vertical
( )
2

1 e

a
2

d ( )d
1

sin

1/ 2

Normal Section

Radius of Curvature in the

Normal Section
( ) ( )
( , )
2
2
( ) sin ( ) cos
2

d ( , )d
1

GeometricalGeodesy

Thomas H. Meyer, Ph.D.

Department of Natural Resources Management &
Engineering
University of Connecticut
Thomas.meyer@uconn.edu