Satellite Geodesy

Abstract

From the very earliest days of the space era, scientists realized that artificial satellites could offer a powerful tool to researchers interested in mapping the gravity field and shape of the Earth. The science dealing with these measurements is referred to as geodesy. Geodesy is conveniently considered to divide into physical geodesy and geometrical geodesy. The former comprises the study of the Earth’s gravitational field and its relationship to the solid structure of the planet, while the latter seeks by geometrical and astronomical measurements to determine the precise size and shape of the Earth and to locate positions accurately on the Earth’s surface. In practice, of course, geometrical and physical geodesy is intimately related.