Figure of the Earth

File:OblateSpheroid.PNG

An oblate spheroid

Geodesy
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Fundamentals
Geodesy · Geodynamics Geomatics · Cartography
Concepts
Datum · Distance · Geoid Figure of the Earth Geodetic system Geog. coord. system Hor. pos. representation Map projection Reference ellipsoid Satellite geodesy Spatial reference system
Technologies
GNSS · GPS · GLONASS
Standards
ED50 · ETRS89 · GRS 80 NAD83 · NAVD88 · SAD69 SRID · UTM · WGS84
History
History of geodesy NAVD29

The expression figure of the Earth has various meanings in geodesy according to the way it is used and the precision with which the Earth's size and shape is to be defined. 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.

The Pythagorean concept of a spherical Earth offers a simple surface which is mathematically easy to deal with. Many astronomical and navigational computations use it as a surface representing the Earth. While the sphere is a close approximation of the true figure of the Earth and satisfactory for many purposes, to the geodesists interested in the measurement of long distances—spanning continents and oceans—a more exact figure is necessary. Closer approximations range from modelling the shape of the entire Earth as an oblate spheroid or an oblate ellipsoid, to the use of spherical harmonics or local approximations in terms of local reference ellipsoids. The idea of a planar or flat surface for Earth, however, is still acceptable for surveys of small areas, as local topography is more important than the curvature. Plane-table surveys are made for relatively small areas, and no account is taken of the curvature of the Earth. A survey of a city would likely be computed as though the Earth were a plane surface the size of the city. For such small areas, exact positions can be determined relative to each other without considering the size and shape of the total Earth.

File:Depositos curvatura mar300p.jpg

The curvature of Earth as seen in Valencia, Spain (Playa de la Malvarrosa)

In the mid- to late- 20th century, research across the geosciences contributed to drastic improvements in the accuracy of the Figure of the Earth. The primary utility (and the motivation for funding, mainly from the military) of this improved accuracy was to provide geographical and gravitational data for the inertial guidance systems of ballistic missiles. This funding also drove the expansion of geoscientific disciplines, fostering the creation and growth of various geoscience departments at many universities.

Ellipsoid of revolution

Main article: Reference ellipsoid

Since the Earth is flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator, the geometrical figure used in geodesy to most nearly approximate Earth's shape is an oblate spheroid. An oblate spheroid, or oblate ellipsoid, is an ellipsoid of revolution obtained by rotating an ellipse about its shorter axis. A spheroid describing the figure of the Earth or other celestial body is called a reference ellipsoid. The reference ellipsoid for the Earth is called Earth ellipsoid.

An ellipsoid of revolution is uniquely defined by two numbers-- two dimensions, or one dimension and a number representing the difference between the two dimensions. Geodesists, by convention, use the semimajor axis and flattening. The size is represented by the radius at the equator—the semimajor axis of the cross-sectional ellipse—and designated by the letter \(a\). The shape of the ellipsoid is given by the flattening, \(f\), which indicates how much the ellipsoid departs from spherical. (In practice, the two defining numbers are usually the equatorial radius and the reciprocal of the flattening, rather than the flattening itself; for the WGS84 spheroid used by today's GPS systems, the reciprocal of the flattening is set at 298.257223563 exactly.)

The difference between a sphere and a reference ellipsoid for Earth is small, only about one part in 300. Historically flattening was computed from grade measurements. Nowadays geodetic networks and satellite geodesy are used. In practice, many reference ellipsoids have been developed over the centuries from different surveys. The flattening value varies slightly from one reference ellipsoid to another, reflecting local conditions and whether the reference ellipsoid is intended to model the entire earth or only some portion of it.

A sphere has a single radius of curvature, which is simply the radius of the sphere. More complex surfaces have radii of curvature that vary over the surface. The radius of curvature describes the radius of the sphere that best approximates the surface at that point. Oblate ellipsoids have constant radius of curvature east to west along parallels, if a graticule is drawn on the surface, but varying curvature in any other direction. For an oblate ellipsoid, the polar radius of curvature \(r_p\) is larger than the equatorial

\[ r_p=\frac{a^2}{b},\]

because the pole is flattened: the flatter the surface, the larger the sphere must be to approximate it. Conversely, the ellipsoid's north-south radius of curvature at the equator \(r_e\) is smaller than the polar

\[ r_e=\frac{b^2}{a}.\]

Historical Earth ellipsoids

Main article: Earth ellipsoid

The reference ellipsoid models listed below have had utility in geodetic work and many are still in use. The older ellipsoids are named for the individual who derived them and the year of development is given. In 1887 the English mathematician Col Alexander Ross Clarke CB FRS RE was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Society for his work in determining the figure of the Earth. The international ellipsoid was developed by John Fillmore Hayford in 1910 and adopted by the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) in 1924, which recommended it for international use.

At the 1967 meeting of the IUGG held in Lucerne, Switzerland, the ellipsoid called GRS-67 (Geodetic Reference System 1967) in the listing was recommended for adoption. The new ellipsoid was not recommended to replace the International Ellipsoid (1924), but was advocated for use where a greater degree of accuracy is required. It became a part of the GRS-67 which was approved and adopted at the 1971 meeting of the IUGG held in Moscow. It is used in Australia for the Australian Geodetic Datum and in South America for the South American Datum 1969.

The GRS-80 (Geodetic Reference System 1980) as approved and adopted by the IUGG at its Canberra, Australia meeting of 1979 is based on the equatorial radius (semi-major axis of Earth ellipsoid) \(a\), total mass \(GM\), dynamic form factor \(J_2\) and angular velocity of rotation \(\omega\), making the inverse flattening \(1/f\) a derived quantity. The minute difference in \(1/f\) seen between GRS-80 and WGS-84 results from an unintentional truncation in the latter's defining constants: while the WGS-84 was designed to adhere closely to the GRS-80, incidentally the WGS-84 derived flattening turned out to be slightly different than the GRS-80 flattening because the normalized second degree zonal harmonic gravitational coefficient, that was derived from the GRS-80 value for J2, was truncated to 8 significant digits in the normalization process.

An ellipsoidal model describes only the ellipsoid's geometry and a normal gravity field formula to go with it. Commonly an ellipsoidal model is part of a more encompassing geodetic datum. For example, the older ED-50 (European Datum 1950) is based on the Hayford or International Ellipsoid. WGS-84 is peculiar in that the same name is used for both the complete geodetic reference system and its component ellipsoidal model. Nevertheless the two concepts—ellipsoidal model and geodetic reference system—remain distinct.

Note that the same ellipsoid may be known by different names. It is best to mention the defining constants for unambiguous identification.

Reference ellipsoid name	Equatorial radius (m)	Polar radius (m)	Inverse flattening	Where used
Maupertuis (1738)	6,397,300	6,363,806.283	191	France
Plessis (1817)	6,376,523.0	6,355,862.9333	308.64	France
Everest (1830)	6,377,299.365	6,356,098.359	300.80172554	India
Everest 1830 Modified (1967)	6,377,304.063	6,356,103.0390	300.8017	West Malaysia & Singapore
Everest 1830 (1967 Definition)	6,377,298.556	6,356,097.550	300.8017	Brunei & East Malaysia
Airy (1830)	6,377,563.396	6,356,256.909	299.3249646	Britain
Bessel (1841)	6,377,397.155	6,356,078.963	299.1528128	Europe, Japan
Clarke (1866)	6,378,206.4	6,356,583.8	294.9786982	North America
Clarke (1878)	6,378,190	6,356,456	293.4659980	North America
Clarke (1880)	6,378,249.145	6,356,514.870	293.465	France, Africa
Helmert (1906)	6,378,200	6,356,818.17	298.3
Hayford (1910)	6,378,388	6,356,911.946	297	USA
International (1924)	6,378,388	6,356,911.946	297	Europe
NAD 27 (1927)	6,378,206.4	6,356,583.800	294.978698208	North America
Krassovsky (1940)	6,378,245	6,356,863.019	298.3	USSR
WGS66 (1966)	6,378,145	6,356,759.769	298.25	USA/DoD
Australian National (1966)	6,378,160	6,356,774.719	298.25	Australia
New International (1967)	6,378,157.5	6,356,772.2	298.24961539
GRS-67 (1967)	6,378,160	6,356,774.516	298.247167427
South American (1969)	6,378,160	6,356,774.719	298.25	South America
WGS-72 (1972)	6,378,135	6,356,750.52	298.26	USA/DoD
GRS-80 (1979)	6,378,137	6,356,752.3141	298.257222101	Global ITRS
WGS-84 (1984)	6,378,137	6,356,752.3142	298.257223563	Global GPS
IERS (1989)	6,378,136	6,356,751.302	298.257
IERS (2003)	6,378,136.6	6,356,751.9	298.25642

More complicated figures

The possibility that the Earth's equator is an ellipse rather than a circle and therefore that the ellipsoid is triaxial has been a matter of scientific controversy for many years. Modern technological developments have furnished new and rapid methods for data collection and since the launch of Sputnik 1, orbital data have been used to investigate the theory of ellipticity.

A second theory, more complicated than triaxiality, proposed that observed long periodic orbital variations of the first Earth satellites indicate an additional depression at the south pole accompanied by a bulge of the same degree at the north pole. It is also contended that the northern middle latitudes were slightly flattened and the southern middle latitudes bulged in a similar amount. This concept suggested a slightly pear-shaped Earth and was the subject of much public discussion. Modern geodesy tends to retain the ellipsoid of revolution and treat triaxiality and pear shape as a part of the geoid figure: they are represented by the spherical harmonic coefficients \(C_{22},S_{22}\) and \(C_{30}\), respectively, corresponding to degree and order numbers 2.2 for the triaxiality and 3.0 for the pear shape.

Geoid

It was stated earlier that measurements are made on the apparent or topographic surface of the Earth and it has just been explained that computations are performed on an ellipsoid. One other surface is involved in geodetic measurement: the geoid. In geodetic surveying, the computation of the geodetic coordinates of points is commonly performed on a reference ellipsoid closely approximating the size and shape of the Earth in the area of the survey. The actual measurements made on the surface of the Earth with certain instruments are however referred to the geoid. The ellipsoid is a mathematically defined regular surface with specific dimensions. The geoid, on the other hand, 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 (gravitation) and the centrifugal force of the Earth's rotation. As a result of the uneven distribution of the Earth's mass, the geoidal surface is irregular and, since the ellipsoid is a regular surface, the separations between the two, referred to as geoid undulations, geoid heights, or geoid separations, will be irregular as well.

The geoid is a surface along which the gravity potential is everywhere equal and to which the direction of gravity is always perpendicular (see equipotential surface). The latter is particularly important because optical instruments containing gravity-reference leveling devices are commonly used to make geodetic measurements. 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 ellipsoidal normal") is defined as the deflection of the vertical. It has two components: an east-west and a north-south component.

Earth rotation and Earth's interior

Determining the exact figure of the Earth is not only a geodetic operation or a task of geometry, but is also related to geophysics. Without any idea of the Earth's interior, we can state a "constant density" of 5.515 g/cm³ and, according to theoretical arguments (see Leonhard Euler, Albert Wangerin, etc.), such a body rotating like the Earth would have a flattening of 1:230.

In fact the measured flattening is 1:298.25, which is more similar to a sphere and a strong argument that the Earth's core is very compact. Therefore the density must be a function of the depth, reaching from about 2.7 g/cm³ at the surface (rock density of granite, limestone etc. – see regional geology) up to approximately 15 within the inner core. Modern seismology yields a value of 16 g/cm³ at the center of the earth.

Global and regional gravity field

Also with implications for the physical exploration of the Earth's interior is the gravitational field, which can be measured very accurately at the surface and remotely by satellites. True vertical generally does not correspond to theoretical vertical (deflection ranges from 2" to 50") because topography and all geological masses disturb the gravitational field. Therefore the gross structure of the earth's crust and mantle can be determined by geodetic-geophysical models of the subsurface.

Volume

Earth's volume is approximately 1,083,210,000,000 km³.

See also

• Clairaut's theorem
• Geosciences, WGS84, EGM96
• Earth radius, flattening, meridian arc
• reference ellipsoid, geoid undulations
• theoretical gravity, gravity formula
• History: Flat Earth, Eratosthenes, Pierre Bouguer, Friedrich Robert Helmert

Notes and references

• Guy Bomford, Geodesy, Oxford 1962 and 1880.
• Guy Bomford, Determination of the European geoid by means of vertical deflections. Rpt of Comm. 14, IUGG 10th Gen. Ass., Rome 1954.
• Karl Ledersteger and Gottfried Gerstbach, Die horizontale Isostasie / Das isostatische Geoid 31. Ordnung. Geowissenschaftliche Mitteilungen Band 5, TU Wien 1975.
• Helmut Moritz and Bernhard Hofmann, Physical Geodesy. Springer, Wien & New York 2005.

External links

• Reference Ellipsoids (PCI Geomatics)
• Reference Ellipsoids (ScanEx)
• Changes in earth shape due to climate changes
• Jos Leys "The shape of Planet Earth"bg:Форма на Земята