Physical Geodesy

'Physical Geodesy'by Heiskanen and Moritz, published in 1967, has for a long time been considered as the standard introduction to its field. The enormous progress since then, however, required a complete reworking. While basic material could be retained other parts required a complete update. This concerns, above all, the adaptation to the fact that the geometry can now be precisely determined by methods such as GPS, and that new satellite methods, combined with terrestrial methods, also make a detailed determination of the earth's gravitational field a possibility and a necessity. Highlights include: emphasis on global integration of geometry and gravity, a simplified approach to Molodensky's theory without integral equations, and a general combination of all geodetic data by least-squares collocation. "Physical Geodesy" by Heiskanen and Moritz, published in 1967, has for a long time been considered as the standard introduction to its field. The enormous progress since then, however, required a complete reworking. While basic material could be retained other parts required a complete update. This concerns, above all, the adaptation to the fact that the geometry can now be precisely determined by methods such as GPS, and that new satellite methods, combined with terrestrial methods, also make a detailed determination of the earth's gravitational field a possibility and a necessity. Highlights include: emphasis on global integration of geometry and gravity, a simplified approach to Molodensky's theory without integral equations, and a general combination of all geodetic data by least-squares collocation ""Physical Geodesy" by Heiskanen and Moritz, published in 1967, was considered the standard introduction to its field for a long time. The enormous progress since then, however, led to the idea of reworking the material. While the basic body was retained in its original form whenever possible, several parts required a thorough updating and supplementing. This concerned, above all, the adaptation to the fact that the geometry can now be determined precisely by methods such as GPS and that new satellite gravity missions, combined with terrestrial methods, enable a detailed determination of the earth's gravitational field. Also new is an introduction to least-squares collocation. The treatment of Molodensky's theory has been completely updated."--Résumé de l'éditeur ""Physical Geodesy" by Heiskanen and Moritz, published in 1967, was considered the standard introduction to its field for a long time. The enormous progress since then, however, led to the idea of reworking the material. While the basic body was retained in its original form whenever possible, several parts required a thorough updating and supplementing. This concerned, above all, the adaptation to the fact that the geometry can now be determined precisely by methods such as GPS and that new satellite gravity missions, combined with terrestrial methods, enable a detailed determination of the earth's gravitational field. Also new is an introduction to least-squares collocation. The treatment of Molodensky's theory has been completely updated."--Jacket