Short description:

Geometrical Geodesy is a reference manual written for geodesists and scientists in the field of earth sciences. This book reviews developments in geodesy and hydrography, using a wide variety of electronic and acoustic instruments. The aim is to take stock of the latest fundamental geodetic constants for the 2000s, to focus on dissimilar ellipsoidal areas, distances, and conversion of applications, referenced to an abundant bibliography. It presents a mixture of issues, dealing with reference and time systems, datums, and s-transformations, elucidate multi-dimensional aspects of the information, communication, and computation technology, including the use of parallel computers. Stressing the hands-on methodology, the handbook is of interest to geodetic engineers, consultants, hydrographers, and engineers with an interest in the field of earth sciences.

Long description:

Surveying a Century Ago As it was based on the principles of geometry and trigonometry, surveying may be may be looked upon as a branch of practical mathematics. Hence, it was necessary that land surveyors and hydrographers should have a fair general knowledge, not only of these subjects, but also of all the subjects comprised by the term mathemat­ ics. In addition, the knowledge of mathematics required in ordinary chain surveying and levelling was not very extensive but in geodetical work, the highest mathematical ability and great organising power were required for a proper conception and supervision of the operations (Threlfall, 1940). Only small area of a few hundred square kilometres can be accurately mapped and surveyed without a frame­ work, since no difficulty is encountered because of Earth-curvature. In the past, especially in hydrography due to the type of work, surveying was carried out on the principles of ordinary practice, but in a very rough man­ ner, rapidity of execution being of paramount importance, the permissible error was sometimes large. The relative positions of the main surface features were obtained by aid of portable instruments, such as sextants and lead lines, tide poles, and logships. Sketching, just like military surveying was often filling in the smaller detail. In contrary, survey works done by the national mapping agencies (NMAs) were of a higher-level, and comprised the delimitation of boundaries as well as topographical surveys.

From the reviews:

"Geometrical Geodesy: Using Information and Computer Technology states that it is a reference manual for geodesists and scientists in the field of Earth sciences. ? Graduate students may find it useful for course-work and research. ? The 19 chapters cover what would be expected in a geodesy book ? ." (Peter Dare, Geomatica, Vol. 62 (2), 2008)

Table of Contents:

Time and Reference Systems.- Dealing with Geoscience Branches.- The Figure of Earth.- 3D-Positioning and Mapping.- Plane and Spherical Earth Systems.- Classical Datums and Reference Systems.- Spatial Coordinate Calculations.- Geodetic Arc Calculations.- Conversions and Zone Systems.- Conformal Projections - Using Reference Ellipsoids.- Astrolabe Observations.- About History - A Bird?s-Eye View.- Tools and Topics.- Computing Techniques.- Information and Computer Technology.- ICT Applied to Sea Surveying.- Using Computers.- FORTRAN Application Programs.- International Organisations.