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GPS Block II-F satellite in Earth orbit

Geodesy is the science of measuring and representing the geometry, gravity, and spatial orientation of the Earth in temporally varying 3D. It is called planetary geodesy when studying other astronomical bodies, such as planets or circumplanetary systems.

Geodynamical phenomena, including crustal motion, tides, and polar motion, can be studied by designing global and national control networks, applying space geodesy and terrestrial geodetic techniques, and relying on datums and coordinate systems. The job titles are geodesist and geodetic surveyor. ( Full article...)

Selected images

Image 1Starry circles arc around the south celestial pole, seen overhead at ESO's La Silla Observatory. (from Earth's rotation)
Image 2This long-exposure photo of the northern night sky above the Nepali Himalayas shows the apparent paths of the stars as Earth rotates. (from Earth's rotation)
Image 3 Valcamonica rock art (I), Paspardo r. 29, topographic composition, 4th millennium BCE (from Cartography)
Image 4Global plate tectonic movement using GPS (from Geodesy)
Image 5An artist's rendering of the protoplanetary disk (from Earth's rotation)
Image 6A map of recent volcanic activity and ridge spreading. The areas where NASA GRACE measured gravity to be stronger than the theoretical gravity have a strong correlation with the positions of the volcanic activity and ridge spreading. (from Gravity of Earth)
Image 7Relief map Sierra Nevada (from Cartography)
Image 8Small section of an orienteering map (from Cartography)
Image 9Earth's gravity measured by NASA GRACE mission, showing deviations from the theoretical gravity of an idealized, smooth Earth, the so-called Earth ellipsoid. Red shows the areas where gravity is stronger than the smooth, standard value, and blue reveals areas where gravity is weaker ( Animated version). (from Gravity of Earth)
Image 10A modern instrument for geodetic measurements using satellites (from Geodesy)
Image 112D grid for elliptical coordinates (from Geodesy)
Image 12A relative gravimeter (from Geodesy)
Image 13Deviation of day length from SI-based day (from Earth's rotation)
Image 14The definition of latitude (φ) and longitude (λ) on an ellipsoid of revolution (or spheroid). The graticule spacing is 10 degrees. The latitude is defined as the angle between the normal to the ellipsoid and the equatorial plane. (from Geodesy)
Image 15Axial tilt (or Obliquity), rotation axis, plane of orbit, celestial equator and ecliptic. Earth is shown as viewed from the Sun; the orbit direction is counter-clockwise (to the left). (from Geodesy)
Image 16A plumb bob determines the local vertical direction (from Gravity of Earth)
Image 17A pre-Mercator nautical chart of 1571, from Portuguese cartographer Fernão Vaz Dourado ( c. 1520 – c. 1580). It belongs to the so-called plane chart model, where observed latitudes and magnetic directions are plotted directly into the plane, with a constant scale, as if the Earth were a plane (Portuguese National Archives of Torre do Tombo, Lisbon). (from Cartography)
Image 18Mapping can be done with GPS and laser rangefinder directly in the field. Image shows mapping of forest structure (position of trees, dead wood and canopy). (from Cartography)
Image 19 Ellipsoid - a mathematical representation of the Earth. When mapping in geodetic coordinates, a latitude circle forms a truncated cone. (from Geodesy)
Image 20Variations in the gravity field of the Moon, from NASA (from Geodesy)
Image 21Equatorial ( $a$ ), polar ( $b$ ) and mean Earth radii as defined in the 1984 World Geodetic System (from Geodesy)
Image 22The cartographic process (from Cartography)
Image 23Global gravity anomaly animation over oceans from the NASA's GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) (from Geodesy)
Image 24Illustrated map (from Cartography)
Image 25Plot of latitude versus tangential speed. The dashed line shows the Kennedy Space Center example. The dot-dash line denotes typical airliner cruise speed. (from Earth's rotation)
Image 26 GPS Block IIA satellite orbits over the Earth. (from Geodesy)
Image 27Surveyor using a total station (from Geomatics)
Image 28Gravity measurement devices, pendulum (left) and absolute gravimeter (right) (from Geodesy)
Image 29Copy (1472) of St. Isidore's TO map of the world. (from Cartography)
Image 30Topographic map of Easter Island (from Cartography)
Image 31Visual fix by three bearings plotted on a nautical chart (from Geopositioning)
Image 32The Bedolina Map and its tracing, 6th–4th century BCE (from Cartography)
Image 33 Navigation device, Apollo program (from Geodesy)
Image 34Initial acquisition of GPS signal in 2D (from Geodesy)
Image 35 Geoid, an approximation for the shape of the Earth; shown here with vertical exaggeration (10000 vertical scaling factor). (from Geodesy)
Image 36Gravity at different internal layers of Earth (1 = continental crust, 2 = oceanic crust, 3 = upper mantle, 4 = lower mantle, 5+6 = core, A = crust-mantle boundary) (from Gravity of Earth)
Image 37 Europa regina in Sebastian Münster's " Cosmographia", 1570 (from Cartography)
Image 38A medieval depiction of the Ecumene (1482, Johannes Schnitzer, engraver), constructed after the coordinates in Ptolemy's Geography and using his second map projection. The translation into Latin and dissemination of Geography in Europe, in the beginning of the 15th century, marked the rebirth of scientific cartography, after more than a millennium of stagnation. (from Cartography)
Image 39A 14th-century Byzantine map of the British Isles from a manuscript of Ptolemy's Geography, using Greek numerals for its graticule: 52–63°N of the equator and 6–33°E from Ptolemy's Prime Meridian at the Fortunate Isles. (from Cartography)
Image 40How very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) works (from Geodesy)
Image 41Height measurement using satellite altimetry (from Geodesy)
Image 42Areal distortion caused by Mercator projection (from Cartography)
Image 43On a prograde planet like Earth, the stellar day is shorter than the solar day. At time 1, the Sun and a certain distant star are both overhead. At time 2, the planet has rotated 360 degrees and the distant star is overhead again but the Sun is not (1→2 = one stellar day). It is not until a little later, at time 3, that the Sun is overhead again (1→3 = one solar day). (from Earth's rotation)
Image 44Earth's axial tilt is about 23.4°. It oscillates between 22.1° and 24.5° on a 41,000-year cycle and is currently decreasing. (from Earth's rotation)
Image 45Principles of geolocation using GPS (from Geopositioning)
Image 46Datum shift between NAD27 and NAD83, in metres (from Geodesy)
Image 47Earth's rotation imaged by Deep Space Climate Observatory, showing axis tilt (from Earth's rotation)
Image 48The Tabula Rogeriana, drawn by Muhammad al-Idrisi for Roger II of Sicily in 1154. South is at the top. (from Cartography)
Image 49A Munich archive with lithography plates of maps of Bavaria (from Geodesy)
Image 50Geodetic control mark (from Geodesy)
Image 51A simulated history of Earth's day length, depicting a resonant-stabilizing event throughout the Precambrian era (from Earth's rotation)

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v t e Geodesy
Overview	History Geodesists
Subfields	Cartography Computer cartography Web mapping Earth's orbit Geodetic astronomy Geomatics Gravity of Earth Navigation Photogrammetry Remote Sensing Geopositioning Virtual globe
Physical phenomena	Chandler wobble Coriolis effect Earth's energy budget Earth's gravity field Geodynamo Gravity of Earth Plate tectonics Precession of the equinoxes Tide
Related disciplines	Astronomy Geology Geophysics Mathematics Physics
Geodesy portal Category Commons