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Geodesy 172 terms by robert_forest

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Scatter

Transformation between a curved Projection

reference surface of the Earth and a flat
plane of the map.

Three steps in the Earth to Map Process 1) Study and estimate the geoid
2) Define Earth positions
3) Transform spheroid onto a plane

3 parts of a coordinate system 1) Units of measurement

2) Projection (mathematical model)
3) Datum

Parallels of Latitude Angle between point and equator a long

meridian. 0 degrees at equator. Range
from -90 degrees (South Pole) to +90
degrees (North Pole)

Small Circle Line connecting all points of the same

latitude, also called parallels

Only great circle Equator

Meridians of Longitude Measures angle on equatorial plane

between meridian of point and central
meridian. Ranges from -180 (west) to +180
(east). 0 degrees is at the the Prime
Meridian while 180 is at the International
Dateline.

Arcs of Great Circles Divide the Earth into 2 hemispheres

Earth's Graticule a) Parallels of latitude are parallel
b) Parallels are equally spaced along
meridians
c) Meridians are equally spaced along
parallels
d) Meridians of longitude are half great
circles that converge at the poles
e) Meridians and parallels intersect at
right angles
f) Quadrilaterals formed by same two
parallels have same longitudinal
dimensions
g) Area and distance scale is uniform

Loxodrome / Rhumb Line Line of constant compass direction

Shortest distance on a sphere Great Circle

How projections are classified a) Class

b) Secancy
c) Aspect
d) Distortion property

Classes a) Cylinder
b) Conical
c) Azimuthal

Points of Secancy a) Tangent

b) Secant

Aspect a) Normal
b) Transverse
c) Oblique

Distortion Property a) Equivalent

b) Equidistant
c) Conformal

Developable Surface Geometric shape such as a cone, cylinder

or plane that can be flattened without
distortion

Conical Minimum distortion east-west

Commonly used for Northern Latitudes
such as Canada

Lambert Conic Conformal Used on aeronautical charts, and MNR

uses this when showing entire province
on a map. Pilots like it because a straight
line drawn approximate a great-circle
route between endpoints.
Cylindrical 1:1 Scale factor at equator means no
distortion. No distortion at any point of
contact with standard lines. Mercator is
cylindrical.

Azimuthal Based on a flat piece of paper touching

the Earth at a point.

Projection Light Source Projecting ellipsoid onto a flat surface.

Comes from notion of placing a light
source inside a transparent globe, and
projecting shadows of meridians onto a
sheet of paper placed tangent to the
globe.

Perspective Projections Caused by changing position of the light

source.

a) Gnomonic
b) Stereographic
c) Orthographic

Gnmonic Light source at centre of the globe

Stereographic Light source at antipode of point of

tangency

Orthographic Light source an infinite distance away

from the point of tangency resulting in
parallel rays

Tangent Touch the horizontal reference surface at

only one point (plane) along a closed line
(cone or cylinder).

Secant Intersect horizontal surface along one

closed line (plane) or two closed lines
(cone or cylinder)

Aspect Direction of the projection plane's

orientation with respect to the globe.

a) Normal
b) Transverse
c) Oblique

Normal Main orientation of the projection surface

is parallel to the Earth's axis

Transverse Perpindicular to Earth's axis for N-S

alignment
Oblique Non-parallel, non-perpindicular
orientations.

Distortion Properties Shapes, angles, areas, directions,

distances become distorted when
transforming a curved surface to a plane.

Distortion/Preservation Types a) Conformal

b) Equal Area
c) Equidistant

Conformal Shapes of small areas shown correctly on

the map. Angles on map = angles
between original lines on the globe.

Equal Area Areas on map = areas on globe.

Preserve map areas by distorting shape,

angle and scale.

Equidistant Length of particular lines on map = length

of original lines on globe (accounting for
map scale).

Preserve distance between certain points.

Conformal Projection Preserves angles.

Criteria for choosing a map projection a) Shape of the area

b) Location of the area
c) Purpose of the map

Mercator Accurate compass bearing for sea travel.

Straight lines drawn represent actual
compass bearing. Route of constant
direction between two locations of
always a straight lines

Gnomonic Good for air and sea navigation because

great circles (shortest routes between
points on a sphere) are shown as straight
lines

Equal-area thematic maps Lambert, Albers equal-area conic

Mercator Projection Cylindrical projection - line of constant

are straight segments. Linear scale is
equal in all directions around any points.
Size and shape severely distorted as you
moved away from the equator.
Transverse Mercator Mercator where cylinder is rotated 90
degrees. CM can be chosen anywhere.
Can be used to construct highly accurate
maps of narrow width anywhere on the
globe.

Universal Transverse Mercator Grid system of parallel lines running

vertically and horizontally intersecting at
90 degrees; use plane coordinates. NTS
31D7 and OBM 10 17 6800 48100 both use
the UTM grid system.

Universal Transverse Mercator(2) Divided earth into 60 zones each of which

is 6 degree of longitude (60 degrees * 6 =
360 degrees)

UTM Zone Extend from 80 degrees S to 84 degrees

N and are numbered 1 through 60,
starting at the IDL (longitude 180) and
proceeding east.

Zone 1 extends from 180 W to 174 W and

is centered on 177 W (180+174)/2. Each
zone is divided into horizontal bands
spanning 8 degrees of latitude.

Central Meridian Square grid superimposed on each and

every zone and aligned so that vertical
grid lines are parallel to the centre of the
zone (the CM)

Metric System UTM grid coordinates are expressed as a

distance in meters to the east, referred to
as "easting" and a distance in meters to
the north, "northing"

Graticule Network of lines of latitude and longitude

or northings and eastings upon which a
map is drawn

Eastings Referenced to the centre line of the zone

(CM). CM of each zone is assigned an
easting of 500,000mE. Vertical grid lines
within each zone measure the meters east
or eastings as more or less east than the
central meridian of 500,000mE.
Northings Measured relative to the equator. For
locations in the northern hemisphere,
Equator assigned a northing value of
0mN. For locations South of the equator,
equator is assigned with a value of
10,000,000mN to avoid negatives.

7000m North of equator = 7000mN.

2,000,000 South of equator =

8,000,000mN.

Ontario Has 4 UTM zones.

NTS and OBM Grid Lines Spaced 1000 meters (1km apart). Each grid
is 1 square kilometer.

Advantages of UTM a) Square grid provides a constant

distance relationship anywhere on the
map.
b) No negative numbers of east-west
designators. Grid values increase from
left-right and top to bottom.
c) Coordinates are decimal based. No
mins/secs to convert
d) All UTM coordinates measured in
meters.

Disadvantages of UTM a) Full global georeference requires the

zone number, easting and northing.
b) rectangular grid superimposed on
zones defined by meridians cause axes
on adjacent zones to be skewed with
respect to each other.
c) Problems arise in working across zone
boundaries - no simple mathematical
relationship exists between coordinates
of one zone and the adjacent zone.

Military Grid Zone 17T 6[49,3]28mE, 4,9[33,0]88mN =

17T PK 493330

Van der Grinten

Compromise - not equal area or
conformal. NatoGeo 1922-1988
Robinson
Compromise psuedocylindrical - not
equal area or conformal.

Dymaxion Compromise polyhedral - neither equal

area or conformal. Heavily interrupted to
preserve size and shape (intended for use
on entire globe). Made by Buckminster
Fuller.

Winkel-Tripel
Compromise pseudoazimuthal. Aims to
reduce area, direction, distance
distortions. NatGeo 1998 replacing
Robinson

Goode Homolosine
Pseudocylindrical equal-area. Hybrid of
mollweide and sinusodial projections.
Good for thematic world maps.

Hobo-Dyer Equal-area cylindrical map comissioned

by Bob Abramms and Howard Bronstein
and drafted by Mike Dyer.

Great pole compression but less latitude

vertical stretching.

Plate Caree Cylindrical compromise. Meridians are

straight lines equally spaced. Parallels are
horizontal straight lines equally spaced.

Piece Quincuncial Present sphere as a square.

Waterman Butterfly Polyhedral compromise. Unfolded globe

treated as an octahedron.

Gall-Peters Cylindrical equal-area. Area of equal size

on globe are equally sized on the map.
Controversial in 70s and 80s.

Choosing a Projection a) Consider shape, location, and purpose.

b) Thematic maps should use euqal-area
so pheneomena per area are shown in
correct projection (e.g., statistics like
pop'n density)
c) Maps of large areas usually use a
conformal projection

Wide mid-latitude countries (e.g., China) Use Conic

Tall narrow countries (Argentina, Chile) Use transverse cylinder

Country near equator (kenya) cylindrical (least distortion along equator)

Map Scale a) direct ratio between real world

distances and corresponding distances
on a map.
b) relationship of measured distance
between two points on a map and the
measured distance between the same two
points on the ground
c) expression of the relationship between
the size of an image on a map and
corresponding size of the image on the
ground (real world)

Small Scale "zoomed out" maps of large areas.

projection distortions means that scale
ratio will only apply to certain points,
lines , and areas. More generalized.

Large Scale "zoomed in"; approach 1:1; small area

coverage - both distances and direction
on map remain approximately true. Line
features can be more precise and
intricate. Less generalized.

Base Maps NTS and OBM. Show positional

relationship of a variety of topographic
and geographic data and cultural
features. They are deisgned with no
specific user or use in mind.

OBM Scales 1:10,000; 1:20,000; 1:2000

NTS Scales 1:50,000; 1:250,000

3 Methods of Map Scale 1) RF

2) Scale / Word Statement
3) Graphic Scale
RF One unit of measurement on the map
equal to number of same units on the
Earth. Is unitless when expressed as an
RF, no particular units of measurement
are used. Most useful when doing scale
calculations.

1:500 could mean 1cm equals 500 meters

oR

1cm equals 500 yards.

Scale (Word) Statement Verbal scale statement stating in words

the relationship between the map
distance and earth distance using two
units of measurement.

1cm = 4km OR
1 inch = 2000 feet

There are two DIFFERENT units of

measurement used. One would convert
the word statement into an RF to do
calculations. It's an older less used
cumbersome method.

Graphic Scale / Scale Bar Divided into segments showing the

distance on the map labelled with the
Earth distance it represents. Common
practice for an RF to accompany the
graphic scale bar. Subunits of basic
interval are to the left of the zero.
Remains accurate even through map
enlargement or reduction.

Large Scales 1:50,000

1:10,000 - OBM scale
1:200 - architecture map

Medium Scale 1:50,000

1:75,000
1:100,000
1:250,000 (N.Canada)
Small Scale(2) 1:250,000
1:12,000,000
1:100,000,000 (world map)
1:8,000,000 (map of ontario)
1:35,000,000 (national atlas of canada
base map)

Scale Calculation Variables a) Scale

b) Map Distance
c) Ground Distance

If a map has a scale of 1:20,000 an the 1/20,000=4.5cm/Gd

distance between 2 spots is 4.5cm Gd=(4.5)*20,000
Gd=90,000
Gd=900m

Therefore, 4.5cm on the map is equal to a

ground distance of 900 meters.

Scale Change May enlarge a map to show more detail

or reduce physical printer size to fit in a
report or file folder.

50% = 1/2 original size

200% = 2x original size

Cs = Pr/Or * 100
Scale Change = New Product / Original
Scale * 100

MRS Used to measure distances directly from

maps and air photos.

Six different scales:

1:500
1:1000
1:1250
1:1500
1:2000
1:2500
Relative Product Area Ra=(CS)^2. Perception of area is affected
in 2 dimensions when scale changes.

A 1:10,000,000 Canada map reduced to

1:15,000,000 is a change of scale of
66.66%

10m/15m*100 = 66.66

This means the perception of geographic

areas will be 44.44% of the original
image.

Conventional Scales Large: 1:75,000 or larger

Medium: 1,75,000 to 1:100,000
Small: 1:1,000,000 or smaller

Scale Problem of GIS All features are stored with precise

coordinates regardless of the precision of
the original source data - output of
mixing data of differing scale can lead to
erroneous or inaccurate conclusions.

Point A: 125.875,500,379
Point B: 126.000,500.00

Depending on the sale they may look like

a single point or two seperate points (e.g.,
if decimals are ignored they will be
identical)

Effects of Scale Variation Large Scale: Features look large - smaller

ground area per cm/inch of map. More
diversity of features included. Less need
for generalization.

Small Scale: Features look small, larger

ground area per square cm/inch of map.
Less diversity of features. More need to
generalization.

Generalization Smaller scale = more generalization

needed, because amount of space
available to show any given feature
decreases as scale decrease (e.g., when a
map "zooms out" there is more real-life
phenomena but less ability to show it all)
Generalization Methods a) Selection - retention of the more
important features of an area and
elimination of less important ones

b) Simplification of shapes of features

retained

c) Combination of two or more similar

features into a larger feature

d) Locational Shift and Size Exaggeration

- 'cartographic license', exaggerate size
of important feature or shift to get more
space for exaggerated features.

Tofers Radical Law How many features can be retained when

working from larger to smaller scale with
a high degree of probability?

Geodesy Science of measuring and monitoring the

size and shape of Earth (including
gravity). Involves creation of a spatial
references system and understanding of
physical processes

Gravitational Influence of Moon and Sun Surface of Earth rises and falls 30cm
every day

Babylonians Believed Earth was a flat disc in an

endless ocean.

Pythagoreas and Aristotle Reasoned Earth must be a sphere

(observed ships disappering over the
horizon, that the moon appeared
spherical, and that constellations shift
when viewed from opposite ends of the
Mediterranean Sea). By 500 B.C most
scholars knew Earth was a sphere.

Aristotle First person to try and calculate size of

the Earth. Estimated 400,000 stades
(73,225km around equator)
Eratosthenes Measured circumfrence of Earth using
suns rays at Syene located on Tropic of
Cancer on summer solstice. At noon the
sun shone directly to the bottom of the
well with no shadow. At the same time in
Alexandria the sun cast a shadow
equivalent to 1/50th of a circle at the
base of a column. Distance from Syene to
Alexandria was 805km.

50*805 = 40,250km (only 4% off)

Posidonius Measured angles from local plumb lines

to stars near horizon. Measured at same
time from 2 locations the difference could
be used to calculate the circumfrence of
Earth. Calculated 38,600km and widely
accepted until 1500s (Mercator)

Arab & Persians Caliph al-Mamun: his astronomers

calculated Earths circumfrence to be
40,008km

Biruni (Persian) Calculated radius of Earth to be

6339.6km (modern is 6356.7km)

Aryabhatiya Mathematical astronomer esimated

circumfrence of Earth within 1%.

Prolate vs. Oblate. French believed Earth is prolate (egg-

shaped) based on Paris measurements

English believed Earth is oblate (flattened

at poles) based on Newons theory of
gravity and centrifugal force.

2 expeditions (Peru and Sweden/Finland)

determined Newton was right.

Triangulation Used in 18th and 19th century. Determing

fixed point by measuring angles to it from
two other fixed points of a known
distance apart.

End of 19th century - major triangulation

networks covered US, India, GB, Europe.
VLBI Very Long Baseline Interferometry -
collecting data from a single radio source
via worldwide array of radio telescopes.
Relative time-of-arrival signals from that
source to reach each telescope is
analyzed to provide ultra-precise
measurements of Earth and its orientation
in space.

IGS International Global Navigation Satellite

Systems. An active control point for GPS
and conducts international collaboration
projects to observe pulsars and has a
hydrogen master to participate in VLBI.
Since 1960s.

Results of VLBI 1) Motion of tectonic plates

2) Deformation and local uplift
3) Variation in Earths orientation and time
of day

Three Pillars of Modern Geodesy a) Geokinematics

b) Earth rotation
c) Gravity Field

Elements of the Earth System a) Space

b) Solar Wind
c) Atmosphere
c) Hydrosphere
d) Ocean
e) Cryosphere
f) Land
g) Earth Interior

Figure of Earth Nearly spherical - equatorial radius of

6,378km. Because Earth has a very
irregular surface we use a theoretical
mathematical model called the ellipsoid.

Ellipsoid A sphere slightly flattened at the poles

that is completely smooth. It's a
theoretical mathematical surface for
geodesists.

Earth radius Equatorial radius / semi-major axis

Polar Radius Center of Earth to either pole. Semi-minor

axis.
Geoid Earths mass is unevenly distributed -
some areas have more gravitational pulls
causing regions to buldge and dip above
/ below ellipsoid.
Geoid is a 3D along which gravity is a
specified constant OR

Surface to which oceans would conform

over Entire Earth if free to adjust to
combined effect of Earths gravitation and
centrifugal force of Earths rotation.

Surface of Geoid extends across Earth at

MSL across oceans and continues under
continents at a level set by gravity.
Surface is always at right angles to
direction of local gravity and the surface
is a reference against which heights are
measured.

Clarke 1866 Ellipsoid Minimizes deviations in North America

with origin at Meades Ranch, Kansas.
Geodial height at Meades ranch assumed
to be zero.

GRS 80 Ellipsoid Global reference ellipsoid and a gravity

field model. Approved by
Int.Ass.of.Geodesy in 1979.

It's a gloval ellipsoid centered upon

Earth's center of mass.

Local ellipsoids Dropping out of favor in use of global

geocentric ellipsoids
WGS84 Standard for cartography and geodesy
consisting of:

a) Standard coordinate frame

b) Standard spherodial reference surface
(ellipsoid)

It originally used the GRS80 reference

ellipsoid but now adjusted 0.105mm in
polar axis.

Uses Earth Gravitational Model EGM96

equipotential surface (geoid)

Revised in 2004: Uses EPSG:4326.

Longitudes were shifted 100m east from
Greenwich, IERS reference meridian used
as zero. WGS84 equatorial axis is 22lm
longer than polar axis.

Is used by NAVSTAR GPS system

Orthometric Height Height above geoid

Ellipsodial Height Height above ellipsoid

Geodial Height / Geodial Seperation difference between ellipsodial and

orthometric height

COSINE Control Survey Information Exchange

Database - contains horizontal and
vertical geodetic control survey data for
the province of Ontario. Includes sketch
image files giving details on finding
monumented stations.
Vertical Datum Surface of 0 elevation to which heights of
various points are referred. The datum is
the entire system of zero elevation
surface and methods of determing the
heights relative to that surface.

CGVD2013 (Canadian Geodetic Vertical

Datum of 2013) is now availiable and is
the new reference standard for Canadian
heights.

CGVD28 is no longer current stadaard.

NAVD88 is US Standard (North American

Vertical Datum of 1988)

Horizontal Datums Set of parameters defining specifications

of ellipsodial reference surface (e.g.,
shape of the Earth).

Define geometric relationship between a

coordinate system grid and the Earth's
surface. Local datums can be more
accurate than WGS84.

Common North American Datums NAD27

NAD83

NAD27 Associate geographic coordinate system

with Clarke 1866 ellipsoid. Involved
adjustment of latitude and longitude
coordinates of 25,000 geodetic control
points across the USA from inital point of
Meades Ranch Kansas.

Geology maps often presented in NAD27

Until recently most survey computations

and mapping in ontario (OBM) used
NAD27
NAD83 Associates with GRS80. Is a single datum
or control network covering North
America consistently.

Datum origin: Earths center of mass.

Standard for Ontario government

datasets (LIO,OGDE,OLID,OLIW)

Almost all control stations stored in

COSINE database have NAD83
coordinates.

Epochs Datum revision

NAD83 Epochs a) NAD83 (1986)

b) NAD83 (1992)
c) NAD83 (2002)
c) NAD83(CSRS) (1998 Canadian update)

Original NAD83 - WGS84 - now a 1.3m

shift between NAD83 and WGS84.

NAD83(HARN) and NAD83(CORS96) are

American regional updates of 6-8cm
using GPS.

NAD27 and NAD83 Both align coordinate system grids with

ellipsoids, but different ones.

NAD27 = Clarke 1866 ellipsoid

NAD83 = GRS 80 ellipsoid

Since ellipsoids different in shape and

centre point there is a shift in Geographic
coordinate grid when moving from
NAD27 to NAD83.

Approx. 200m difference between

NAD27 and NAD83 in OBM map of
Lindsay area.

NTV2 - Canadian standard for conversion

between NAD27 and NAD83

NADCON - US standard for NAD27 to

NAD83 conversions
Geodetic Suveying Survey in which curvature of the Earth is
taken into account and a higher degree
of accuracy in linear and angular
observations is achieved. Measurements
are made on topographic surface of
Earth, and computations are performed
on the ellipsoid, and in relation to the
geoid.

Coordinates are calculated on the

reference ellipsoid relevant to the local
area.

Projection Any transformation between a curved

reference surface of the Earth and a flat
plane on a map

Steps in the Earth to Map Process 1) Study and estimate geoid

2) Define Earth positions
3) Transform spheroid into a plane (3D to
2D)

Coordinate System Way of representing the location of a

spatial feature

3 parts of a coordinate system 1) units of measurement

2) mathematical model (projection)
3) datum

GCS most commonly used coordinate system.

Is 3D, spherical, has latitude and
longitude.

Parallels of Latitude Called phi. measures angle between point

and equator along meridian. Is 0 degrees
at equator and ranges from -90 (S.Pole)
to +90 (N.Pole).

Small circles are lines connecting all

points of the same latitude (also called
parallels)

Only great circle The equator

Great Circle imaginary circle made on earths surface

by a plane passing through centre of
Earth

small circle imaginary circle made on Earth's surface

by a plane that does not pass through the
centre of Earth
Meridians of Longitude Measures angle on equatorial plane
between meridian of point and central
meridian. From -180(west) to +180(east). Is
0 at Prime Meridian and 180 at IDL.

Arcs of great circles divide the Earth into

2 hemispheres

Earth's Graticule 1) All parallels of latitude are parallel

2) All parallels are equally spaced along
meridians
3) All meridians are equally spaced along
parallels
4) Meridians of longitude are half great
circles and converge at the poles
5) Meridians and parallels intersect at
right angles
6) Quadrilaterals formed by same two
parallels and having same longitudinal
dimensions have same areas.
7) Area scale is uniform and distance
scale is uniform.

Direction Line of constant compass direction =

loxodrome or rhumb line

Great circle Shortest distance on a sphere

Going from 3D to 2D Map projection is a mathematical model

that transforms locations of features on
Earth's three-dimensional surface to
locations on a two-dimensional surface.

Classification of Map Projections 1) Class (cylinder, cone, azimuth)

2) Secancy (tangent, secant)
3) Aspect (Normal, transverse, oblique)
4) Distortion Property (equivalent,
equidistant, conformal)

Developable Surface Geometric shape such as a cone, plane,

cylinder that can be flattened without
distortion.

Conical Minimum distortion east-west direction.

Common for northern latitudes such as
Canada
Lambert Conformal Conic Used on aeronautical charts; MNR uses
when showing map of entire province.
Pilots like it because a straight line drawn
approximates a great-circle route
between endpoints.

Cylindrical Scale factor of 1:1 at equator means no

distortion. No distortion at any point of
contact with standard lines. Mercator is
cylindrical.

Azimuthal Projection based on a flat piece of paper

touching the Earth at a point.

Projection Light Source Projection ellipsoid onto a flat surface -

comes from notion of placing a light
source inside a transparent globe, and
projecting shadow or meridians onto a
sheet of paper placed tangent to the
globe.

Light source at centre of globe Gnomonic

Light source at antipode of point of Stereographic

tangency

Light source an infinite distance from the Orthographic

point of tangency resulting in parallel
rays.

Surface touches horizontal reference Tangent

surface at only one point (plane) or along
a closed line (cylinder,cone)

Intersect horizontal surface along one Secant

closed line(plane) or two closed lines
(cone or cylinder)

Direction of projection planes orientation Aspect

with respect to globe

Main orientation of projection is parallel Normal

to Earths axis

Perpindicular to Earths axis (for n-s Transverse)

alignment)

Non-parallel; non-perpindicular Oblique

SAADD Shapes, area, directions, angles, distances

become distorted when transformed from
a curved surface to a plane.
Types of Distortion a) Distance - lat/long
b) Direciton - angle
c) Scale/shape - area

Distortion/Preservation Types Conformal:

Angles on map = angles between original

lines on globe. Shapes of small areas are
shown correctly. e.g., Mercator and
Lambert Conformal Conic

Equal Area:

Areas on map = areas on globe.

Preserves map area by distorting shape,
angle and scale. e.g., Gall, Mollweide,
Sinusodial

Equidistant:

Length of particular lines on map = length

of original lines on globe. Preserves
distance between certain points.
Sinusodial, Werner, Azimuthal

Choosing a Map Projection 1) Shape of Area

2) Location of area
3) Purpose of Map (is distortion okay?)

Displays accurate compass bearings for Mercator

sea travel. Straight lines drawn represent
actual compass bearings and route of
constant direction between locations is
always a straight lines.

Useful for defining navigation routes for Gnomonic

sea and air travel because great circles
are shown as straight lines

Conformality and equidistance important Topo and large-scale maps

Lambert and Albers Decent for Equal-area thematic maps