Geomatics for Air

Navigation
C03:

Figure of the Earth.

Sphere. Ellipsoid. Geoid.
Altitude systems. Deflection of the vertical.

Eng. Tiberius TOMOIAG, PhD

Phone: 0722.91.46.22
Email: t_tibis@yahoo.com

LOGO

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction
Earth's Dimensions

Circumference at Equator 40,074 km

Circumference at Poles 40,007 km
Diameter at Equator 12,756 km
Diameter at Poles 12,714 km
Total Surface Area 510 million km2
Land Surface Area 149 million km2
Percentage Surface Area that is Land
29%
Percentage Surface Area that is Water
71%

Size of the eight planets

Jupiter (69,911 km / 43,441 miles) 1,120% the size of

Earth
Saturn (58,232 km / 36,184 miles) 945% the size of
Earth
Uranus (25,362 km / 15,759 miles) 400% the size of
Earth
Neptune (24,622 km / 15,299 miles) 388% the size of
Earth
Earth (6,371 km / 3,959 miles)
Venus (6,052 km / 3,761 miles) 95% the size of Earth
Mars (3,390 km / 2,460 miles) 53% the size of Earth
Mercury (2,440 km / 1,516 miles) 38% the size of Earth

Planets vs. Sun

Mercury
Closest: 46 million km / 29 million miles (.307 AU)
Furthest: 70 million km / 43 million miles (.466 AU)
Average: 57 million km / 35 million miles (.387 AU)
Closest to Mercury from Earth: 77.3 million km / 48
million miles

Venus
Closest: 107 million km / 66 million miles (.718 AU)
Furthest: 109 million km / 68 million miles (.728 AU)
Average: 108 million km / 67 million miles (.722 AU)
Closest to Venus from Earth: 40 million km / 25 million
miles

Planets vs. Sun

Earth
Closest: 147 million km / 91 million miles (.98 AU)
Furthest: 152 million km / 94 million miles (1.1 AU)
Average: 150 million km / 93 million miles (1 AU)

Mars
Closest: 205 million km / 127 million miles (1.38 AU)
Furthest: 249 million km / 155 million miles (1.66 AU)
Average: 228 million km / 142 million miles (1.52 AU)
Closest to Mars from Earth: 55 million km / 34 million
miles

Planets vs. Sun

Jupiter
Closest: 741 million km /460 million miles (4.95 AU)
Furthest: 817 million km / 508 million miles (5.46 AU)
Average: 779 million km / 484 million miles (5.20 AU)
Closest to Jupiter from Earth: 588 million km / 346 million
miles

Saturn
Closest: 1.35 billion km / 839 million miles (9.05 AU)
Furthest: 1.51 billion km / 938 million miles (10.12 AU)
Average: 1.43 billion km / 889 million miles (9.58 AU)
Closest to Saturn from Earth: 1.2 billion km /746 million
miles

Planets vs. Sun

Uranus
Closest: 2.75 billion km / 1.71 billion miles (18.4 AU)
Furthest: 3.00 billion km / 1.86 billion miles (20.1 AU)
Average: 2.88 billion km / 1.79 billion miles (19.2 AU)
Closest to Uranus from Earth: 2.57 billion km / 1.6 billion
miles

Neptune
Closest: 4.45 billion km /2.77 billion miles (29.8 AU)
Furthest: 4.55 billion km / 2.83 billion miles (30.4 AU)
Average: 4.50 billion km / 2.8 billion miles (30.1 AU)
Closest to Neptune from Earth: 4.3 billion km / 2.7 billion
miles

Planets vs. Sun

Pluto
Closest: 4.44 billion km / 2.76 billion miles (29.7 AU)
Furthest: 7.38 billion km / 4.59 billion miles (49.3 AU)
Average: 5.91 billion km / 3.67 billion miles (39.5 AU)
Closest to Pluto from Earth: 4.28 billion km / 2.66 billion
miles

Planets sizes
Movie

Factors that Affect

Earth's Shape

Factors that Affect

Earth's Shape

The Figure of the Earth

Through a long history, the "figure of the
earth" was refined from flat-earth models
to spherical models of sufficient accuracy
to allow global exploration, navigation and
mapping.

The Figure of the Earth

In the history, 4 figures were used to
model the Earths shape :

the plane
the sphere
the ellipsoide
the geoid

The Figure of the Earth

Flat Earth models are still used for plane
surveying, over distances short enough so
that earth curvature is insignificant (less
than 10 kms).

The Figure of the Earth

Spherical Earth models represent the
shape of the earth with a sphere of a
specified radius.
Spherical earth models are often used for short
range navigation (VOR-DME) and for global
distance approximations.
Spherical models fail to model the actual shape of
the earth.
The slight flattening of the earth at the poles
results in about a twenty kilometer difference at the
poles between an average spherical radius and
the measured polar radius of the earth.

Sphere

The Figure of the Earth

Ellipsoidal Earth models are required for
accurate range and bearing calculations
over long distances.
Loran-C, and GPS navigation receivers use
ellipsoidal earth models to compute position and
waypoint information.
Ellipsoidal models define an ellipsoid with an
equatorial radius and a polar radius.
The best of these models can represent the shape
of the earth over the smoothed, averaged seasurface to within about one-hundred meters.

Ellipsoid

Ellipsoid
An ellipsoid is defined by either the
semimajor axis, a, and the semiminor axis,
b, or by a and the flattening. The
flattening is the difference in length
between the two axes expressed as a
fraction or a decimal.

The flattening, f, is:

Ellipsoid
Another quantity, that, like the flattening,
describes the shape of a spheroid, is the
square of the eccentricity, e2.

It is represented by:

Ellipsoids
Reference Ellipsoid

ID
Code

Semi-Major
Axis a

Semi-Minor
Axis b

Flattening
f

Airy (1930)

AA

6377563.396

6356256.9090

1/299.3249646

Australian National

AN

6378160

6356774.7190

1/298.25

Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea

BR

6377397.155

6356078.9630

1/299.1528128

Namibia

BN

6377483.865

6356165.383

1/299.1528128

Clarke 1866

CC

6378206.4

6356583.800

1/294.9786982

Clarke 1880

CD

6378249.145

6356514.870

1/293.465

Brunei & E. Malasia (Sabah & Sarawak)

EB

6377298.556

6356097.550

1/300.8017

India 1830

EA

6377276.345

6356075.413

1/300.8017

India 1956*

EC

6377301.243

6356100.228

1/300.8017

Pakistan*

EF

6377309.613

6356109.571

1/300.8017

W. Malasia and Singapore 1948

EE

6377304.063

6356103.039

1/300.8017

W. Malasia 1969*

ED

6377295.664

6356094.668

1/300.8017

Bessel 1841

Everest

Ellipsoids
Reference Ellipsoid

ID
Code

Semi-Major
Axis a

Semi-Minor
Axis b

Flattening
f

Geodetic Reference System 1980 (GRS 80)

RF

6378137

6356752.3141

1/298.257222101

Helmert 1906

HE

6378200

6356818.170

1/298.3

Hough 1960

HO

6378270

6356794.343

1/297

Indonesian 1974

ID

6378160

6356774.504

1/298.247

International 1924

IN

6378388

6356911.946

1/297

Krassovsky 1940

KA

6378245

6356863.019

1/298.3

Modified Airy

AM

6377340.189

6356034.4480

1/299.3249646

Modified Fischer 1960 (South Asia)

FA

6378155

6356773.320

1/298.3

South American 1969

SA

6378160

6356774.719

1/298.25

World Geodetic System 1972 (WGS 72)

WD

6378135

6356750.520

1/298.26

World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 84)

WE

6378137

6356752.3142

1/298.257223563

Ellipsoid
Offers

the
best
mathematical
approximation of the Earth

Simple geometrical surface

Cannot be sensed by instruments

Ellipsoid

Earth Surfaces
Today three Earth surfaces are very
important:
Topographic surface
Ellipsoid surface
Geoid surface

Earth Surfaces
Topographic and sea-level models attempt
to model the physical variations of the
surface, while gravity models and geoids
are used to represent local variations in
gravity that change the local definition of a
level surface.
The topographical surface of the earth is
the actual surface of the land and sea at
some moment in time. Aircraft navigators
have a special interest in maintaining a
positive height vector above this surface.

Geoid
Geoid, from the Greek for "Earth-shaped",
is the common definition of our world's
shape.

The equipotential surface of the Earth's

gravity field which best fits, in a least
squares sense, global mean sea level.

Geoid
Limitations:
It has no complete mathematical expression.
Small variations in surface shape over time
introduce small errors in measurement.
The irregularity
necessitate
a
computations.

of the surface would

prohibitive
amount
of

Geoid
Basic computational formula:

Geoid - global

Geoid - global

Geoid - global

Geoid - global
EGM96
30x30 resolution
50 cm RMS accuracy
70 x 70 error

propagation
40 satellites used
for long s
30 M surface gravity
values
29 elevation codes
130 K coefficients

EGM06
5x5 resolution
15 cm RMS accuracy
2160 x 2160 error

propagation
CHAMP and GRACE
used for long s
52 M surface gravity
values
SRTM, ICESAT
4.7 M coefficients

Geoid - local

Geoid relationships

=
h H+N

Geoid relationships

Geoid relationships

Altitude systems

Orthometric
Normal
Normal - orthometric
Ellipsoidal no physical meaning

Altitude systems

geoid

ellipsoid

European altitude
systems and references

42

Altitude

Altitude

Altitude types
Indicated altitude -- what the altimeter says
Absolute altitude -- altitude in terms of the

distance above the ground directly below it

True altitude -- altitude in terms of elevation
above sea level
Height -- altitude in terms of the distance above
a certain point
Pressure altitude -- altitude in terms of the air
pressure
Density altitude -- altitude in terms of the density
of the air

Altitude regions
Troposphere surface to 8000 m / 5 miles at

poles 18,000 m / 11 miles at equator, ending

at the Tropopause.
Stratosphere Troposphere to 50 km /31
miles
Mesosphere Stratosphere to 85 km /53 miles
Thermosphere Mesosphere to 675 km / 420
miles
Exosphere Thermosphere to 10,000 km
/6200 miles

Deflection of the vertical

Deflection of the vertical

The deflection of the vertical is typically
given as north/south and east/west
components in seconds of arc, denoting
the slope of the geoid with respect to the
ellipsoid.

The deflection-of-the-vertical components

are:
North/south: xi =
East/west: eta =

Deflection of the vertical

The relationships between astronomical
latitude, longitude, and azimuth and
geodetic latitude, longitude, and azimuth
are:
=-
= - /cos
= - tan

latitude
longitude
azimuth

where
= geodetic latitude
= geodetic longitude
= geodetic azimuth

= astronomical latitude
= astronomical longitude
= astronomical azimuth

Deflection of the vertical

Components of the deflection of the
vertical on geoid:

?? Questions ??