Geodetic Datums

— A geodetic datum is a reference from which measurements are

made. In surveying and geodesy, a datum is a set of reference
points on the Earth's surface against which position
measurements are made.
— Horizontal datum are used for describing a point on the earth's
surface, in latitude and longitude or another coordinate system.
Vertical datum is used for measuring the height.
— A reference datum (mathematical model) is a known and
constant surface which is used to describe the location of
unknown points on the earth. Since reference datums can have
different radii and different centre points, a specific point on the
earth can have substantially different coordinates depending on
the datum used to make the measurement.
— There are hundreds of locally-developed reference datums
around the world, usually referenced to some convenient
local reference point.
— For the purpose of measuring the height of objects on land,
the usual datum used is mean sea level (MSL). This is a tidal
datum which is described as the arithmetic mean of the
hourly water elevation taken over a specific 19 years cycle.
 Geodetic Datums
Classical
Horizontal – 2 D Latitude and Longitude
Vertical – 1 D Orthometric Height
Contemporary
Practical – 3 D (Latitude, Longitude and Ellipsoid Height) Fixed and Stable – Coordinates
Scientific
4 D (Latitude, Longitude, Ellipsoid Height, Velocities) – Coordinates change with time
Terrestrial Reference System and Terrestrial
Reference Frame

— TRS is a global Cartesian reference system fixed to the Earth’s

body with its origin at the Earth’s center of mass
— Earth-Centered Earth-Fixed (ECEF)
— The addition of an ellipsoid as a reference surface to the Cartesian
reference system allows the use of geodetic coordinates. The
centre of the ellipsoid coincides with the origin of the system and
the semi-minor axis with the z-axis
— TRF is the realization of a reference system. It usually consists of a
network of monumented geodetic control points with precise
coordinates. Coordinate velocities may also be included for a
dynamic system.
— A TRF is usually a realization of a TRS at a specified epoch in time.
 Points to be Considered for TRF &TRS
— 1- The instantaneous axis of rotation of the Earth is not fixed with respect to the
solid mass of the Earth, but is in a state of continuous motion known as polar
motion, this effect was observed and determined about a hundred years ago.
— 2- As a result the position of the 'north pole', the intersection of the spin axis of
the Earth with the surface of the Earth can move by between 5 to 10 meters per
year.
— 3- It is therefore usual to define coordinates with respect to an internationally
agreed mean axis and not the true or instantaneous spin axis.
— 4- The zero meridian does not pass through a particular point at Greenwich, but
is defined as the mean value of the adopted longitudes of a number of
observatories around the world.
— 5- The International Earth Rotation Services (IERS), based in Paris, has defined
the mean spin axis, the IERS reference pole (IRP) and the zero meridian (the
IERS reference meridian (IRM))
— 6- The Earth is dynamic mainly because of movements of
numerous amount of liquids and gas inside it.
— a- The mass geocenter moves with time (geocentre motion)
— b- All points on the Earth move due to plate tectonics however
the coordinate system orientation is fixed, therefore the points
will have velocities.
— 7- The system that we use is Earth-Centred, Earth-Fixed
reference frame (ECEF). IRP and IRM are fixed, X,Y,Z
Cartesian coordinate axes are fixed.
— 8- Earth orientation varies with time by Polar Motion and
rate of Earth rotation
 Global TRS's and TRF's
— -International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS) and -
International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF)
— -World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84)
— -European Terrestrial Reference System and European
Terrestrial Reference Frame (ETRF)
— The global TRS's and TRF's are designed so that the origin
(centre of ellipsoid) is as close as possible to the Earth's mass
geocenter, The ellipsoid minor axis is parallel to the Earth's axis
of rotation, the ellipsoid is to best fit the Geoid over the whole
Earth and such systems realised by assignment of coordinates to
a number of points on the Earth's surface.
ITRS and ITRF
— The International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS) was
proposed and implemented over two decades ago. It is physically
realized by a global network of a few hundred stations observing
one or multiple fundamental geodetic techniques GNSS.
— The International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF), it provides a
set of stable, accurate and globally consistent coordinates for the
study of earth dynamics at most spatial scales.
— ITRF is a dynamic global reference designed to support all
geodetic and earth science applications and enables the
monitoring of tectonic plate motion.
— ITRF station coordinates will change over time. Therefore, ITRF
coordinates are valid for specific dates (called epochs) and are
accompanied by velocity estimates that reflect station motion
and are useful to propagate coordinates over time
WGS84
— WGS84 is a three-dimensional ECEF reference
system that was originally developed to serve as
the official GPS reference system.
— Unlike ITRF, the WGS84 definition includes the
parameters of a reference ellipsoid supporting
both Cartesian and ellipsoidal coordinate
representations
— WGS84 has been updated several times since and
has now been aligned to ITRF with centimetre
level accuracy. The latest version called G1762 (G
stands for GPS and 1762 is GPS week number)
was introduced on October 16, 2013
the following photo shows the
ITRF2000 stations:
 NAD 83 and ITRF

NAD 83
ITRF

Earth Mass 2.2 m (3-D)

Center dX,dY,dZ

GEOID
ITRS and ITRF
— The origin of the International Terrestrial Reference System
(ITRS) is defined as the centre of mass of the Earth.
— In order to realize the origin for a TRF it is essential to analyse
the contribution of the different space techniques .
— This is important to detect orbit errors. Incorrect realisations of
the origin cause common errors in the station coordinates of the
entire network. Reversely common variations of the station
coordinates may be transformed into changes of the origin.
— ITRF is realised almost annually by the coordinates of space
geodetic stations around the world.
— By realisation of ITRF, absolute accuracy of few centimetres is
achieved provided that the station coordinates are not fixed in
time, but have velocities.
Basic Idea of ITRF
— • Combination of station coordinates (and velocities)
provided by IERS Analysis Centres using observations from
five space geodetic techniques
— • VLBI Very-long-baseline interferometry
— • LLR Lunar Laser Ranging
— • SLR Satellite Laser Ranging
— • GPS Global Positioning System
— • DORIS Doppler Orbitography and Radio-
positioning Integrated by Satellite
— The global network shape is defined such that
— SLR defines the geo-center,
— VLBI defines the scale and
— SLR/VLBI define the orientation.
— In addition, the realisation of the reference frame is performed
by the space geodetic techniques.
ITRF2000 Quality Summary
— Coordinate and Velocity 3D-WRMS
— • (mm) (mm/yr)
— • VLBI 2 to 3 1
— • LLR 50 5
— • SLR 2 to 14 1 to 5
— • GPS 2 to 5 1 to 2
— • DORIS 25 to 30 4 to 5
— • Multi-technique 6 to 9 2
— • GPS densification 1 to 8 1 to 4
Space Geodetic Techniques
general background

The horizontal and vertical geodetic datums are conventionally established and
maintained through the triangulation-trilateration and levelling networks,
respectively.
With the advent of new observation techniques used in space geodesy, such as
Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), Very Long Baseline
Interferometry (VLBI), and Global Positioning System (GPS), it has become
possible to easily connect geodetic points and provide enough information to
accurately determine their three-dimensional coordinates (X,Y,Z) in one well-
defined reference frame
— VLBI Very-long-baseline interferometry
— • LLR Lunar Laser Ranging
— • SLR Satellite Laser Ranging
— • GPS Global Positioning System
— • DORIS Doppler Orbitography and Radio-
positioning Integrated by Satellite
GPS segments
— Satellites
— Ground stations
— Users
GPS constellation
— 24+ satellites (32)
— 12 hour orbital period
— Inclination 55°
— 6 orbital planes
— 20200 km above the earth
The concept
 SLR
— The SLR System is an instrument that forms part of a global network of
stations measuring the orbital paths of geodetic satellites
— SLR transmits short laser pulses to geodetic satellites orbiting the Earth
as they pass through the SLR Station field of view, these pulses are then
reflected back from the satellites to the SLR System for Time Of Flight
(TOF) measurements
— TOF measurements are used to compute instantaneous range
measurements to satellites with sub centimetre accuracy
— Planetary Geodynamics supporting the International terrestrial reference
frame (ITRF), scientific studies of the Earth its atmosphere and the
oceans
— Precise orbit determination like GPS and GLONASS. Earth rotation
parameters and gravity field determination
Since 1964, NASA/GSFC has
ranged with lasers to
spacecraft
equipped with retroreflectors
– Over 60 artificial satellites
beginning with Beacon
Explorer
22B in 1964

LAGEOS
426 corner retro-
reflectors
60cm diameter
407 kg
LLR
— The LLR is a geodetic instrument capable of measuring the
distance between our Planet Earth and the Moon with a high
degree of accuracy
— High energy laser pulses are transmitted to the Lunar surface
and reflected back to the LLR Observatory (Earth Station)
from the retroreflector placed on the Moon during the
Apollo Space Missions to measure the Time of Flight (TOF)
— The LLR measures the Time Of Flight (TOF) of very short
laser pulses travelling from the station to the Moon and back.
— LUNAR science, geodynamics, gravitational physics ,
astronomy
 VLBI
— The VLBI System is a radio telescope (Astronomical Interferometry
Instrument) that allows for image observation of distant cosmic radio
sources
— When the VLBI data is correlated with data collected from other Radio
Telescopes simultaneously recorded they produce an image size of equal
to the maximum separation between the telescopes
— VLBI Systems have very accurate timing systems typically hydrogen
maser clocks to facilitate accurate measurements of the time differences
between the arrival of cosmic radio sources (phase angle of the radio
waves) at the separate observatories
— Used for establishment of global reference frames like ITRF, connection
of geodetic networks, tectonic plate motion models and earth rotation
parameters
VLBI Stations
DORIS
— Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by
Satellite (DORIS) is a French satellite system used for the determination
of satellite orbits
— Ground-based radio beacons emit a signal which is picked up by receiving
satellites. A frequency shift of the signal occurs that is caused by the movement
of the satellite (Doppler effect). From this observation: satellite orbits, ground
positions, as well as other parameters can be derived.
— The ground segment consists of about 50-60 stations, equally distributed over
the earth and ensure a good coverage for orbit determination. For the
installation of a beacon only electricity is required because the station only
emits a signal but does not receive any information. DORIS beacons transmit to
the satellites on two UHF frequencies, 401.25 MHz and 2036.25 MHz.
— Apart from orbit determination, the DORIS observations are used for
positioning of ground stations. The accuracy is a bit lower than with GPS, but it
still contributes to the ITRF
— Also it is used to observe the ocean surface as well as currents or wave heights
 Iraqi datum
— Nahrwan 1934
— Ellipsoid: Clarke 1880 (RGS)
— Prime meridian: Greenwich
— Scope: Oil exploration and production.
— Remarks:This adjustment later discovered to have a
significant orientation error. In Iran replaced by FD58. In
Iraq, replaced by Karbala 1979.
— Area of use: Iraq - onshore; Iran - onshore northern Gulf
coast and west bordering southeast Iraq.
Fao 1979 height
— Geodetic CRS: Fao 1979 height
— Datum: Fao 1979
— Prime meridian: Greenwich
— Information source: Survey Department, Ministry of Water
Resources (MoWR).
— Scope: Geodetic and engineering surveying.
Karbala 1979
— Ellipsoid: Clarke 1880 (RGS)
— Prime meridian: Greenwich
— Degree from Greenwich: 0
— Scope: Geodetic survey.
— Remarks: National geodetic network established by
Polservice consortium.
— Area of use: Iraq - onshore.
Iraq National Grid
— Karbala 1979
— IKBD-92
— Ellipsoid:WGS 84
— Scope: International boundary demarcation
IGRS
— Iraqi Geospatial Reference System
— Established by Both USA and UK army special units
— The aim was to establish set of HARN (high accuracy reference network) with
sub-centimetre accuracy to be used as reference control points for surveying
applications.
— The points distributed at secured locations at about 50km distance across Iraq
— Some of these HARN points are CORS stations which has permanent antenna
and measurement system which broadcasts real time corrections and log the
data 24/7 which can be downloaded from internet anytime.
— proposed 300 HARN Sites, and 6 CORS sites.
— The sites were handed to the Ministry of Water Resources of Iraq