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Geodesy

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An old geodetic pillar (1855) at Ostend, Belgium
A Munich archive with lithography plates of maps of Bavaria

Geodesy, sometimes called geodetics, is a scientific branch of geography which accurately measures the surface of the Earth.

Geodesy
Fundamentals
Geodesy · Geodynamics
Geomatics · Cartography
Concepts
Datum · Distance · Geoid
Figure of the Earth
Geodetic system
Geog. coord. system
Hor. pos. representation
Map projection
Reference ellipsoid
Satellite geodesy
Spatial reference system
Technologies
GNSS · GPS · GLONASS
Standards
ED50 · ETRS89 · NAD83
NAVD88 · SAD69 · SRID
UTM · WGS84
History
History of geodesy
NAVD29

Friedrich Robert Helmert (1843–1917), who started the discipline, talked about measuring and mapping the surface of the earth. This includes its geometric description (the geoid) and the measurement and description of its gravitational field.

Some people involved in the discipline look at geodynamics, the crusts, the tides, or the movement of the geographical poles.