Wallaga University

By: Bira-anu T.(MSc. in Geoinformatics) 1

 o 3.1 Terrestrial Triangulateration o 3.3.2 Satellite Laser Ranging

o 3.1.1 Angle Measurement o 3.3.3 Very Long Baseline

Interferometry
o 3.1.2 Distance Measurement
o 3.3.4 Satellite Altimetry
o 3.1.3 Astronomical
Measurement o 3.4 Gravimetry

o 3.2 Height Measurement o 3.4.1 Absolute Gravimetry

o 3.2.1 Leveling o 3.4.2 Relative Gravimetry

o 3.2.2 Trigonometric Leveling o 3.4.3 Airborne Gravimetry

o 3.3 Space Geodetic Surveying o 3.4.4 Satellite Gravimetry

o 3.3.1 GPS Surveying

Tuesday, February
By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU! 28, 2023
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 ❖ Horizontal and vertical angle measurements is very important to establishing
national geodetic control networks.
❖ The theodolite is an instrument for measuring angles with specific observational
methods.
➢ Horizontal Angle:
▪ A, P1, and P2 are three geodetic control points
on the Earth’s surface.
▪ Let A be the point of observation and P1 and
P2 be the target points.

▪ The angle β between Aq1 and Aq2 is known as

the horizontal angle to P1 and P2 from A.
▪ Is measured clockwise in the horizontal plane
from 0 to 360.
Tuesday, February 28, 2023
By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU!
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▪ Is the angle between the line of sight, which is the collimation axis of the
telescope, and its corresponding horizontal, which includes the angle of elevation
and angle of depression.

▪ The angle between the line of sight AP1 and its

horizontal Aq1 is called the to the
sighted point P1 from A, denoted by α1.

▪ Likewise, the angle between the line of sight AP2

and its horizontal line Aq2 is referred to as the
vertical angle(α2) to the sighted point P2 from A.

▪ Is measured in the vertical plane from 0 to 90

degrees.
✓ positive above and negative below the horizontal.

By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU! Tuesday, February

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▪ The angles Z1 and Z2 between the plumb line AV and the lines of sight AP1 &
AP2 are called the zenith distances from point A to the sighted points P1 & P2.

▪ The sum of the and the zenith distance of a target is 90 degrees,

▪ For hundreds of years, graduated tapes (measuring ropes, tape measures, and
steel tapes) have been used to measure distance by means of direct comparison.

▪ In the 1940s a new type of distance measuring instrument came into being—
the optical-EDM instrument.
▪ Later, microwave, laser, and infrared EDM instruments emerged one after
another.
▪ Even today, the total station electronic tacheometer that integrates angle and
distance measurements is still available.
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 Method of Distance Measurement by Pulse (Pulse Method)

• The distance D to the target is attainable if we directly measure the travel
time t between the transmitted pulse (dominant wave) and the reflected pulse
(echo) from the target.
• Measuring accuracy is centimeter level
 Method of Distance Measurement by Phase (Phase Difference Method)
• We can directly measure the phase difference between the transmitted signal
and the echo to get the travel time.
• Measuring accuracy level is in millimeter

 Method of Distance Measurement by Interference (Interferometric

Method)
• Adopts the physical principle of optical interference.
• Its precision generally reaches micrometer levels. Tuesday,
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➢ Microwave EDM Instrument

• The carrier wavelength ranges from 8 mm to 10 cm in the microwave band.

➢ Laser EDM Instrument

• The carrier is usually red visible light of 0.6328 μm wavelength.
• it is stimulated emission of radiation (i.e., laser emission).

➢ Infrared EDM Instrument

• The carrier wavelength usually ranges from 0.75 to 0.95 μm .
• it is stimulated emission of radiation (i.e., laser emission) or spontaneous radiation
(fluorescent light).

Tuesday, February 28,

2023
7 By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU!
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▪ Astronomical observation is a technique utilized to determine the

position of a point on the Earth’s surface.

▪ Astronomical observation is an ancient technology dating back to the

era when human culture first took shape.

▪ To figure out direction and determine time and season,

• the sundial and gnomon were invented successively and Polaris was used for
determining North.

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❑ Definition of Astronomical Coordinate System:

❖ The astronomical longitude, latitude, and azimuth of a surface
point obtained with reference to its plumb line.
• The geoid are the representations of the surface point in the astronomical
coordinate system.

➢ Astronomical Longitude:
▪ is measured eastward or westward from the initial meridian and
ranges from 0 to 180 degrees.
• East longitude is positive and west longitude is negative.
➢ Astronomical Latitude:
▪ is measured northward or southward from the equator to the poles
and ranges from 0 to 90 degrees.
• North latitude is positive and south latitude is negative.

9 By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU! Tuesday, February 28, 2023

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➢ Astronomical Azimuth:
▪ Its value is in the horizontal plane of the point of observation, measured from
due north of the meridian clockwise from 0 to 360 degrees.

▪ Initial meridian is the intersection of the plane containing the meridian of 0

longitude with the Earth’s surface.

❖Traditional Methods for Astronomical Observation

• Wild T4 theodolite
✓ Talcott’s method: determine first-order astronomical latitude.
✓ Zinger’s method: determine the first-order astronomical longitude.

• A 60 astrolabe (composed of T3 and 60 prisms)

✓ Determine the astronomical longitude and latitude of the second, third,
and higher orders using the method of equal altitudes of multiple stars.

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By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU!
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➢ New Methods for Astronomical Measurement:

▪ Primarily employ the GNSS OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) board with
time transfer service to receive satellite signals.

▪ Electronic theodolites are adopted for observation instead of optical theodolites.

▪ Portable computers with advanced programming are used to replace the

chronometer and timepiece for time comparison and timekeeping.

▪ The autonomous recording and calculation of the observational data are also
enabled.

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By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU!
28, 2023
 ▪ Is a method used for accurate determination of height difference between two
points.
▪ The basic principle of leveling is that a
precisely graduated staff is held vertically
over the two points whose height difference
is to be determined and then the scale
readings are made with the horizontal line
of sight.

▪ The difference between the two readings

will be the height difference between the
two points.

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By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU! February 28,
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➢ The height difference hAB between A and ▪ A and B are two surface points with
unknown height difference.
B is:
hAB = a - b: ▪ Leveling rods (leveling staffs) R1 and R2
➢ Knowing the height HA of point A: are held vertically on each point while a
HB = HA + hAB level is placed at point S1 in between
these two points.
➢ Likewise, the difference in height
between A and P is:
hAP = hAB + hBC +....

➢ The height of point P is:

HP = HA + hAP

❑ Such a method of transferring “a” (known as the backsight reading)

“b” (known as the foresight reading).
heights is referred to as geometric
leveling.
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❑
▪ is a method for determining the difference in height between two ground
control points by using the distance and vertical angle observed between the
two points and then transferring the heights of ground control points.

▪ Compared with geometric leveling,

trigonometric leveling is much simpler
and more flexible.

Tuesday, February 28,

14 2023
By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU!
 Space Geodetic Surveying

❑ GNSS Surveying:
o Structure of GNSS: Space, control and user segment

▪ is a new space geodetic technique that determines the distance between laser
station and a satellite using the laser ranger to trace and observe the satellites
installed with laser reflectors.
✓ Mid-1960s BE-C satellite.
✓ 1976 a laser geodynamic satellite LAGEOS-1(by NASA);
✓ 1992 LAGEOS-2( by America and Italy) to expand observation range of SLR.
✓ Meanwhile, France, the former Soviet Union, Japan, and Germany successively
launched their SLR satellites.
✓ During its development over more than 40 years, the SLR system has improved from
1 m to the present 1 cm in distance accuracy.
▪ The SLR system consists of two main segments, a laser ranger on the ground
and a laser satellite in space.
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❑ Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI)

o Is a radio interferometric observation technique that can combine two radio
telescopes thousands of kilometers apart into a radio interferometry system with
very high resolution.
o Since the line between the two telescopes is known as the baseline.
o Due to its resolution, widely applied in many fields like:
▪ Astronomy
▪ Geophysics
▪ Geodesy, and
▪ Space technology for applications such as radio astronomy, accurate determination of
the Earth’s rotation parameters, crustal deformation detection, exploration of deep
space and the ionosphere, etc.

o The VLBI system, contains antennae, receivers, local oscillators, samplers,

recording devices, related processors, and other units.

Tuesday,
By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU!
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▪ Appeared in 1980s with the application and development of computer

technology, space technology, satellite telemetry, and remote sensing
technology.

▪ Employs microwave radar altimeters installed in satellites, radiometers,

synthetic aperture radar, and other equipment:
• to measure:
✓ in real time the distance from a satellite to the ocean’s surface
✓ the effective wave height, and
✓ the backscattering coefficients, and
• to carry out research in geodesy, geophysics, and oceanography through
data processing and analysis.

▪ SA plays an important role in establishing an Earth gravity field model with

high accuracy and high resolution.
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To computing distance of
satellite altimetry from satellite
orbit to water bodies:

Tuesday,
19 By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU! February 28,
2023
 o is a technique utilized to determine the gravity value (actually,
gravitational acceleration) at a defined geometric point.
o There are two methods for absolute gravity measurement:
▪ Using free-fall motion of bodies(dominant method).

▪ Using a reversible pendulum( method).

Tuesday,
20 By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU! February 28,
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➢ Free-Fall Method
o To avoid determining V0 and l0, it is necessary to measure from at
least three positions.
o Assume at time t1, t2, and t3 that the distances of the falling
body from the point O are l1, l2, and l3, respectively.
o Each distance computes:

where L1 =l2- l1 and

L2 =l3- l1
T1 = t2- t1 and T2 = t3-t1

o To eliminate V0, the L1 and L2 equations are divided by T1 and

T2, respectively, and the two results subtracted from each other:

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21 By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU! February 28,
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➢ Rise-and-Fall Method

▪ To obtain the gravitational acceleration g, it is necessary to label

two positions S1 and S2 in its course of motion.

▪ The time intervals T1 and T2 of the falling body past each position
are determined.

▪ Finally gravity equation using rise and fall method:

By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU! Tuesday,

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▪ Is a technique used to determine the gravity difference between two points.

✓ To determine the gravity value of each point, at least one point's gravity value must be
known.
▪ The static method of relative gravimetry is to use a
kind of force (such as the spring force) to work
against the force of gravity that is acting on the
object and balance the gravitational pull.

▪ By changing gravity, the location of the equilibrium

position (location of the spring) is also changed.

▪ As long as the change of the equilibrium position (the

amplitude of the spring) is determined, the variation
in gravity can be calculated (according to Hooke’s
Law).
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23 By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU! February 28,
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▪ Is a method employed to determine the near-Earth gravitational acceleration

using an integrated airborne gravity remote sensing system, which consists of an
aircraft as carrier, airborne gravimeter, GPS, altimeter, and attitude
determination devices, etc.
▪ consists of five systems:
• Gravity Sensor System: comprises airborne gravimeter and platform.
• Dynamic Positioning System: provide data of initial orbit and precise location

• Attitude Sensor System: The flight attitude of the aircraft is usually referred to as
“pitch, roll, and yaw” and is determined by inertia measuring instruments.

• Altitude Sensor System: provide data on height for computing the Eotvos correction.
• Data Collection and Processing System: includes airborne data collection devices
and ground data processing devices.
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❑ Satellite Gravimetry

▪ The features of satellite gravimetry chiefly include the ground tracking satellite,
satellite-to-satellite tracking (SST), satellite gravity gradiometry (SGG), and
satellite altimetry (SA).

• Earth’s gravity field can be determined using techniques such as satellite laser ranging (SLR),
Doppler Orbitography and radio positioning integrated by satellite (DORIS), and precise
range and range-rate equipment (PRARE).

➢ Determining the Earth’s Gravity Field by Means of Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking

• The technologies of SST can be sorted into two modes:

✓ high–low satellite-to satellite tracking (SST-hl) and
✓ low–low satellite-to-satellite tracking (SST-ll).

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❑ Determining the Gravitational Acceleration Differences in the Earth’s Gravity Field by

Satellite Gravity Gradiometry

• Satellite gravity gradiometry (SGG) allows determination of the differences in

gravitational acceleration in three mutually orthogonal directions by using the
differential accelerometer on one or more fixed baselines (about 70 cm) inside the
satellite.
• The signals observed indicate gradients of the gravitational acceleration component,
i.e., the second derivative of the gravitational potential.

• Non-gravitational accelerations (e.g., air resistance), in the same way, exert some
effects on all the accelerometers inside the satellite, and the difference can be removed
perfectly when differentiating.

• One of the missions of SGG is to detect the Earth’s gravity field and its variations with
higher temporal and spatial resolution.
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 Thank you!!

Tuesday,
31 By: Bira-anu Tadesa @WU! February 28,
2023