1What are the major branches of geodesy?
Geometrical geodesy, Physical geodesy, Satellite geodesy, Geodetic astronomy
2What does geometrical geodesy study?
The 3D geometrical elements of the Earth’s ellipsoidal model and the location of points relative to it
3Who introduced the least squares method used in geodesy?
A.M. Legendre in 1806 (later improved by C.F. Gauss)
4What important contribution did Gauss make to geodesy?
Proposed the solution to spheroidal triangles and the conformal projection (Gauss projection)
5Who proposed the “area method” for determining ellipsoid parameters?
F.R. Helmert
6What does physical geodesy study?
Earth’s gravity field, distribution of mass, equipotential surfaces, and the geoid
7Who developed Stokes’ theorem (1849) to study the geoid?
Sir G.G. Stokes
8Who advanced the Molodensky theorem (1945)?
Mikhail Sergeevich Molodensky
9What did the Molodensky theorem enable?
Direct calculation of geodetic heights from gravimetric results without using the geoid
10What does satellite geodesy study?
The trajectory of artificial satellites and processing of signals to determine location and movement
11When did satellite geodesy begin to emerge?
After the launch of the first artificial satellite in 1957
12What major advancement did satellite geodesy allow?
Precise measurement of Earth’s shape, gravity field, and establishment of the global geodetic coordinate system
13What modern technique allows high-accuracy positioning worldwide?
GPS (Global Positioning System)
14What is geodetic astronomy used for?
Computing positions and directions on Earth using observations of stars
15Why is geodetic astronomy less relevant today?
It has largely been replaced by GNSS and satellite geodesy