Route Height Connection Across the Sea by Using the Vertical Deflections and Ellipsoidal Height Data

Distance between the main land and island is so long that it is very difficult to precisely connect the height datum across the sea with the traditional method like the trigonometric leveling, or it is very expensive and takes long time to implement the height transfer with the geopotential technique. We combine the data of GPS surveying, astro-geodesy and EGM2008 to precisely connect the orthometric height across the sea with the improved astronomical leveling method in the paper. The Qiongzhou Strait is selected as the test area for the height connection over the sea. We precisely determine the geodetic latitudes, longitudes, heights and deflections of the vertical for four points on both sides across the strait. Modeled deflections of the vertical along the height connecting routes over the sea are determined with EGM2008 model based on the geodetic positions and heights of the sea segmentation points from DNSC08MSS model. Differences of the measured and modeled deflections of the vertical are calculated at four points on both sides and linearly change along the route. So the deflections of the vertical along the route over the sea can be improved by the linear interpolation model. The results are also in accord with those of trigonometirc levelings. The practical case shows that we can precisely connect the orthometric height across the Qiongzhou Strait to satisfy the requirement of order 3 leveling network of China. The method is very efficient to precisely connect the height datum across the sea along the route up to 80 km.

Comparison of Different Height Systems

Geopotential, dynamic, orthometric and normal height systems and the corrections related to these systems are evaluated in this paper. Along two different routes, with a length of about 5 kilometers, precise leveling and gravity measurements are done. One of the routes is in an even field while the other is in a rough field. The magnitudes of orthometric, normal and dynamic corrections are calculated for each route. Orthometric, dynamic, and normal height differences are acquired by adding the corrections to the height differences obtained from geometric leveling. The magnitudes of the corrections between the two routes are compared. In addition, by subtracting orthometric, dynamic, and normal heights from geometric leveling, deviations of these heights from geometric leveling are counted.

Local Geoid Model Generation Using the Geometrical Approach

The global navigation satellite systems(GNSS)provide an accurate three-dimensional positioning including the geodetic(ellipsoidal)height(h),which is,in most cases,must be transformed to the local/regional orthometric height(H)to have physically the desired meaning of the elevation above the national vertical datum(e.g.,MSL(Mean Sea Level)).Usually,the local orthometric heights are determined based on the value of geoid undulation(N),which is obtained by methods of gravimetrical observations or derived by methods of interpolation utilizing the local geoid models(LGM).The current paper highlights one of the methods of generating LGM that is based on the geometrical relationship between the global datum WGS84 and the Iraqi datum Karbala 1979.The DGPS(Differential GPS)method is used to get the geodetic coordinates of about 97 selected points to cover the experimental area,within the boundaries of Erbil municipality,which has been partitioned into four parts.Therefore,four LGM were generated individually for each one of the four parts with an estimated uncertainty equal to±0.076 m.