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The noun geodesic and the adjective geodetic come from geodesy, the science of measuring the size and shape of Earth, though many of the underlying principles can be applied to any ellipsoidal geometry. In the original sense, a geodesic was the shortest route between two points on the Earth's surface.
Geodesy or geodetics [1] is the science of measuring and representing the geometry, gravity, and spatial orientation of the Earth in temporally varying 3D.It is called planetary geodesy when studying other astronomical bodies, such as planets or circumplanetary systems. [2]
Geodetic latitude and geocentric latitude have different definitions. Geodetic latitude is defined as the angle between the equatorial plane and the surface normal at a point on the ellipsoid, whereas geocentric latitude is defined as the angle between the equatorial plane and a radial line connecting the centre of the ellipsoid to a point on the surface (see figure).
The geodesic distance between opposite umbilical points is the same regardless of the initial direction of the geodesic. Whereas the closed geodesics on the ellipses X = 0 and Z = 0 are stable (a geodesic initially close to and nearly parallel to the ellipse remains close to the ellipse), the closed geodesic on the ellipse Y = 0 , which goes ...
Geodesic on an oblate ellipsoid. An ellipsoid approximates the surface of the Earth much better than a sphere or a flat surface does. The shortest distance along the surface of an ellipsoid between two points on the surface is along the geodesic. Geodesics follow more complicated paths than great circles and in particular, they usually don't ...
The World Geodetic System (WGS) is a standard used in cartography, geodesy, and satellite navigation including GPS.The current version, WGS 84, defines an Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system and a geodetic datum, and also describes the associated Earth Gravitational Model (EGM) and World Magnetic Model (WMM).
A geodetic datum or geodetic system (also: geodetic reference datum, geodetic reference system, or geodetic reference frame, or terrestrial reference frame) is a global datum reference or reference frame for unambiguously representing the position of locations on Earth by means of either geodetic coordinates (and related vertical coordinates) or geocentric coordinates. [1]
The shortest path between two points on a spheroid is known as a geodesic. Such paths are developed using differential geometry. The equator and meridians are great ellipses that are also geodesics [a]. The maximum difference in length between a great ellipse and the corresponding geodesic of length 5,000 nautical miles is about 10.5 meters.