Datum and Coordinate System
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Assistant Professor
UPES
DehraDun India
Geodetic Reference System
A geodetic reference system is defined as a total of the Datum for
representing a position on the Earth and the Reference Frame for
realizing the datum.
Until the middle of 20th century reference systems were defined and
established by each nation using astronomical observations within that
nation. So the references varied from nation to nation.
In late 20th century, the classic geodetic reference systems were
replaced by the space geodetic techniques such as VLBI, SLR and
GPS.
The centre of Earth, the rotation axis of Earth and the other parameters
could be determined with high accuracy by these new technologies.
This resulted in the realization of geocentric reference systems which
are globally fit.
Reference Ellipsoid:
• Earth has irregular surface
• For computation purposes, a mathematical figure is
required.
• Geoid is an imaginary equipotential surface which can
be used to represents the earth. But it is also not a
mathematical surface. MSL can very closely represent
the Geoid.
• An ellpsoid can be used to represent the earth. It is
called Reference Ellipsoid. Latitude, Longitude and
Ellipsoidal Heights are defined on Reference Ellipsoid.
Z
Rotational Axis
of the Earth
Greenwich Meridian
Cartesian Co-ordinate System
h P Ellipsoidal
Normal
Greenwich
Meridian
Latitude and Longitude
1. Local Geodetic Reference System
A local geodetic reference system is defined as a system
for determining the latitude and longitude, based on an
origin point whose latitude and longitude are determined
by astronomical observation and the ellipsoid adopted by
that nation.
The datums realized by various countries prior to the
advent of space geodetic techniques were local datums.
They had the reference ellipsoids which were locally best
fitting. The reason was that these were based on the
observations taken in that region only.
Everest system used in India till now is such type of
reference system.
Indian Datum
The Indian geodetic datum used till now was realized during
19th century.
It was a result of Great Trigonometric Survey (GTS) carried
out from 1802 to 1839. The conventional triangulation
method was used as it was the best available technique at
that time. The series of connected triangles from
southernmost point of India up to the Himalayan foothills
was used to compute the arc distance what was named the
‘Great Arc’.
The Great Arc measurements were used to determine the
geometrical parameters (semi major axis and semi minor
axis) to define the reference ellipsoid which was named
after Sir George Everest as Everest Ellipsoid. This is a
locally fit ellipsoid with following parameters:
Semi major axis a = 6377301.243 m
Semi minor axis b = 6356100.231 m
Geocentric
Ellipsoid
Best Fit
Centre of Best Fit
Ellipsoid
Ellipsoid
Earth Centre of Geocentric
Surface Ellipsoid
Best Fit Ellipsoid and Geocentric Ellipsoid
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2. Global Geodetic Reference System
A global geodetic reference system is defined as a
geocentric geodetic system for determining a geometric
position, which has its origin at the mass centre of Earth
Z-axis along the assumed rotation axis of Earth
X-axis along the prime meridian direction
Y-axis to make a right hand Cartesian coordinate
system, which is globally common standard for
positioning.
Generally Latitude and Longitude are used to express a
position on earth because of the difficulty to visualize the
position in Cartesian coordinates.
Geocentric Cartesian coordinates can are transformed to
latitude and longitude by assuming a reference ellipsoid.
It is worth mentioning here that the reference ellipsoid
should also be a geocentric ellipsoid.
GRS 80
In December 1980 the International Union of Geodesists
and Geophysicists (IUGG) adopted a new model of the
Earth called the Geodetic Reference System (GRS 80).
The ellipsoid defined by GRS 80 is geocentric i.e. its
centre coincides with the centre of the Earth.
The rotation axis of reference ellipsoid has the direction
of Conventional Terrestrial Pole determined by the
International Polar Motion Service between 1900-1905
Astro observations and defined by BIH 1987.
The geometrical parameters of GRS 80 are: -
• Semi major axis a = 6378137 m
• Semi minor axis b = 6356752.314 m
WGS84
World Geodetic System 84 (WGS84) is the geocentric
geodetic system developed and maintained by United
States Department of Defense.
It is adopted by the Global Positioning System.
WGS84 includes definitions of a reference ellipsoid and
a geoid model as well as a definition and realization of
geocentric geodetic system.
The differences between WGS 84 and ITRF are in the
centimeter range worldwide. WGS84 has become more
consistent with ITRF after several revisions.
Its present version is WGS84 (G1150), which introduced
velocity fields for the first time as WGS (Merrigan et al.,
2002).
The WGS84 reference ellipsoid is slightly different from
GRS80 ellipsoid by about 0.3 mm of its semi minor axis.
IERS
The IERS was established as the International Earth Rotation Service
in 1987 by the International Astronomical Union and the International
Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
Began operation on 1 January 1988.
In 2003 renamed to International Earth Rotation and Reference
Systems Service.
The primary objectives of the IERS are to serve the astronomical,
geodetic and geophysical communities by providing the following:
The International Celestial Reference System (ICRS) and its
realization, the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF).
The International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS) and its
realization, the International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF).
Earth orientation parameters required to study earth orientation
variations and to transform between the ICRF and the ITRF.
Geophysical data to interpret time/space variations in the ICRF, ITRF
or earth orientation parameters, and model such variations.
ITRS and ITRF
The International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS) is
a world spatial reference system co-rotating with the
Earth in space.
The IERS, in charge of providing global references to the
astronomical, geodetic and geophysical communities,
supervises the realization of the ITRS.
Realizations of the ITRS are produced by the IERS ITRS
Product Center (ITRS-PC) under the name International
Terrestrial Reference Frames (ITRF).
ITRF coordinates were obtained by combination of
individual TRF solutions computed by IERS analysis
centers using the observations of Space Geodesy
techniques : GPS , VLBI , SLR, LLR and DORIS.
They all use networks of stations located on sites
covering the whole Earth.
ITRS
International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS), is a definition of
geocentric system adopted and maintained by International Earth
Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS).
The origin of the system is the centre of mass of the Earth. The unit of
length is metre. The orientation of the axes was established as
consistent with that of IERS’s predecessor, Bureau International de
l’Heure, BIH, in 1984.
The Z-axis is the line from the origin through the Conventional
International Origin (CIO). Between 1900 and 1905, the mean position
of the Earth’s rotational pole was designated as the Conventional
Terrestrial Pole (CTP).
The X-axis is the line from the origin through the intersection of the zero
meridian with the equator.
The Y-axis is the line from the centre to equator and perpendicular to X
axis to make a right handed system.
ITRF
ITRF is a set of points with their 3-dimensional Cartesian
coordinates and velocities, which realizes an ideal reference
system, the International Terrestrial Reference System (ITRS).
Each ITRF is identified by the digits of the year as ITRFyy e.g.
ITRF97, ITRF2000 etc. The latest is ITRF2005 which has the epoch
00 hrs, 1st January 2000.
For realization the different techniques are used: Very Long
Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), Satellite
Laser Ranging (SLR), Global Positioning System (GPS) and
Doppler Ranging Integrated on Satellite (DORIS).
Each has strengths and weaknesses - their combination produces a
strong multi-purpose Terrestrial Reference Frame (TRF).
ITRF is the best geodetic reference frame currently available. The
GRS80 ellipsoid is recommended by IERS to transform Cartesian
coordinates to latitude and longitude.
C. IGS
The IGS is a voluntary federation of many worldwide agencies that
pool resources and permanent GNSS station data to generate
precise GNSS products. In general, it can be thought of as the
highest-precision international civilian GNSS community.
IGS was formally recognized in 1993 by the International Association
of Geodesy (IAG), and began routine operations on January 1, 1994,
providing GPS orbits, tracking data, and other data products in
support of geodetic and geophysical research.
The IGS collects, archives, and distributes GPS observation data
sets of sufficient accuracy to satisfy the objectives of a wide range of
applications and experimentation.
IGS has a number of components:
• an international network of over 350 continuously operating dual-
frequency GPS stations
• More than a dozen regional and operational data centers, three
global data centers, seven analysis centers and a number of
associate or regional analysis centers.
IGS Stations