THE GRAVIMETRIC DETERMINATION OF THE PARAMETERS OF THE EARTH AND ITS GRAVITY FIELD,

The present report describes the determination of the geometric and gravimetric constants of the earth from surface measurements. The starting point is a generalization of Stokes formula to an arbitrary ellipsoid of reference, which is necessary because this formula, in its original form, imposes on the reference surface a condition that is not satisfied in practice. The relation between gravity measurements and the determination of the physical constants of the earth and its gravity field, such as its mass the gravitational constant of the earth, the potential at sea level, and the coefficients of the development of the external potential in terms of spherical harmonics, is developed. The theory of the mean earth ellipsoid permits a rigorous definition of the earths equatorial radius, its flattening, and equatorial gravity. Finally, additional related problems such as the effect of topography, accuracy aspects, and the application to satellite geodesy are briefly discussed. Author