Articles tagged with: W B Shen

Dec 2005 | Comments Off on Measuring geopotential difference between two points
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Conventionally, the potential difference between two points P and Q located on the Earth’s surface are determined by gravimetry and levelling (Heiskanen and Moritz 1967), the drawback of which is that it is almost impossible to connect these two points in the case that they are located on two continents, because it is well known that the potential surface of the mean sea level (MSL) is not an equipotential surface. In another aspect, if given the gravity data on the Earth’s surface, one might determine the potential difference between two points by using the Stokes method or Molodensky method (ibid). In this case the potential field is determined and consequently the potential difference between two arbitrary points could be determined.