Global geodesy and global references


Disciplinary field: Solid Earth
Level: M1 or M2
Credits: 3 ECTS



Teachers: Sébastien Lambert (OBSMP), Eric Calais (ENS)
Teaching type: Cours/TD/TP
Hourly volume: 30 h



Evaluation: Examen écrit sur table


Keywords: Géodésie, systèmes de référence
Prerequisites: None

The aim of of this module is to provide the main tools of global geodesy which allow today the measurement of positions in the sky and on Earth with an accuracy of a few tens of microseconds of degree (or a few millimeters).

 The approach is as follows:
– the definition and construction of the spatial and terrestrial landmarks ;
– terrestrial rotation on the scale of the hour to the century (precession-nutation, sidereal rotation, pole movement, role of external fluid layers, role of internal core and seed), and movements of fundamental planes useful in geodesy and Astronomy (ecliptic, equator),
– the principles and applications of so-called “spatial” geodesy techniques including very long-range radio interferometry (VLBI), satellite navigation systems (GNSS: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo), Laser-satellite and Laser- Moon, and the DORIS Doppler orbitography system.