Written by leading experts, this book provides a clear and comprehensive survey of the “status quo” of the interrelating process and cross-fertilization of structures and methods in mathematical geodesy. Starting with a foundation of functional analysis, potential theory, constructive approximation, special function theory, and inverse problems, readers are subsequently introduced to today’s least squares approximation, spherical harmonics reflected spline and wavelet concepts, boundary value problems, Runge-Walsh framework, geodetic observables, geoidal modeling, ill-posed problems and regularizations, inverse gravimetry, and satellite gravity gradiometry. All chapters are self-contained and can be studied individually, making the book an ideal resource for both graduate students and active researchers who want to acquaint themselves with the mathematical aspects of modern geodesy.

Volume resulting from an ISSI Workshop, 11-15 March 2002, Bern, Switzerland

A General Meeting of the lAG was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, to commemorate its 125th Anniversary. The Edinburgh meeting, which attracted 360 scientific delegates and 80 accompanying persons from 44 countries, was hosted jointly by the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh. The scientific part of the program, which was held in the Appleton Tower of the University, included the following five symposia: Symposium 101 Global and Regional Geodynamics Symposium 102 GPS and Other Radio Tracking Systems Symposium 103 Gravity, Gradiometry and Gravimetry Symposium 104 Sea Surface Topography, the Geoid and Vertical Datums Symposium 105 Earth Rotation and Coordinate Reference Frames All together there were 90 oral and 160 poster presentatio'ls. The program was arranged to prevent any overlapping of oral presentations, and thus enabled delegates to participate in all the sessions. The 125th Anniversary Ceremony took place on August 7, 1989, in the noble surroundings of the McEwan Hall where, 53 years earlier, Vening-Meinesz gave one of the two Union Lectures at the 6th General Assembly of the IUGG. The Ceremony commenced with welcome speeches by the British hosts. An interlude of traditional Scottish singing and dancing was followed by the Presidential Address given by Professor Ivan Mueller, on 125 years of international cooperation in geodesy. The Ceremony continued with greetings from representatives of sister societies, and was concluded by the presentation of the Levallois Medal to Professor Arne Bjerhammar.

This book provides a sound theoretical basis for the the different gravity field recovery methods and the numerics of satellite-to-satellite tracking data. It represents lectures given at the ‘Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Autumn School’ in Bad Honnef, Germany, October 4-9, 2015. The emphasis of the school was on providing a sound theoretical basis for the different gravity field recovery methods and the numerics of data analysis. The approaches covered here are the variational equations (classical approach), the acceleration approach and the energy balance approach, all of which are used for global gravity field recovery on the basis of satellite observations. The theory of parameter estimation in satellite gravimetry and concepts for orbit determination are also included. The book guides readers through a broad range of topics in satellite gravimetry, supplemented by the necessary theoretical background and numerical examples. While it provides a comprehensive overview for those readers who are already familiar with satellite gravity data processing, it also offers an essential reference guide for graduate and undergraduate students interested in this field.