"... a branch of applied mathematics that determines the exact positions of points on large portions of the Earth's surface; the shape and size of the Earth; and the variations of terrestrial gravity and magnetism."

The science of geodesy has been available for hundreds of years, yet many surveyors do not utilize this powerful method for processing their data. Why? Because without the power of computers, the mathematics of geodesy are rigorous - much more so than the number-crunching required for 2D and 3D local plane and projected coordinate systems. In the past, geodesy was viewed as a method to use only for large scale, high-precision surveys.

However, geodesy can - and should - be used for any size project. Whether your survey spans several thousand kilometers or only 0.01 meter, geodesy is the best mathematical model for processing field measurements.

The reasons are many:

The geodetic coordinate system is worldwide; there are no boundaries. Stations established from independent surveys are directly related to each other.
Field measurements are used as measured. No reductions are applied, thus the most accurate coordinates can be determined.
No special measurement collection procedures are required.
Resulting coordinates are latitude, longitude and height. These can be quickly and easily transformed to most coordinate systems.
The elevation (orthometric height) for each station can be determined using either GPS or terrestrial observations.
A variety of field observation types can be combined into each project. Stations can be separated by just a few centimeters or up to several hundred kilometers.

To implement the geodetic method, all you need is COLUMBUS, one or more control stations, and your measured field data.

COLUMBUS does the rest! Simply load your field data, select your stations and observations, then compute!

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Network Adjustment and Coordinate Transformation
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