269 satisfactory, with the equipment to be supplied by some of the larger countries and the cost of the personnel to be contributed by the countries actually engaged in the project. Section IILevelling 1. The I.A.G., considering that, apart from any hypothesis about the form of the geoid, the use of the gravitational potential is essential for the study of several geodetic questions, notably for the adjustment of extensive international levelling networks, and for the intercon nection of Tidal Datums, considering that, in theory, the calculation of the potential requires the knowledge and use of true values of gravity, and moreover that measures of gravity are now easy and inexpensive, but that in practise, in many circumstances, the use of a standard theoreticalvalue of gravity gives a result which is amply accurate, resolves that the different countries should, at least for their principal bench-marks, publish the gravitational potentials, and details of the system by which they have been computed, that studies be made, or continued, in order to distinguish between situations where the true value of gravity is required in order to determine the potential, and those where, some standard gravity for mula may be used. 2. The I.A.G., considering that all the currently used methods of converting gravitational potential, of dynamic heights, into "ortho- metric" heights, give very similar values for the height, and especially for the differences of height between nearby places, so that the dif ferences are of no consequence in work of secondary accuracy considering that any change in official or published results arising from a change in the method of calculation, introduces a risk of confusion, especially in the comparison of old and new levelling, made for the study of vertical movements of the ground levelconsidering that different systems for deducing approximate "orthometric" heights from gravitational potential all take the form H (potential), where gc is an estimated average value of g along the local vertical, or an approximation to itexpresses the opinion that' each country is free to choose its own method for calculating official altitudes, past, present and future, which are intended for publication to the public and that every country is similarly free to adopt any system it pre fers for the estimation of gc. 3. The il.A.G., considering that there is great scientific value in 1studying the methods of determining the gravitational potential, and 2) obtaining the most accurate and most convenient values of ortho- metric altitudes, resolves that researches be undertaken or continued a) on the precision necessary in the values of gravity, b) on the necessary spacing of the observed values of gravity,

Digitale Tijdschriftenarchief Stichting De Hollandse Cirkel en Geo Informatie Nederland

Tijdschrift voor Kadaster en Landmeetkunde (KenL) | 1955 | | pagina 7