J Geod (2006) 79: 654–662 DOI 10.1007/s00190-006-0021-4
I AG N E W S L E T T E R
Gyula Tóth
IAG Newsletter
Published online: 17 January 2006 © Springer-Verlag 2006
The IAG Newsletter is under the editorial responsibility of the Communication and Outreach Branch (COB) of the IAG. It is an open forum and contributors are welcome to send material (preferably in electronic form) to the IAG COB (
[email protected]). These contributions should complement information sent by IAG officials or by IAG symposia organizers (reports and announcements). The IAG Newsletter is published monthly. It is available in different formats from the IAG new internet site: http://www.iag-aig.org. Each IAG Newsletter includes several of the following topics: I. general information II. reports of IAG symposia III. reports by commissions, special commissions or study groups IV. symposia announcements V. book reviews VI. fast bibliography
General announcements New year s message from the IAG president Dear friends and colleagues, The year 2005 was a very busy year for IAG. The events related to the earthquake off the coast of Sumatra and the devastating tsunami affecting a large region of our globe demonstrated the importance of precise geodetic measurements and analysis, in particular of the development and deployment of early warning systems based on geodetic tools.
Books for review are the responsibility of: C.C. Tscherning University of Copenhagen Dept. of Geophysics Copenhagen, Denmark Fax: +45 35365357 E-mail:
[email protected]
G. Tóth IAG Communication and Outreach Branch, MTA-BME Research Group for Physical Geodesy and Geodynamics, Department of Geodesy and Surveying, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, H-1521 Budapest, Hungary E-mail:
[email protected] Fax: +36 1463 3192 URL: http://www.iag-aig.org/
From the IAG perspective the Scientific Assembly in Cairns (joint with the corresponding events of IAPSO and IABO) in summer 2005 was the outstanding event. The results were already summarized in an IAG newsletter. Thanks to the local and the scientific organizing committees and thanks to the participants of the meeting, the assembly was a full success. It seems that the proceedings will be available early in 2006. Let me congratulate the organizers contributors and reviewers making this impressive time schedule reality! We have entered the second half of the 2003–2007 IAG/ IUGG “legislature period”. The 2006 IAG Executive
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Committee Meeting will be attached to the EGU Assembly in Vienna (April 2006). We will hear of the first steps made by the newly elected steering committee of the GGOS project (led by Prof. Markus Rothacher), which does now focus on the GGOS implementation. Also, we will hear about the progress made by the IAG nomination committee to ensure a timely election of the IAG officers for the 2007–2011 IAG period. Several important IAG-related events will take place in 2006. Let me mention three of them (for a complete list, please visit the IAG homepage): – The sixth Hotine-Marussi-Symposium on theoretical and computational geodesy will take place in Wuhan, China, end of May 2006. It will, among other, focus on theoretical aspects related to the gravity space missions. – The first International Symposium of the International Gravity Field Service (IGFS) in Istanbul end of August/beginning of September 2006 will be a benchmark for the creation of the IGFS. – IAG Commission 1 (Reference Frames) has partly synchronized its “IAG Commission 1 Symposium” with the “XXIII International FIG Congress” in Munich in October in Munich. We expect that the continuation of the collaboration between IAG and FIG (e.g., in the context of AFREF) and the GGOS will be important issues at these events. The year 2005 was a very busy year, indeed, for IAG. As the above preview indicates, the year 2006 will again be an important year for the Association – even without containing a general or a scientific assembly. It will be, by the way, a comparatively long year thanks to the leap second – where it is debatable whether the additional second is part of 2005 or 2006 (I am sure the IERS will educate me on this issue); in any case we have a net gain, so nobody should complain about lack of time in the near future! In view of our busy schedule and in view of the work achieved so far, I believe that we all have every reason to be optimistic regarding the future development of our Association. I thank you all for the time and energy devoted to the benefit of IAG and wish you A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Gerhard Beutler President of IAG Call for proposal The present Secretary General, C.C. Tscherning, has served for three periods, and cannot be re-elected. The election of a new Secretary General (SG) will take place in the spring of 2007 together with the election of other officers for the 2007–2011 period. The commitment associated with this position is heavier than that associated with any of the other IAG executive positions. The IAG executive committee has therefore decided to separate the election of the new Secretary General from the
other nominations and elections, because the election is based on a call for proposals, which have to be evaluated by the IAG Executive. The duties of the SG are described in the by-laws, Sect. 2.5.3, as quoted below. Since the SG will also be the director of the Central Bureau, a nomination automatically implies a commitment to host the Bureau, as well. According to the by-laws, the SG receives no salary, but the expenses of the SG may be covered by the allocation received from IUGG. However, the funds needed for these expenses have normally exceeded the IUGG allocation, so the organization hosting the SG and thereby the Central Bureau contributes to the travel expenses of the SG and the running of the Central Bureau. The nominated SG should be prepared to spend at least 1 full day per week on IAG matters, and the Central Bureau hosting organization should provide secretarial assistance equivalent to 2 full days per week. A nomination should therefore include information about the degree to which the hosting organization is prepared to cover, in whole or in part, the expenses of the SG and of the Central Bureau. The proposal should be submitted to the president of the Nominating Committee, Prof. F. Sansò in electronic form. Proposals may be submitted by the adhering bodies of the member countries, officers, fellows, and members of the Association. Candidates shall be asked to signify their acceptance of nomination and to prepare a resume (maximum 150 words) outlining their position, research interests and activities relating to the Association. The proposal should also state the preparedness to host the Central Bureau, and the financial and secretarial support which may be allocated. Proposals should be submitted before March 15, 2007. Extract from By-Laws: 2.5.3 The SECRETARY GENERAL, shall have the following duties: a) Serve as secretary of the General Assembly, the Council, the Executive Committee and the Bureau; arrange for meetings of these bodies, distribute promptly the agenda and prepare and distribute the minutes of all their meetings. b) Director of the Central Bureau. c) Manage the affairs of the Association, attend to correspondence, and preserve the records. d) Circulate all appropriate information related to the Association. e) Prepare the reports of the Association s activities. f) Perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Bureau. Address of Prof. Sansò: Prof. Fernando Sansò Politecnico di Milano - Polo Regionale di Como via Valleggio, 11 I-22100 Como
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Tel.: +39-031-3327518 Fax: +39-031-3327519, E-mail:
[email protected] Status and progress of GGOS GGOS Message Outline: • Global Geodetic Observing System – Update • Focus – Internal Organization and Finalization of the GGOS Implementation Plan ◦ Website and communications ◦ Request for WG Chairs to list WG members with contact information ◦ Exploring a web forum for improving communications • Integrated Global Observing System Partnership – Update on proposed theme Earth System Dynamics • GEOSS Activities • Meetings – Steering Committee: ◦ Thursday December 8, San Francisco during the AGU venue (5–9 December 2005) ◦ TBD, in Vienna, during the EGU Venue (2–7 April 2006) ◦ Plans for a GGOS workshop in October 2006, possibly in connection with FIG/IAG/INTERGEO During the International Association of Geodesy 2005 meeting in Cairns, Australia, this past August, the IAG Executive Committee approved the continuation of its key program, the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS). During this meeting, the IAG appointed new chairs of the GGOS Steering Committee: Prof. Markus Rothacher, Chair Ruth Neilan, Co-Chair, Prof. Hans-Peter Plag, Co-Chair
To address the many issues of GGOS, a meeting of the Steering Committee (SC) and invited participants will be held on Thursday, December 8 in San Francisco from 14:00 to 17:00 at the AGU. GGOS internal organization The website is being updated and any comments are welcome for improvement: http://www.ggos.org/. Current Working Group (WG) Chairs are requested to provide the listing of their WG members to the Chairs with email address. As GGOS moves forward, improving communications from the Chairs, across WGs and externally will be essential. The chairs are reviewing the working document of the GGOS implementation plan and are proposing modifications to document for the upcoming period, these will be further reviewed by the Steering Committee and WG chairs. Any further suggestions from the WGs are invited. The current intent is to incorporate recent information, reflecting goals and objectives from the GEOSS and IGOS-P plans that are important for the global acceptance and realization of GGOS, ensuring that GGOS is an essential component which can make a clear and recognized contribution over the coming decade and beyond. One of the topics will also be to work with the Services to establish links between the Service products and the scientific applications of these products by a diverse user community. The chairs are also exploring the possibility of a webbased forum for GGOS as tool to evolve beyond simple e-mail structure as a method of communicating and making information readily available to a broader interest group. This would conceivably be partitioned between internaland external forums, as well as topical sub-forums. Integrated global observing system partnership
The chairs immediately met at Cairns, and have met via teleconference a number of times since, planning the next phases of this important activity. (Note that for more information on the IAG 2005 meeting, please visit the IAG website and see the message from IAG President Prof. Gerhard Beutler: http: //www.iag-aig.org/index.php?tpl=text&id_c=6&id_t=244). As we plan to assume the responsibilities for GGOS we acknowledge the important contributions and dedication since 2003 of GGOS Chair, Prof. Christoph Reigber and GGOS Secretariat Prof. Hermann Drewes. The draft implementation plan that was presented at Cairns captures the history and progress of GGOS and lays the framework for the next steps. We have had quite a bit of discussion regarding how to keep pace with the rapid external developments that GGOS is involved in – Global Earth Observing System of Systems – GEOSS and Integrated Global Observing System Partnership – IGOS-P. And importantly – how to proceed with our internal organization as we enter this next phase of truly realizing GGOS during the time period of 2005–2009.
Prof. Hans-Peter Plag continues to be our key interface to the IGOS-P activity. Key points here are the upcoming IGOSP-12bis meeting in London on 17 November and the IGOSP Theme Leader meeting on 22 May 2006 in Geneva. For the 12bis meeting, the agenda includes a recommendation to commence the GGOS membership procedure and we expect that this point will be accepted without problems. Thus, after the 12bis meeting, the formal procedure for GGOS to become a full member of IGOS-P can be started. This will involve the exchange of Letters of Understanding between all IGOS-P members and GGOS. Once this process has been started, we will also contact the chairs of the IGOS-P Themes and discuss with them the particular contribution of GGOS to these Themes. Considering that the OGOS-P Themes cover a wide range of problems, we will have to involve additional experts from the GGOS community in this processes. At the IGOS-P Theme Leader Meeting in May 2006, we will discuss the suggested Earth System Dynamics Theme with the other theme leaders. In order to detail the proposal
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further, a writing panel of 4 to 5 experts plus the chairs will work over the next months on the existing document. A key issue will be to document the added value of this new Theme and to show that the overlap with existing Themes is not too wide. Our goal is to get the suggested Theme idea first accepted by the Theme Leaders and then a Theme proposal formally accepted by the IGOS-P-13bis meeting in November 2006. After that, the writing of the Theme report can start. For most Themes, this step involves/d some 20 experts. To see examples of Theme reports – see: http://www.igospartners.org /Theme.htm. The Geohazards Theme Report does reference a number of observation techniques of the IAG and hence GGOS, and so does the Water Cycle report. A number of the other themes also depend on GGOS observations, while, of course, most Themes are users of ITRF. GEOSS activities and GGOS The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) will convene the GEO-II plenary meeting 14 & 15 December in Geneva on the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS). For information see the following sites, http://earthobservations.org /default.asp, http://iwgeo.ssc.nasa.gov/. And please take note of the Ten-Year Implementation Plan document – this document will be used to highlight GGOS contributions to the negotiated plan, coordinating the GGOS implementation with the GEOSS implementation and target goals. For an update on the GEO plenary and establishment of the GEO secretariat at the WMO in Geneva see this link: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/environment/ newsanddoc/article_2486_en.htm. One of the deliberations within the SC will be – what does GGOS want to contribute to GEOSS? The GEOSS implementation plan is built around the nine social benefit areas identified by the Second Earth Observation Summit, and clearly, GGOS is essential to a number of these. The plan includes the following statement as a preamble to the benefit areas: Societal benefit Areas GEOSS will yield advances in the societal benefit areas defined by its purpose and scope. Each area has compelling reasons for the Earth-observation advances envisioned in GEOSS. For information needs common to many societal benefit areas, GEOSS will facilitate the development and provision of common products such as maps of topography, bathymetry, river systems, infrastructure, and land cover and land use, and a geodetic reference frame for Earth observation. Interpretation and use of Earth observations requires information on the drivers and consequences of change, including georeferenced socio-economic data and indicators. The plan can be accessed at the GEO site above, but here is a direct link:
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http://earthobservation.org/docs/GEOSS%2010-Year %20 Implementation%20Plan%20(GEO%201000).pdf. The SC will be assessing the GEO plan and looking at harmonizing our structure and activities to be synergistic with both GEO activities and IGOS-P. The SC will review the status of GGOS appointments to the GEOSS Working Groups and evaluate how best to interface and maintain support. Meetings The first meeting of the SC with extended participants and the chairs is called for December 8 as noted above. There is much business to address and attendees are requested to do some homework on these activities to enhance the discussion time, which is limited to 3 h. The chairs feel that it is important to fully establish the new organization. The Science Advisory Council must also be in place in the very near future to assist with guidance of GGOS directions and plans. During the EGU in Vienna (2–7 April 2006), a second meeting will be organized with the aim to further our internal organization and schedule of events. Discussion will also be centered on a GGOS workshop, possibly in connection with the FIG/IAG/INTERGEO symposium in Munich next October. With kindest regards to our colleagues, and any suggestions can be directed to the Chairs, with assistance from Katrin Gundrum, acting Secretariat for the GGOS Chairs. Prof. Markus Rothacher, Chair and Ruth Neilan and Prof. Hans-Peter Plag, Co-Chairs Katrin Gundrum, GGOS Chair s Secretariat (based on IERS Message No.77)
IAG membership application form 2006 The Membership Application Form 2006 in PDF can be downloaded from the IAG website: http://www.iag-aig.org. Those members, whose membership expires by the end of 2005 may consider renewing their membership for 2006 or longer period (2006–2009). The IAG Communication and Outreach Branch is continuing to improve the service, especially for the IAG individual members Torben krarup died Torben Krarup at the age of 86, died on 24 November 2005 (an obituary will be published soon).
meeting announcements 1st International Symposium of the International Gravity Field Service August 28 – September 1, 2006, Istanbul, Turkey
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URL: http://www.igfs2006.org/ Dear Colleagues and Friends, As the Local Organizing Committee, it gives us great pleasure to invite you to the first International Symposium of The International Gravity Field Service (IGFS), to be held August 28 – September 1, 2006, in Istanbul / Turkey. This is the first symposium of the International Gravity Field Service (IGFS) of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), and it continues the series of symposia of the former International Gravity and Geoid Commission. IGFS is a unified “umbrella” service of the IAG, which coordinates services for the gravity field of the Earth (BGI – International Gravity Bureau, IGeS – International Geoid Service, ICET – International Center for Earth Tides, and ICGEM – International Center for Global Earth Models, DEM service). Such scientific assemblies are held every 2 years, but in separate locations. Hence this symposium of the IGFS will offer opportunities to present and discuss earth’s gravity field related research and applications. The IAG Scientific Assembly will take place in Istanbul. Although thousands of years have passed, Istanbul still maintains its geographical importance. Today Istanbul is a huge metropolis connecting continents, cultures, religions, and being home to eleven million people and one of the greatest business and cultural center of the region. Istanbul is submitting richness of first class hotels, resorts and conference facilities, easily transportation to main cities of the world with daily flights, beautiful decorations and unique panorama attraction in all seasons. A perfect climate, exotic atmosphere and less cost advantages compared to alternative destinations are added to all of these and makes Istanbul an ideal destination at the meeting point of Europe, Asia and Africa. The venue for the Scientific Assembly will be The Cultural Center of Military Museum, Harbiye, Istanbul. The Cultural Center within the constitution of the Military Museum is fully equipped to serve as a venue for cultural, scientific and arts activities. All sort of activities such as scientific sessions, special meetings of work groups, exhibitions and so on will be held within the Cultural Center’s meeting rooms and exhibition halls during IGFS 2006.
French Space Agency, CNES, is organising an exceptional Symposium on “15 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry”. For further information visit the website http://www.esa.int/ venice06.
3rd IAG symposium on geodesy for geotechnical and structural engineering and 12th FIG symposium on deformation measurements 22–24 May, 2006, Baden, Austria The FIG symposia on deformation measurements and analysis have a long tradition dated back to 1975. The IAG Symposium was established in 1998 and held twice. It will be the first time that the two symposia will be held together as a joint conference. Researchers, engineers, educators, designers, manufacturers, contractors, public authorities, and other professionals are cordially invited to attend this international event. Please also visit the symposium website for further details: http://info.tuwien.ac.at/ingeo/sc4/baden.
VI hotine-marussi symposium of theoretical and computational geodesy: challenge and role of modern geodesy 29 May – 2 June 2006, Wuhan University, PR China The symposium will be held at Wuhan University, PR China, 29 May – 2 June 2006. More information will be circulated as soon as available and can be found at the website: http://www.sgg.whu.edu.cn/icct_hm.html. “Gravity Field of the Earth” – 1st International Symposium of the IGFS 28 August – 1 September 2006, Istanbul, Turkey The 1st symposium of IGFS as being a continuation of the symposia series of the former International Gravity and Geoid Commission will be held in Istanbul, Turkey. The major objective is to bring together the geoscientists working in general areas of modeling the Earth s gravity field. For more information visit the website: www.igfs2006.org.
We are looking forward to seeing you in Istanbul. Local Organizing Committee, IGFS2006 For further details, please visit the conference website at: http://www.igfs2006.org. IAG sponsored meetings Fifteen years of progress in radar altimetry symposium 13–18 March 2006, Venice, Italy Fifteen years after the launch of ERS-1 and TOPEX/POSEIDON, the European Space Agency, in collaboration with the
Geodetic reference frames GRF2006 9–13 October 2006, Munich, Germany The Commission 1 “Reference Frames” of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) invites scientists and experts from all countries to participate in the Symposium “Geodetic Reference Frames”. The symposium shall give the opportunity to present new ideas, discuss improved models and approaches, and report on latest results of the definition and realization of geodetic reference frames. Detailed information is available at the symposium website: http://iag.dgfi.badw.de /?grf2006.
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IAG related meetings 4th IVS General Meeting January 9–13, 2006, Concepción, Chile The 4th General Meeting of the International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS) will be held January 9– 13, 2006, in Concepción, Chile. The purpose of the meeting is to assemble representatives from all IVS components to share information, hear reports, and plan future activities. The meeting also provides a forum for interaction with other members of the VLBI and Earth science communities. For further details visit the webpage http://ivscc.gsfc.nasa.gov /meetings/gm2006. 5th FIG regional conference – promoting land administration and good governance March 8–11, 2006, Accra, Ghana The focus of the 5th FIG Regional Conference will be on land administration and good governance as conditions for sustainable development. It will discuss these topics also through the technical tools that modern surveying technology can offer in promoting these main goals. More information on the conference web site: www.fig.net/accra. Asia Oceania Geosciences Society’s 3rd Annual Meeting (AOGS 2006) July 10–14, 2006, Singapore, Malaysia The AOGS mission is to promote geophysical science for the benefit of humanity in Asia and Oceania. Hence, AOGS 2006 will once again bring together geoscientists from all over Asia, Oceania and the rest of the world to present their works and ideas. AOGS invites all geoscientists to convene their own sessions and present their findings at AOGS 2006 in Singapore. For further details, visit http://www.asiaoceania-conference.org/. Book Review Bernhard Hofmann-Wellenhof, Helmut Moritz: Physical Geodesy Title: Physical Geodesy Author: Bernhard Hofmann-Wellenhof, Helmut Moritz Publisher: Springer Verlag, Wien ISBN: 3211235841 Year: 2005 Price: US$79.95 Pages: 403 Details: Paperback This book is a new and re-written edition of the classic text with the same title by W.A. Heiskanen and H. Moritz, now almost 40-years old, but as fundamental today as then (except for some numerical applications); it is referred to as H&M1967 in the following. The new text is a mini tour de force in geodesy that covers not just physical geodesy but
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touches also on a variety of related topics, including geometric geodesy (datums and reference systems), satellite geodesy (orbital elements and perturbation theory), GPS (the system and basic theory), least-squares collocation (some principles and applications), and current activities (satellite gravity missions, geoid on the internet). Nostalgic readers will be pleased to find the first four chapters of H&M1967 almost intact, virtually word for word, but will be disappointed that the more fundamental aspects of potential theory, such as Green’s identities and integral formulas, and layer potentials and their discontinuities are missing. Also missing are corrections to some anachronisms in H&M1967, minor ones such as continuing to misname the center of mass as the center of gravity, or omitting exact formulas for the normal gravity at altitude. There are also major, regrettable omissions of modern geoid computation – the FFT methods, e.g. (the old template methods are still there, dusty as ever). Discussion of the Mean Earth Ellipsoid is deferred until Chapter 5 in connection with the best-fitting Earth ellipsoid; that the part in Chapter 2 of H&M1967 was deleted is unfortunate. On the other hand, Stokes’s formula is now not burdened with alternative yet useless formalisms that incorporate constants in different ways. Also included in the new version is Hotine’s integral formula based on gravity distur-
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bances as boundary values (it is given the less popular name, Koch’s formula, in the new text, despite its namesake coming after Hotine’s Mathematical Geodesy; the authors’ explanations notwithstanding). The chapter on gravity reductions could have used a revision. Helmert’s condensation method, now almost universally applied (knowingly or not), again receives only minor mention even though the geodetic literature over the past decade(s) is replete with articles promoting and discussing the theoretical aspects of this technique (and containing even some interesting controversy). There is a short, but urgently needed section on the remove-restore technique, although almost as an afterthought at the end of the book. Unfortunately, it is couched in least-squares collocation rather than standing on its own as a technique applicable to any type of practical evaluation of global integrals. While the first four chapters were largely kept unchanged, Chapters 5–11 of the new Physical Geodesy are a mix of old and new, following their predecessors in tying relevant and modern geodetic topics to classical physical geodesy. Chapter 5 on the geometry of the Earth re-organizes and modernizes the old “Astrogeoedetic Methods”, connecting it mostly to GPS rather than astronomic observations. The overview of GPS is taken mostly from another book by the first author. Other topics include pure geometry – coordinate transformation, ellipsoidal coordinates (now unfortunately with different notation than in Chapter 1), and geodetic datum transformations with differential formulas. Three-dimensional geodesy is briefly and correctly treated with GPS as background. Astrogeodetic methods nevertheless are not forsaken and this chapter includes almost all parts of the classic version with some minor exceptions. There are a few updates here, such as (among others) a discussion of WGS84 and transformations to local geodetic systems, a new polar motion figure, and a brief discussion on the “misuse of Laplace’s equation”. Chapter 6 is again mostly identical (verbatim) to its predecessor (leaving out the rarely, if ever, used coating method to obtain gravity disturbances from gravity anomalies and geoid heights); also much of the numerical consideration (template method) in evaluating integrals is omitted. Chapter 7 is a more significant departure from the earlier text and is devoted more explicitly to satellite methods, though much on spherical harmonic determination is taken from the H&M1967 chapter on “Celestial Methods” (were there no new developments since the 1960’s?). The new text perfunctorily mentions satellite altimetry and falls notably short of providing a useful treatment and review of the tremendous impact this technology has had on gravity modeling. The new gravity missions are prominently featured, though more from a descriptive than an analytic standpoint (only some observation equations are provided for the GOCE mission). Chapter 8 on Molodensky‘s theory blends the material in the classic text with the developments by the second author in his equally famous Advanced Physical Geodesy. Only the analytic continuation method is discussed here, while the fundamentals of integral equation solutions have been omitted. There is now also a second part on astrogeodetic methods
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(which might have a better place in Chapter 5) and a discussion of the “meaning of the geoid”, although its connection to a global vertical datum is essentially missing. The ninth chapter is on statistical methods (mirroring the seventh chapter in H&M1967). Again, there are minor updates, such as providing the Tscherning-Rapp covariance model (being perhaps the most popular, yet hardly the most accurate in many instances). The influence of distant zones is completely omitted, which is unfortunate, considering the wealth of literature that exists on the modification of Stokes’s kernel. Chapter 10 very briefly reviews least-squares collocation, taken from the second author’s advanced text; and the final chapter adds a few remarks on some computational methods. It is difficult to re-write a classic in physical geodesy, especially when the parent field, geodesy, has undergone such a profound transformation in view of satellite methods. The authors have made a credibly valiant attempt, though one might have advised them to start from scratch rather than attempt to mirror the old model. The emphasis on GPS was probably not necessary, and the omission of FFT methods as well as a more rigorous remove-restore discussion with kernel modification is surprising, to say the least. These are such well known and practiced techniques that any book on physical geodesy should now include these thoroughly. This reviewer naturally contrasted the new text with the old one, which was perhaps a bit unfair, but should hardly be unexpected considering the approach taken in the new version, where about 70% is exactly replicated from the old text. In several respects the new Physical Geodesy is a collage of several existing texts. This tends to obfuscate the continuity and focus one would expect in a modern text on this subject. At a minimum, a better organization of the chapters (and their contents) would have improved the flow from elementary to advanced topics, from theory to application. The new H&M is nevertheless a reasonable, if incomplete compendium of many classic and some modern aspects of physical geodesy, with a good measure of more general geodesy thrown in for free. Chris Jekeli 31 October 2005 Irene K. Fischer : geodesy? what s that? My Personal Involvement in the Age-Old Quest for the Size and Shape of the Earth (with a Running Commentary on Life in a Government Research Office) Title: Geodesy? What s That? Author: Fischer, Irene K. Publisher: iUniverse, Inc, New York ISBN: 0-5958-0834-4 Year: 2005 Price: US$25.95 Pages: 400 Details: Paperback
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This memoir is well named. The word “Geodesy” is not widely known in the United States. If you say you are a geodesist to an American who isn’t one, he or she will think you said “geologist” or “geneticist.” Many Americans will admit to having heard of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, but they will have no idea what it did. Irene K. Fischer spent 25 years (from 1952 to 1977) as a research geodesist at the agency which was named the Army Map Service when she joined it, but was subsequently renamed the US Army Topographic Command and then the Defense Mapping Agency Topographic Center (and is now the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency). During that career she was continually answering the question posed in this book s title. The military officers in charge stayed for only a fixed tour of duty, so there was always someone new for whom the question had to be answered. This is an amazingly rich and detailed story. She discusses all the geodetic projects she worked on and directed, but stops short of including any mathematics. The reader will come away with an understanding of the importance of these projects. The reader will also learn of a time when computations were done with desk calculators and humans were intimately
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familiar with every number involved in the calculations. Data relevant to the figure of the Earth was scarce. Thus we read about days spent tracking down the cause of a single outlier in a set of deflections of the vertical. The cause turns out to be a subtle mistake in the identification of the point, a type of mistake that continues to plague computations today. This is also a very personal memoir, and many names are mentioned. The dominant theme is the trial and tribulations the author experienced working with the bureaucrats. Every international meeting raised the issue of whether she should be allow to attend. There were instances when her attendance was encouraged and then cancelled at the last minute, and there were instances when she had to pay travel costs herself. Every manuscript prepared for publication had to be cleared by those same bureaucrats who had little idea of what geodesy was about. This book lists 122 publications authored by Fischer, and from the text it seems that almost every one of them encountered some problem in the clearance process. When reading about her frustrations, one wonders why she put up with the need to spend so much time dealing with people who had little or no idea what she was doing. All the people who had made her work enjoyable at the beginning of her career soon left for other, more hospitable, agencies. Why did she not follow them? There seem to be many answers: partly she was just too engrossed in her work to look for a position elsewhere. But also she was able to step back and see some amusement in the antics of the bureaucrats. A characteristic of Irene Fischer s writing is her ability to have fun with her subject. This was especially apparent to the many students who have used her pamphlet Basic Geodesy, in which she compares the shape of the earth to various fruits and vegetables, including a grapefruit, a pear, and a potato. This same ability to have fun is also present in this memoir, in which she finds humor rather than bitterness in her endless struggles with bureaucrats. It is this ability to see the bright side that makes this memoir enjoyable and instructive reading. Charles R. Schwarz Bethesda, Maryland Gligorije Perovic: Least Squares Title: Least Squares (Monograph in English) Author: Gligorije Perovic Publisher: published by the author, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Belgrade ISBN: 86-907409-0-2 Year: 2005 Price: Euro 120 (including postage) Pages: 648 Details: Hardcover, 87 Figures and 90 Tables, nicely typeset on high-quality paper This book is a very comprehensive introduction to leastsquares methods, including classical topics such as least-
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squares adjustment, but also contemporary methods such as statistical tests, Bayes estimation, Kalman filtering, least-squares collocation, time series, and optimal planning of experiments. Thus it has the character of an encyclopaedic monograph. The book is intended for all scientists and engineers who perform highly precise measurements and who wish to analyze them by sophisticated linear models of mathematical data processing, in particular for geodetic scientists and engineers. The required mathematics is on the level of a graduate engineering student. Generalized matrix inverses are playing a basic role, but they are introduced in the text. Many numerical examples are given to facilitate understanding essentially. Part I recalls the basic MATHEMATICAL BACK GROUND of linear algebra: vectors, matrices, and statistical distribution of vectors. It is seen how naturally the normal (Gaussian) distribution matches with linear algebra. Part II, BASIC LEAST-SQUARES MODELS, is a modern presentation of classical least-squares adjustment (by parameters and by conditions). Part III considers SINGULAR LS MODELS and is a remarkable modern treatment by means of generalised matrix inverses. It also contains in great detail the important topic of hypothesis testing. Bayesian methods are also treated here. Part IV, STUDY OF RELATIONSHIPS, gives a comprehensive representation of the various linear regression methods and covariance analysis, as well as an elementary introduction to least-squares collocation and stochastic processes, Kalman filtering and time series. Part V treats FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND NON-LINEAR LEAST SQUARES, a topic which is becoming increasingly more important. Part VI, OPTIMAL PLANNING OF EXPERIMENTS, is of particular value for the experimenter. It is an adequate conclusion of the book. The book is of particular value since it includes much, hitherto unpublished, personal research of the author such as the methods PEROBML, PEROBLS D, MINQE-PERG, PERMODMINQE, PERVCV1 etc. Having been devised by an excellent scientist with a view to practical application, they considerably increase its value both for the senior scientist and the practical engineer. This is really a unique book. It is fully up to date concerning mathematical tools (matrices and their generalized
G. Tóth
inverses). It is, however, written in the patient and leisurely style of a good old-style professor who cares about being understood by practically oriented engineering students. In a modern expression, it is very “reader-friendly” but requires (and rewards) serious study. Many particular cases and examples elaborated in great detail illustrate the procedures. For me, it is comforting that such books exist in our hurried and short-lived time (the book was written in the course of 12 years!). It can be unreservedly recommended to graduate students, as well as to scientists and engineers looking for reliable advice in advanced statistical applications occurring in geodetic and surveying practice. May I add a personal note. When the author gave me his monograph “Singular-Adjustment Theory” (in Serbo-Croatian, Naucna Knjiga, Beograd 1986), I spontaneously wrote a review for the basic geodetic journal “Bulletin Geodesique” (now “Journal of Geodesy”), although it is customary to review only books written in one of the two official languages (English and French) of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, and I recommended its translation into English. Originally, the present book was intended to appear in 1998, 200 years after C. F. Gauss said to have found least squares on a probabilistic basis. However, in the meantime, the tragic war in Yugoslavia had broken out. The book is on an international contemporary level, with a list of 241 references, in English or with their titles translated into English. The book looks very fine and stable, hardbound and typeset on high quality paper. The author spared no efforts in making it an excellent book, not only as regards the contents, but also regarding the form. From this point of view, the relatively high price of the book is fully justified. It should not be missing in any geodetic, statistical or mathematical library. Interested scientists might wish to have this unusual book also on their private bookshelf. It is worth it. The book should be ordered directly from the author by email
or by fax to (++381)11 3370293 (Prof. Gligorije Perovic, University of Belgrade)”. Helmut Moritz, Graz [email protected]
