Adjustment of a Regional Altimetric Network, in Brazil, to Estimate Normal Heights and Geopotential Numbers

Abstract

In 2018, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) defined the normal height values and geopotential numbers for the High Precision Altimetric Network (HPAN), creating the need for developing procedures able to adapt works correlated with the Brazilian Geodetic System (BGS). In that context, and considering the state and municipal altimetric networks, it is necessary to estimate normal heights. To this end, this paper proposes to estimate normal height values and geopotential numbers for the Altimetric Network of the Federal District (AN-DF). Computational procedures involving the Least Squares Method were established and applied in a geometric levelling survey, which includes 200 stations distributed throughout the study area. The obtained results allowed estimating the normal heights of the network stations with accuracy up to 0.032m. However, because significant differences were found in the adjusted and known values of some used HPAN stations, we recommend a rigorous analysis of these stations before using them. In any case considering that the geometric levelling and the applied procedures were carried out correctly, it is suggested that the values estimated for all stations of the AN-DF in this work may be used.

Orthometric, normal and geoid heights in the context of the Brazilian altimetric network

“…Thus, we need to know the values of gravity inside the Earth. Nevertheless, this is not yet possible because of the difficulty of estimating the density distribution inside the Earth with good accuracy (e.g., Marotta 2020).…”