A practical method to compute geoidal heights for local/regional datums

Abstract

In many mapping, charting, and geodesy (MC&G) applications, a requirement can arise to interrelate any two geodetic datums, local, regional, and/or global, through establishment of datum transformation constants between them. With the availability of the World Geodetic System (WGS) and the Doppler stations worldwide, datum transformation constants between a local/regional datum and WGS can be easily established. However, the classical datums generally do not provide ellipsoid heights, which are an essential requirement to compute accurate transformation constants. This article describes a practical approach to generate the required local datum ellipsoid heights indirectly utilizing the available mean sea level heights and computing the local datum geoid heights.