Glossary
Appendix B
GSR2600
99
Fixed solution -
Processing of GPS vectors produces many
solutions for the vector at different stages of the processing. One
of the parameters being solved for during the processing is the
integer ambiguities. A fixed solution is a vector solution where
the integer ambiguities have been correctly determined and
fixed. The fixed solution for a vector is most often the best
solution. If for some reason the ambiguities could not be solved,
the final solution for the vector will be a float solution.
Float solution -
Processing of GPS vectors produces many
solutions for the vector at different stages of the processing. One
of the parameters being solved for during the processing is the
integer ambiguities. A float solution is a vector solution where
the integer values for the ambiguities could not be determined,
therefore they are not fixed to a specific integer value (left to
float as a whole number).
Geodetic Coordinates -
A coordinate system where the position
of a point is defined using the elements latitude, longitude and
geodetic height.
Geodetic Datum -
A model of the earth used for Geodetic
calculations
Geodetic Height (ellipsoidal height) -
The height of a point
above an ellipsoidal surface. The difference between a point's
geodetic height and its orthometric height (height above
ellipsoid) equals the geoidal separation.
Geoid -
A gravity based surface used to represent the physical
surface of the earth. The center of the geoid coincides with the
true center of the earth, and its surface is an equipotential
surface, meaning that at any point the geoid is perpendicular to
the direction of gravity. The geoid can be visualized by
imagining the earth completely covered by water. This water
surface is an equipotential surface since the water flows to
compensate for height differences.
Geoidal Separation (or Geoidal Height) -
The height
difference between the ellipsoidal height and orthometric height
at a given point on the earth’s surface. Worded differently, it is
the separation between the geoid surface and the ellipsoid
surface at a given point on the earth’s surface.
750-1-0093 Rev 1.book Page 99 Friday, June 28, 2002 4:02 PM