The use of minimum curvature surface technique in geoid computation processing of Egypt

According to the wide spread use of satellite-based positioning techniques, especially Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), a greater attention has been paid to the precise determination of geoid models. As it is known, leveling measurements require high cost and long time in observation process that make it not convenient for the practical geodetic purposes. Thus obtaining the orthometric heights by GNSS is the most conventional way of determining these heights. Verifying this goal was the main objective behind the current research. The current research introduces a numerical solution of geoid modeling by applying a surface fitting for a few sparse data points of geoid undulation using minimum curvature surface (MCS). The MCS is presented for deriving a system of linear equations from boundary integral equations. To emphasize the precise applicability of the MCS as a tool for modeling the geoid in an area using GPS/leveling data, a comparison study between EGM2008 and MCS geoid models, is performed. The obtained results showed that MCS technique is a precise tool for determining the geoid in Egypt either on regional and/or local scale with law distortion at check points.