A gravimetric quasi-geoid evaluation in the Northern region of Algeria using EGM96 and GPS/Levelling.

Abstract

The use of GPS for the estimation of orthometric heights in a given region, with the help of existing levelling data requires the determination of a local geoid and the bias between the local levelling and the one implicitly defined when the geoid is calculated which is generally based on the gravity anomalies data. The heights of new data can be collected swiftly without using the orthometric heights from levelling; it is what one calls commonly levelling by GPS. In this framework, the Least Squares Collocation method (LSC) has been used to evaluate the quality of the available GPS-Levelling data, to determine a gravimetric geoid in the North region of Algeria and to estimate the constant datum bias. The data used in the setting of this study are: The geopotential model EGM96, a total number of 2534 gravity anomalies, as well as 43 GPS points connected to the geodetic network levelling present on the whole North part of Algerian.