How does your cell phone know where you are right now? How is our planet changing due to geodynamic processes and ongoing climate change? How can these changes be precisely measured from space in order to obtain reliable information about the melting of ice sheets or the threat to coastal regions from rising sea levels? This popular science book provides answers to these and many other socially relevant questions. It is aimed at interested nonprofessionals who want to learn more about our fascinating planet, but also at experts in natural sciences. You are taken on an exciting journey through time from the first surveys in ancient times to the satellite era, which is providing us with a global view of our home planet. Illustrative examples demonstrate how deeply global positioning and navigation with satellites pervade our daily life, and what fundamental contributions geodesy makes to understanding the Earth system and determining the effects of climate change. With interview contributions by Gunter Hein, Harald Lesch and Stefan Rahmstorf. This book is a translation of the original German 1st edition Mission Erde by Detlef Angermann et al., published by Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature in 2021. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). Content and language were subsequently revised by the authors. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors.

This standard textbook covers in its extensively revised 5th edition all main directions of geodesy, providing the theoretical background as well as modern principles of measurement and evaluation methods. Today’s geodetic work is comprehensively presented by numerous examples of instruments. New: Novel geodetic reference system; Future gravity field mission concepts and technologies; Principle of quantum gravimetry.

Woher weiß Ihr Handy, wo Sie gerade unterwegs sind? Wie verändert sich unser Planet aufgrund von geodynamischen Prozessen und dem fortschreitenden Klimawandel? Wie können diese Veränderungen präzise aus dem Weltraum vermessen werden, um verlässliche Aussagen etwa über das Abschmelzen der Eisschilde oder die Bedrohung von Küstenregionen durch den steigenden Meeresspiegel zu erhalten? Das vorliegende Sachbuch gibt Antworten auf diese gesellschaftlich relevanten Fragen. Es richtet sich an interessierte Laien, die mehr über unseren faszinierenden Planeten erfahren wollen, aber auch an Fachexperten naturwissenschaftlicher Disziplinen. Sie werden mitgenommen auf eine spannende Zeitreise von den ersten Vermessungen in der Antike bis in das Zeitalter der Satelliten, die uns die weltweite Bestimmung von extrem genauen Positionen und eine globale Sicht auf unseren Heimatplaneten ermöglichen. Anhand anschaulicher Beispiele wird vermittelt, wie tief die globale Positionierung und Navigation mit Satelliten unseren Alltag durchdrungen haben, und welche fundamentalen Beiträge die Geodäsie als die Wissenschaft von der Vermessung der Erde zum Verständnis des Erdsystems und zur Bestimmung der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels liefert. Mit Interviewbeiträgen von Günter Hein, Harald Lesch und Stefan Rahmstorf

This book provides a collection of selected articles that have been submitted to the Earth Observation and Global Changes (EOGC2011) Conference. All articles have been carefully reviewed by an international board of top-level experts. The book covers a wide variety of topics including Physical Geodesy, Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing, High-Resolution and Fast-Revisiting Remote Sensing Satellite Systems, Global Change & Change Detection, Spatial Modelling, GIS & Geovisualization. The articles document concrete results of current studies related to Earth Sciences. The book is intended for researchers and experts working in the area of Spatial Data Analysis, Environmental Monitoring/Analysis, Global Change Monitoring and related fields.

This book provides a collection of selected articles that have been submitted to the Earth Observation and Global Changes (EOGC2011) Conference. All articles have been carefully reviewed by an international board of top-level experts. The book covers a wide variety of topics including Physical Geodesy, Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing, High-Resolution and Fast-Revisiting Remote Sensing Satellite Systems, Global Change & Change Detection, Spatial Modelling, GIS & Geovisualization. The articles document concrete results of current studies related to Earth Sciences. The book is intended for researchers and experts working in the area of Spatial Data Analysis, Environmental Monitoring/Analysis, Global Change Monitoring and related fields.

These proceedings include selected papers from the International Review Workshop on Satellite Altimetry Cal/Val Activities and Applications, held in Chania, Crete, Greece, on 23-26 April 2018. Organised in the context of the European Space Agency Project "Fiducial Reference Measurements for Altimetry" the workshop was cosponsored by the International Association of Geodesy (in particular by the IAG Commission 2, Gravity Field), the European Space Agency, the European Union (the Copernicus Programme), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Space Geomatica P.C., and the Municipality of Chania. The workshop presented the latest research in the field of satellite altimetry calibration and altimetry applications for monitoring ocean changes and improving Earth observation in an objective, continuous, homogeneous and reliable manner, free of errors and biases. Further, it supported long-term monitoring of climate change by providing a better understanding of environmental changes in the world's oceans, terrestrial surface waters, and Arctic and Antarctic Regions. The outcome was the creation of a scientific roadmap with procedures, protocols, guidelines, and best practices to help international groups working on satellite altimetry to establish SI (Systeme International d'Unites) traceability of their measurements, results and data products.