Dear Colleagues,

Over last few decades, rapid advances in new and maturing geodesy techniques have revolutionized geodesy. Geodesy has grown rapidly and there are crucial geodetic applications in different scientific fields now. We need to summarize the current status of the field and articulate new and emerging research opportunities in geodesy and interdisciplinary applications.

High-resolution topography data and precise geodetic measurements now can be obtained. Since 1994, when GPS achieved its Full Operational Capacity (FOC), Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) developed quickly. GNSS, including GPS, GLONASS, Compass, and developing Galileo, can provide more accurate measurements. Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites enable us to observe the movement of mass near the Earth’s surface. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) helps us to obtain extraordinary images of active faults. Using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), we can measure Earth surface deformation. These measurements provide different tools to study Earth in different ways. How to use them efficiently need to be discussed.

Least-Squares Estimation (LSE) is commonly used in geodesy data processing. However, it cannot resist the gross-error in geodetic measurements. Further, many kinds of spatial measurements are not linear. In this situation, LSE may not be the best choice for data processing. Thus, some non-linear models have been proposed, such as Grey Model (GM), neural network model, and Support Vector Machine (SVM). These models sometimes can provide a better precision, especially in prediction. Thus, how to choose an appropriate model in geodetic data processing is one of the most important factors need to be taken into account.

With precise geodetic measurements and new data processing methods, in addition to the science of observing and understanding the Earth’s shape and rotation, geodesy has been used in a wide range of scientific fields. GNSS measurements, accompanied by SAR data, are used to remotely sense the Earth’s surface and atmosphere. Some notable emerging applications include monitoring sea ice, soil moisture, snow depth, sea level change, and smog pollution. What else geodesy can do in our everyday lives? It is an interesting question.

Therefore, though geodesy has achieved notable progress, there are still some challenging problems that need to be addressed. How do we integrate geodetic measurements to meet the requirements of understanding and modelling Earth changes? Which data processing model works well for natural disaster prediction? What is a new research field in geodesy? These are issues that need to be discussed. Selected topics will focus on these aspects.

Special Issue topics:

• Overview current geodesy research fields and applications
• Data processing methods and their performance
• Integration of geodetic measurements
• Applications in new research fields

The issue may include, but is not limited to, the above-mentioned topics.

Prof. Dr. Zhao-Liang Li
Prof. Dr. Jose A. Sobrino
Prof. Dr. Chao Ren
Guest Editors

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