Bessel ellipsoid

E579588

The Bessel ellipsoid is a historical reference ellipsoid of the Earth defined in the 19th century for geodetic and cartographic purposes, particularly in Europe.

Jump to: Statements Referenced by

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Earth ellipsoid
geodetic datum component
reference ellipsoid
accuracyContext local best-fit rather than global best-fit
application geodesy
map projection definition
surveying
category European reference ellipsoid
comparedTo Clarke 1866 ellipsoid NERFINISHED
Hayford 1909 ellipsoid NERFINISHED
computationBasis astronomical observations
geodetic measurements
coordinateSystemUse geodetic coordinates (latitude, longitude, ellipsoidal height)
datumRealization local best-fit to Europe
datumUse Asian geodetic networks
European geodetic networks
definedBy Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel NERFINISHED
definitionYear 1841
epoch 19th century
flattening 0.003342773182
geometryType rotational ellipsoid
historicalImportance one of the first rigorously computed Earth ellipsoids
inverseFlattening 299.1528128
namedAfter Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel NERFINISHED
parameterSet semi-major axis and flattening
referenceBody Earth NERFINISHED
regionOfBestFit Central Europe NERFINISHED
Europe NERFINISHED
replacedBy GRS80 ellipsoid NERFINISHED
WGS84 ellipsoid NERFINISHED
semiMajorAxis 6377397.155 m
semiMinorAxis 6356078.963 m
status historical
surfaceType oblate spheroid
unitOfParameters metre
usedFor cartography
topographic mapping
triangulation networks
usedIn Austrian geodetic surveys
German geodetic datum
Japanese geodetic datum (Tokyo datum)
Nordic geodetic systems (historical)
Prussian geodetic surveys
usedUntil late 20th century in some national systems
usedWithProjection Gauss–Krüger projection NERFINISHED
Transverse Mercator projection NERFINISHED

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Friedrich Bessel hasEponym Bessel ellipsoid
Friedrich Bessel notableFor Bessel ellipsoid