Knowledge Bank

In the past the Eotvos torsion balance has been used only in commercial geophysical explorations and not for geodetic purposes. Even in geophysics after about thirty years of use it was superseded by the faster, and handier gravimeters. The torsion balance offers several possibilities in geodetic applications of which the most important are: the interpolation of deflections of the vertical and of geoid undulations between reference stations, where gravity material is not sufficient; the determination of the geopotential values in a given area for the purpose of leveling reductions; the determination of the radius of curvature of the plumb line for reducing astronomical coordinates to the geoid; and to investigate curvature properties of the equipotential surface for more accurate base line reductions to the ellipsoid of reference. The paper after theoretical considerations accounts for an experiment conducted in the south-west section of Ohio.