Knowledge Bank

The solution of the boundary-value problem of physical geodesy in the case of a reference ellipsoid is given with a relative error of the order of the square of the flattening of the earth. The solution is obtained by representing the disturbing potential at the earth's surface as the potential of a simple layer and by introducing this expression into the boundary condition. If the earth's topography is neglected in the derived solution, a new solution of Stokes' problem for a reference ellipsoid is obtained. As an example, the geodetic boundary-value problem is solved for a mathematical model of the earth.