The new structure of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) viewed from the perspective of history G. Beutler1, H. Drewes2, A. Verdun1 (1) Astronomical Institute, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH – 3012 Bern, Switzerland e-mail:
[email protected],
[email protected] (2) Deutsches Geodätisches Forschungsinstitut, Marstallplatz 8, D – 80539 Munich, Germany e-mail:
[email protected] Abstract. The IAG Executive Committee and the IAG tion (containing specialized concepts) and with dedicated Council decided to invoke a thorough review of the IAG observation methods. In the 1880s, Friedrich Robert Hel- and its structure with the goal to create a new, hopefully mert (see Fig.1) compiled and refined the mathematical and simpler structure, meeting the needs of the 21st century, at physical theories related to geodesy in his two-volume the IAG General Assembly in Birmingham in 1999. The oeuvre Helmert (1880). He defined the so-called higher new structure was implemented in 2003 at the XXIII-rd geodesy as the methods to determine the equipotential sur- IUGG General Assembly in Sapporo. The new structure faces and to measure parts of the Earth's surface of arbi- should trary size by horizontal projection and heights considering the shapes of the equipotential surfaces. − have a focus − be based on the three pillars of modern geodesy, According to Torge (2001) and (Torge1996), geodesy is namely the geometric shape of the Earth, the the science of the measurement of the Earth's surface and orientation of the Earth in space, and the Earth’s its external gravity field including temporal variations.