Establishment of local geometric geoid model for Busoga, Uganda

Abstract

The importance of the local geoid model for the computation of accurate geoid heights, as well as orthometric heights used for engineering constructions, necessitated its establishment in areas, regions or countries. Consequently, this study establishes the local geometric geoid model of Busoga, Uganda, using the geometric method. A total of 26 points were used in the study, 20 points for the development of the model and 6 test points. GNSS observations were acquired with Trimble GNSS dual-frequency receivers and processed with Bernese (V5.2) and Spectra Precision Survey Office (v4.1) software to obtain the coordinates and ellipsoidal heights of the points. Differences between the existing orthometric and ellipsoidal heights were computed to obtain the geoid heights. The Least squares adjustment technique was applied to determine the fit, as well as the Bicubic and Multiquadratic models’ parameters. The Root Mean Squares Error (RMSE) index was used to compute the accuracy of the models. The geoid models were compared with their RMSE, as well as accuracy to determine which of them is more suitable for application in the study area. The comparison result shows that the Multiquadratic geoid model is more suitable for implementation in the study area. A Microsoft Excel program was developed for the application of the model in the study area.