Ellipsoidal Height or Geodetic Height (glossary)

Ellipsoidal height, also known as geodetic height h, is the distance of a point from the reference ellipsoid along the perpendicular from the reference ellipsoid to this point, positive if upwards or outside of the reference ellipsoid.

Notes to Entry:

1. Only used as part of a three-dimensional ellipsoidal coordinate system or as part of a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system in a three-dimensional projected coordinate reference system, but never on its own.
2. Ellipsoidal height and geodetic height are registered with the ISO as two separate terms, but in practice are frequently used synonymously.

Sources

ISO TC211. "Ellipsoidal height." In: ISO TC211 Multilingual Glossary. Version from 2020-06-02. Concept ID: 2406. Available at: https://isotc211.geolexica.org/concepts/2406/.

Discussion

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