Geosat

The GEOSAT (GEOdetic SATellite) was a U.S. Navy Earth observation satellite, launched on March 12, 1985 into an 800 km, 108° inclination orbit, with a nodal period of about 6040 seconds. The satellite carried a radar altimeter capable of measuring the distance from the satellite to sea surface with a relative precision of about 5 cm. Its 18-month initial phase was a classified Geodetic Mission with a near-23-day repeat that was intended to replicate the orbit of the short-lived Seasat. After this, the satellite was maneuvered into a near-17-day exact repeat for oceanographic research.

==Mission== thumb|Atlas-E OIS (41E) launching Geosat|left|250x250px The Geosat Geodetic Mission goal was to provide information on the marine gravity field. If the ocean surface were at rest, and no forces such as tides or winds were acting on it, the water surface would lie along the geoid. To first order, the Earth shape is an oblate spheroid. Subsurface features such as seamounts create a gravitational pull, and features such as ocean trenches create lower gravity areas. Spatial variations in gravity exert influence on the ocean surface and thereby cause spatial structure in the geoid. The deviations of the geoid from the first order spheroid are on the order of ± 100m. By measuring the position of the water surface above the Earth center, the geoid is observed, and the gravity field can be computed through inverse calculations.