Gravity and geoid

Recognizing the increasing importance of the role of gravity and the geoid, and con sidering the substantial synergistic effects which result from close cooperation, the International Gravity Commission and the International Geoid Commission, both scientific bodies of the International Association of Geodesy, decided to hold a Joint Meeting under the common topic „Gravity and Geoid“ in Graz, Austria, from Sept. 11 - 17, 1994. The earth's gravity field is increasingly attracting the attention of the geosciences for many reasons. As a response of the earth's internal mass distribution, it significantly helps us to understand the structure of the earth and its dynamics. On the other hand, the earth's gravity field controls the orbits of satellites and is of paramount im portance for accurate orbit prediction'. For geodesy the geoid, representing the gravity field, serves as a unique height reference surface. It is the link between satellite-derived positions and useful geodetic coordinates of utmost precision. For oceanography, the offset of the dynamic ocean surface from the geoid is the signal which bears important information about ocean circulation patterns.