Geometrical Theory of Satellite Orbits and Gravity Field

Dr.-Ing. Drazen Svehla graduated from the University of Zagreb in Croatia with the highest grade average in the history of the faculty and received two Rector's Prizes for his work. His Diploma thesis was about GPS and determination of the geoid surface with cm accuracy, with Prof. K. Colic from the University of Zagreb and Prof. H. Moritz from TU Graz. He continued with his Ph.D. at TU München, where he worked with Prof. M. Rothacher on the precise orbit determination of satellites in the LEO orbit with GPS, covering all aspects of space geodesy, including determination of the reference frame of the Earth. During the same period, he also worked with Prof. R. Rummel on spherical harmonics and modelling of gravity field of the Earth. After Prof. M. Rothacher moved to ETH Zürich, Drazen continued working with him. This work resulted in his PhD thesis, which in turn led to this book, about 10 papers, 90 conference talks all over the world and 30 invited talks at various research institutions and universities. Drazen has also served as Chairman of the ESA Topical Team on Geodesy, he has organized one ESA conference and served as a convener at several international conferences. He is enthusiastic about novel ideas related to all aspects of space geodesy, aerospace and astrodynamics.