Geodesy also named geodetics, a branch of earth sciences, is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

, including its gravitational field

Gravitational field

The gravitational field is a model used in physics to explain the existence of gravity. In its original concept, gravity was a force between point masses...

, in a three-dimensional time-varying space. Geodesists also study geodynamic

Geodynamics

Geodynamics is a subfield of geophysics dealing with dynamics of the Earth. It applies physics, chemistry and mathematics to the understanding of how mantle convection leads to plate tectonics and geologic phenomena such as seafloor spreading, mountain building, volcanoes, earthquakes, faulting and...

al phenomena such as crustal

Crust (geology)

In geology, the crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet or natural satellite, which is chemically distinct from the underlying mantle...

 motion, tide

Tide

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

s, and polar motion

Polar motion

Polar motion of the earth is the movement of Earth's rotational axis across its surface. This is measured with respect to a reference frame in which the solid Earth is fixed...

. For this they design global and national control network

Control network

In geodesy and surveying a control network or simply control, is a set of reference-points of known geospatial coordinates. The higher-order control points are normally defined in both space and time using global or space techniques, and are used for "lower-order" points to be tied into...

s, using space

Space techniques

In geodesy, the term Space techniques includes modern measuring methods which make use of artificial satellites, interplanetary space probes and of quasars....

 and terrestrial techniques while relying on datums and coordinate system

Coordinate system

In geometry, a coordinate system is a system which uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the position of a point or other geometric element. The order of the coordinates is significant and they are sometimes identified by their position in an ordered tuple and sometimes by...

s.
Geodesy (from Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 γεωδαισία – geodaisia, lit.