geoid

noun

1. The shape, extending through landmasses (continents, etc.), that the surface of the oceans of the Earth would take under the influence of the Earth's gravity and rotation alone, disregarding other factors such as winds and tides; that is, a surface of constant gravitational potential at zero elevation.

   “In an earlier paper at Berkeley last year [Durbin, 1963], I suggested correlations between the local crust and the corresponding geoid undulation. Comparisons of crustal thickness with various geoids (gravimetric, astrogeodetic, and satellite) showed a general compatibility, not only in the United States but also in various other parts of the world.”

   “This paper deals with the accuracy of a geoid computed using local gravity data supplemented by a global potential model. Local gravity can only correct the global model for wavelengths less than about one third of the dimension of local data, so any longer wavelength errors in the global geoid remain in the local model.”