COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THREE PLANE GEOMETRIC GEOID SURFACES FOR ORTHOMETRIC HEIGHT MODELLING IN KAMPALA, UGANDA

International audience The conversion of theoretical, as well as geometric heights to practical heights requires the application of geoidal undulations from a geoid model. The various global geopotential models that are readily available for application in any part of the world do not best-fit regions, as well as countries. As a result, there is a need to determine the local geoid models of local areas, regions and countries. This study determines the local geoid model of Kampala in Uganda for orthometric heights computation by comparing three plane geometric geoid surfaces. A total of 19 points were used in the study. The least squares adjustment technique was applied to compute the models' parameters. Microsoft Excel programs were developed for the application of the models in the study area. The Root Mean Square Index was applied to compute the accuracy of the models. The three geometric geoid models were compared using their accuracy to determine which of them is most suitable for application in the study area. The comparison results show that the three models can be applied in the study area with more reliability, with greater confidence in model 2.