Krasovskii Ellipsoid

the earth ellipsoid whose dimensions were derived in 1940 at the Central Scientific Research Institute of Geodesy, Aerial Photography, and Cartography by the Soviet geodesist A. A. Izotov on the basis of research conducted under the general direction of F. N. Krasovskii. The dimensions of the Krasovskii ellipsoid were derived from arc and angle measurements made in the USSR, Western Europe, and the United States. Although these arc and angle measurements taken together with determinations of gravity led to the conclusion that the figure of the geoid could be more correctly represented by a triaxial ellipsoid, the Krasovskii ellipsoid was nevertheless adopted as the ellipsoid of revolution, with a semimajor axis (radius of the equator) of 6,378,245 m and polar flattening of 1:298.3.

A decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of Apr. 7, 1946, adopted the Krasovskii ellipsoid for use in geodetic and cartographic work in the USSR, replacing the Bessel earth ellipsoid, which had been used previously and whose dimensions had proved erroneous. The Krasovskii ellipsoid is also used in geodetic and cartographic work in Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, the Korean Democratic People’s Republic, the People’s Republic of China, Poland, Rumania, and Czechoslovakia. In 1952 the State Prize of the USSR was awarded to A. A. Izotov and F. N. Krasovskii (posthumously) for research conducted to establish the shape and dimensions of the earth, which provided the basis for determining the dimensions of the ellipsoid.