The Struve Geodetic Arc: the development of the triangulation, technical possibilities, and the initiation of the project

Abstract

The determination of parameters of the Earth's ellipsoid is quite a difficult task that gives no rest to scientists to this day. One of the more famous works is the Struve Geodetic Arc, which was stretched from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean by employing the method of a triangulation network and which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. However, until this project was implemented, many steps of scientific and technological advancement had to be taken, the entirety of which created the conditions for the realization of this project. A study of the method of triangulation measurements, the development of geodetic devices, the state politics of the Russian Empire in the 17th–19th centuries in the field of geodesy, and the development of triangulation during this period are presented in the article. Moreover, a study of the origins of the Struve Geodetic Arc project that led to such a grand result is conducted. The obtained results reveal that certain factors predetermined the favourable conditions for the successful execution of the project of this geodetic arc.