A new method to transform from Cartesian to geodetic coordinates is presented. It is based on the solution of a system of nonlinear equations with respect to the coordinates of the point projected onto the ellipsoid along the normal. Newton's method and a modification of Newton's method were applied to give third-order convergence. The method developed was compared to some well known iterative techniques. All methods were tested on three ellipsoidal height ranges: namely, (-10 -10 km) (terrestrial), (20 -1000 km), and (1000 -36000 km) (satellite). One iteration of the presented method, implemented with the third-order convergence modified Newton's method, is necessary to obtain a satisfactory level of accuracy for the geodetic latitude (σ ϕ < 0.0004") and height (σ h < 10 −6 km, i.e. less than a millimetre) for all the heights tested. The method is slightly slower than the method of Fukushima (2006) and Fukushima's (1999) fast implementation of Bowring's (1976) method.

The paper presents results of the transformation between two height systems Kronstadt’60 and Kronstadt’86 within the area of Krakow’s district, the latter system being nowadays a part of National Spatial Reference System in Poland. The transformation between the two height systems was carried out based on the well known and frequently applied in geodesy polynomial regression. Despite the fact it is well known and frequently applied it is rather seldom broader tested against the optimal degree of a polynomial function, goodness of fit and its predictive capabilities. In this study some statistical tests, measures and techniques helpful in analyzing a polynomial transformation function (and not only) have been used.

In these paper are presented two ways of performing leveling through terrain obstacles.

A geoid or quasigeoid model allows the integration of satellite measurements with ground levelling measurements in valid height systems. A precise quasigeoid model has been developed for the city of Krakow. One of the goals of the model construction was to provide a more detailed quasigeoid course than the one offered by the national model PL-geoid2011. Only four measurement points in the area of Kraków were used to build a national quasigeoid model. It can be assumed that due to the small number of points and their uneven distribution over the city area, the quasigeoid can be determined less accurately. It became the reason for developing a local quasigeoid model based on a larger number of evenly distributed points. The quasigeoid model was based on 66 evenly distributed points (from 2.5 km to 5.0 km apart) in the study area. The process of modelling the quasigeoid used height anomalies determined at these points on the basis of normal heights derived through levelling and ellipsoidal heights derived through GNSS surveys. Height anomalies coming from the global geopotential model EGM2008 served as a long-wavelength trend in those derived from surveys. Analyses showed that the developed height anomaly model fits the empirical data at the level of single millimetres – mean absolute difference 0.005 m. The developed local model QuasigeoidKR2019, similar to the national model PL-geoid2011, are models closely related to the reference and height systems in Poland. Such models are used to integrate GNSS and levelling observations. A comparison of the local QuasigeoidKR2019 and national PL-geoid2011 model was made for the reference frame PL-ETRF2000 and height datum PL-KRON86-NH. The comparison of the two models with respect to GNSS/levelling height anomalies shows a triple reduction in the values of individual quartiles and a mean absolute difference for the developed local model. These summary statistics clearly indicate that the accuracy of the local model for the city of Krakow is significantly higher than that of the national one.

The paper describes the problem of conversion of heights to the European Vertical Reference Frame 2007 for Poland (PL-EVRF2007-NH). The subject of the study is height data, and especially the detailed vertical reference network. The aim of the article is to present an alternative method of conversion to the one recommended by the Polish Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography. The proposed approach is characterised by a low implementation cost while maintaining the required accuracy.The publication is illustrated by the case of Kętrzyn district (in the north-east part of Poland). The local reference network was converted from Kronstad’60 to PL-EVRF2007-NH in 2017.