Geodesy is the science of accurately measuring and understanding three fundamental properties of the Earth: its geometric shape, its orientation in space, and its gravity field as well as the changes of these properties over time. In the modern era, techniques such as radar and lidar are included under the rubric of imaging geodesy. Space offers a unique vantage point for geodesy, enabling a global view and the highest precision of measurement, opening up research opportunities not accessible from ground.

Scientists at CSR have been involved in all aspects of satellite geodesy over 4 decades with acquisition, analysis and interpretation of measurements made from space. Space geodetic techniques have helped us study a variety of Earth processes over a range of spatial and temporal scales, such as – tides of solid Earth, tides of the Oceans, dynamics and circulation of the atmosphere, continental and regional hydrology and water storage, mass change, motions of glaciers, ocean dynamics and circulations, sea level change, crustal motions, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanos, glacial isostatic adjustment, polar motion etc.