Jon Blower writes:
> (Previous posts mentioned GCMs as possible situations where the
> datum is unknown - is this really true? Surely there is always a
> sphere with a known radius on which coordinates are based?)
It is perfectly possible to configure a GCM out of components with
inconsistent datums.
I would still opt to have an unspecified datum take the value
"unspecified" rather than "unknown". Despite Upendra Dadi's objections,
I still feel my principal objection to specifying the datum is the
implication of precision that does not exist. For instance, if I told
you my model of the Earth was a sphere of radius R, and yours was a
geoid of some kind, you might choose to apply a transformation of some
kind, which in my opinion is completely uncalled for.
--
V. Balaji Office: +1-609-452-6516
Head, Modeling Systems Group, GFDL Home: +1-212-253-6662
Princeton University Email: v.balaji at noaa.gov
Received on Wed Aug 03 2011 - 08:55:36 BST
