Vertical deflection

{
  "id": "MLC-T-IND-006437",
  "term": "Vertical deflection",
  "field": "Industrial and trades",
  "definition": "The angle at a point between the direction of the plumb line and the normal to the reference ellipsoid. It results from irregular mass distribution that bends the Earth's gravity field, and it equals the slope of the geoid relative to the ellipsoid. It is usually split into a north-south component and an east-west component, which are needed to reduce precise geodetic observations to the ellipsoid.",
  "subject": "Surveying",
  "translations": {
    "de": "Lotabweichung",
    "es": "desviación vertical",
    "fr": "déviation de la verticale"
  },
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/industrial/vertical-deflection/"
}