Currently, two types of methods are used for the detailed representation of the earth’s gravity potential, namely, integral formulae and approximation techniques. The theoretical advantages and disadvantages of the methods (or of a combination of the methods) are discussed, and the results obtained are compared. If the methods are judged according to their general applicability, flexibility, and possibilities for obtaining error estimates, then approximation techniques like least squares or minimum norm collocation must be preferred. Integral formulae techniques are, on the other hand, well suited in areas with a homogeneous data coverag