What is a coordinate system? * Acoordinate system is a reference system used to represent the locations of geographic features, imagery, and observations, within a common geographic framework. * Coordinate systems enable geographic datasets to use common locations for integration.What is a coordinate system? Each coordinate system is defined by: Its measurement framework, — geographic (in which spherical coordinates are measured from the earth's center) or = planimetric (in which the earth's coordinates are projected onto a two-dimensional planar surface) Units of measurement (e.g. feet/meters for projected coordinate systems or decimal degrees for lat/long) The definition of the map projection for projected coordinate systems Other measurement system properties such as a spheroid of reference, a datum, one or more standard parallels, a central meridian, and possible shifts in the x- and y-directionsTypes of Coordinate Systems * Aglobal or spherical coordinate system such as latitude-longitude. — Also referred to as geographic coordinate systems. * A projected coordinate system such as (UTM), represented by Cartesian coordinate plane. — Projected coordinate systems are referred to as map projections.Geographic Coordinate Systems * A geographic coordinate system (GCS) uses a 3D spherical surface to define locations on the earth. * AGCS includes an angular unit of measure, a prime meridian, and a datum (based ona spheroid). * The spheroid defines the size and shape of the earth model, while the datum connects the spheroid to the earth's surface.Positions on Globe: Lines of Reference Figure: 1 Figure: 3 ese: Pas rime Figure: 2Latitude “Latitude is the angular distance of any point on Earth measured north or south of the Equator in degrees, minutes and seconds” At poles (North and South Poles) latitudes are 90° North and 90° South 90°N At equator latitude is 0° The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres () Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 km) (variation because Earth is not a perfect sphere) 90° sLines of Equal Latitudes anes of constant latitude are called parallels of latitude (horizontal ines Parallel lines at an equal distance On Globe lines of latitude are circles of different radii Equator is the longest circle with zero latitude also called ‘Great Circle’ (24,901.55 miles) Other lines of latitudes are called “Small Circles’ At poles the circles shrink to a point Circle of Equator is divided into 360 degrees In figure, lines of Latitude or ParallelsSome Important Small Circles * Tropic of Cancer — At 23.5°N of Equator and runs through Mexico, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India and southern China. * Tropic of Capricorn — At 23.5°S of Equator and runs through Chile, Southern Brazil, South Africa and Australia. * Arctic and Antarctic Circles — At 66° 33’ 39” N and 66° 33’ 39” S respectivelyMap of the World SeLongitude “Longitude is the angular distance of any point on Earth measured east or west of the prime meridian in degrees, minutes and seconds” eae from 0° to 180° east and 180° west (or - 180° The meridian at 0° is called Prime Meridian located at Greenwich, UK Both 180-degree longitudes (east and west) share the same line, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where Prime they form the /nternational Date Line .o. Meridian = 1 degree of Longitude= W 180: 180° E — 69.17 mi at Equator — 48.99 mi at 45N/S. - 0.0 mi at 90N/SLines of Equal Longitude Lines of Longitude (vertical lines/meridians They are also called Meridians Meridians converge at the poles and are widest at the equator about 69 miles or 111 km apart On Globe lines of longitude are circles of constant radius which extend from pole to pole In figure, lines of longitude or meridian* Royal Astronomical Observatory in i Greenwich, EnglandLatitude/Longitude Formats * — Lat/long coordinates can be specified in different formats: 1. DD.MM.SSXX (degree, minute, decimal second) 2, DD.MMXxX (degree, decimal minute) 3. DDXX (decimal degree) How to convert degree, minute, decimal second format into decimal degree? — Decimal degree = (Seconds/3600) + (Minutes/60) + Degrees * In class exercise: DD conversion of24° 48' 58” N 66° 59'E