How to Read a 10 Digits Utm Coordinates

Cartesian geographic coordinate organization

Layout of a UTM coordinate system.

"Easting and northing" redirects here. Not to exist confused with East north up.

A projected coordinate organization, likewise known every bit a projected coordinate reference organization, a planar coordinate system, or grid reference system, is a type of spatial reference organisation that represents locations on the Earth using cartesian coordinates (x,y) on a planar surface created by a detail map project.^[i] Each projected coordinate system, such as "Universal Transverse Mercator WGS 84 Zone 26N," is divers by a choice of map projection (with specific parameters), a choice of geodetic datum to bind the coordinate system to real locations on the earth, an origin betoken, and a choice of unit of measure.^[two] Hundreds of projected coordinate systems take been specified for various purposes in various regions.

When the first standardized coordinate systems were created during the 20th Century, such as the Universal Transverse Mercator, State Plane Coordinate System, and British National Grid, they were normally chosen grid systems; the term is all the same common in some domains such as the armed services that encode coordinates as alphanumeric grid references. Even so, the term projected coordinate system has recently become predominant to clearly differentiate it from other types of spatial reference arrangement. It is used in international standards such as the EPSG and ISO 19111 (too published by the Open Geospatial Consortium as Abstract Specification ii), and in most geographic information system software.^{[iii] [2]}

History [edit]

1954 AMS map of a portion of the disputed Aksai Chin region, showing the MGRS grid in blue.

The map projection and the Geographic coordinate system (GCS, latitude and longitude) date to the Hellenistic menses, proliferating during the Enlightenment Era of the 18th Century. However, their apply as the ground for specifying precise locations, rather than breadth and longitude, is a 20th Century innovation.

Amidst the earliest was the Land Plane Coordinate System (SPCS), which was developed in the Usa during the 1930s for surveying and engineering, because calculations such equally distance are much simpler in a Cartesian coordinate system than the three-dimensional trigonometry of GCS. In the United Kingdom, the first version of the British National Grid was released in 1938, based on earlier experiments during Earth War I past the Army and the Ordnance Survey.^[iv]

During World State of war Two, modernistic warfare practices required soldiers to quickly and accurately measure and report their location, leading to the press of grids on maps by the U.Due south. Army Map Service (AMS) and other combatants.^[5] Initially, each theater of war was mapped in a custom projection with its own grid and coding system, but this resulted in confusion. This led to the development of the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system, possibly adopted from a system originally developed by the German language Wehrmacht.^[6] To facilitate unambiguous reporting, the alphanumeric Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) was then created as an encoding scheme for UTM coordinates to make them easier to communicate.^[five]

After the State of war, UTM gradually gained users, particularly in the scientific community. Because UTM zones exercise not align with political boundaries, several countries followed the United Kingdom in creating their own national or regional grid systems based on custom projections. The utilise and invention of such systems especially proliferated during the 1980s with the emergence of geographic information systems. GIS requires locations to be specified as precise coordinates and performs numerous calculations on them, making cartesian geometry preferable to spherical trigonometry when calculating horsepower was at a premium. In recent years, the ascent of global GIS datasets and satellite navigation, along with an abundance of processing speed in personal computers, have led to a resurgence in the use of GCS. That said, projected coordinate systems are still very mutual in the GIS data stored in the Spatial Information Infrastructures (SDI) of local areas, such every bit cities, counties, states and provinces, and small countries.

System Specification [edit]

Because the purpose of any coordinate system is to accurately and unambiguously measure, communicate, and perform calculations on locations, information technology must be divers precisely. The EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset is the virtually common mechanism for publishing such definitions in a machine-readable grade, and forms the basis for many GIS and other location-aware software programs.^[iii]

• An abstract two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system that allows for the measurement of each location as a tuple (x, y), which are also called the easting and northing in many systems such equally UTM. Any coordinate arrangement definition must include a planar surface, an origin point, a set of orthogonal axes to define the management of each measurement, and a unit of measure (unremarkably the meter or US foot).
• A choice of map project that creates a planar surface for the coordinate organisation that is continued to locations on the Earth. In addition to the full general type of project (e.grand., Lambert Conformal Conic, Transverse Mercator), a coordinate organization definition will specify the parameters to be used, such as a centre indicate, standard parallels, scale cistron, false origin, and such. With these parameters, the underlying formulas of the projection convert latitude and longitude directly into the (x, y) coordinates of the system.
• A choice of geodetic datum, which includes a choice of earth ellipsoid. This binds the coordinate system to actual locations on the Globe past controlling the measurement framework for latitude and longitude (GCS). Thus, there will be a pregnant difference between the coordinate of a location in "UTM NAD83 Zone 14N" and for the same location in "UTM NAD27 Zone 14N," even though the UTM formulas are identical, considering the underlying latitude and longitude values are different. In some GIS software, this role of the definition is called the choice of a item geographic coordinate system.

Projections [edit]

To constitute the position of a geographic location on a map, a map project is used to convert geodetic coordinates to plane coordinates on a map; it projects the datum ellipsoidal coordinates and height onto a flat surface of a map. The datum, forth with a map project applied to a grid of reference locations, establishes a grid system for plotting locations. Conformal projections are mostly preferred. Mutual map projections include the transverse mercator (used in Universal Transverse Mercator, the British National Grid, the State Plane Coordinate System for some states), Lambert Conformal Conic (some states in the SPCS), and Mercator (Swiss coordinate system).

Map project formulas depend on the geometry of the projection as well every bit parameters dependent on the detail location at which the map is projected. The set of parameters tin vary based on the blazon of projection and the conventions chosen for the projection. For the transverse Mercator project used in UTM, the parameters associated are the latitude and longitude of the natural origin, the false northing and fake easting, and an overall scale factor.^[vii] Given the parameters associated with particular location or grin, the projection formulas for the transverse Mercator are a complex mix of algebraic and trigonometric functions.^{[seven] : 45-54}

Easting-Northing [edit]

Every map projection has a natural origin, e.g., at which the ellipsoid and apartment map surfaces coincide, at which point the projection formulas generate a coordinate of (0,0).^[7] To ensure that the northing and easting coordinates on a map are not negative (thus making measurement, advice, and ciphering easier), map projections may set a false origin, specified in terms of simulated northing and false easting values, that first the true origin. For example, in UTM, the origin of each northern zone is a betoken on the equator 500km due west of the central acme of the zone (the edge of the zone itself is just under 400km to the west). This has the desirable effect of making all coordinates within the zone positive values, being east and north of the origin. Because of this, they are oft referred to every bit the easting and northing.

Grid n [edit]

Filigree northward (GN) is a navigational term referring to the management northwards along the filigree lines of a map projection. It is contrasted with truthful north (the management of the Northward Pole) and magnetic northward (the direction in which a compass needle points). Many topographic maps, including those of the United States Geological Survey and Bang-up Britain'south Ordnance Survey, indicate the deviation between filigree north, truthful north, and magnetic due north.^[8]

The filigree lines on Ordnance Survey maps carve up the United kingdom into one-kilometre squares, east of an imaginary nix point in the Atlantic Sea, w of Cornwall. The grid lines point to a Grid North, varying slightly from True N. This variation is null on the primal meridian (north-due south line) of the map, which is at two degrees West of the Prime Top, and greatest at the map edges. The difference betwixt grid north and true north is very small and can be ignored for most navigation purposes. The difference exists because the correspondence between a flat map and the round Globe is necessarily imperfect.

At the Southward Pole, grid north conventionally points northwards forth the Prime Meridian.^[9] Since the meridians converge at the poles, true east and west directions change rapidly in a condition similar to gimbal lock. Grid n solves this problem.

Grid reference encodings [edit]

Locations in a projected coordinate system, similar whatever cartesian coordinate organization, are measured and reported equally easting/northing or (x, y) pairs. The pair is usually represented conventionally with easting first, northing 2d. For example, the top of Mount Assiniboine (at 50°52′ten″North 115°39′03″W  /  50.86944°Northward 115.65083°W  / 50.86944; -115.65083 on the British Columbia/Alberta border in Canada) in UTM Zone 11 is at (0594934mE, 5636174mN), pregnant that is most 600km east of the false origin for Zone 11 (95km east of the true central meridian at 117°W) and 5.6 million meters north of the equator.

While such precise numbers are easy to shop and summate in GIS and other computer databases, they tin can be hard for humans to remember and communicate. Thus, since the mid 20th Century, there have been culling encodings that shorten the numbers or convert the numbers into some form of alphanumeric string.

For case, a truncated grid reference may be used where the general location is already known to participants and may be assumed.^[10] Because the (leading) near pregnant digits specify the part of the globe and the (trailing) least significant digits provide a precision that is not needed in most circumstances, they may exist unnecessary for some uses. This permits users to shorten the example coordinates to 949-361 by concealing 05nnn34 56nnn74, assuming the significant digits (3,iv, and 5 in this case) are known to both parties.^[xi]

Alphanumeric encodings typically utilise codes to supercede the most significant digits past partitioning the earth up into large grid squares. For example, in the Military Grid Reference Organization, the above coordinate is in grid 11U (representing UTM Zone 11 5xxxxxx mN), and grid cell NS within that (representing the second digit 5xxxxxmE x6xxxxxm N), and every bit many remaining digits every bit are needed are reported, yielding an MGRS grid reference of 11U NS 949 361 (or 11U NS 9493 3617 or 11U NS 94934 36174).

A typical map with grid lines

The Ordnance Survey National Filigree (United Kingdom) and other national grid systems use similar approaches. In Ordnance Survey maps, each Easting and Northing grid line is given a two-digit code, based on the British national grid reference system with an origin point just off the southwest coast of the United Kingdom. The area is divided into 100 km squares, each of which is denoted past a two-letter lawmaking. Within each 100 km square, a numerical grid reference is used. Since the Eastings and Northings are one kilometre apart, a combination of a Northing and an Easting will give a four-digit grid reference describing a one-kilometre square on the ground. The convention is the grid reference numbers call out the lower-left corner of the desired foursquare. In the instance map to a higher place, the boondocks Little Plumpton lies in the square 6901, even though the writing which labels the town is in 6802 and 6902, virtually of the buildings (the orange boxed symbols) are in square 6901.

Precision [edit]

The more digits added to a grid reference, the more precise the reference becomes. To locate a specific building in Little Plumpton, a farther ii digits are added to the four-digit reference to create a six-digit reference. The extra two digits depict a position within the 1-kilometre square. Imagine (or describe or superimpose a Romer) a farther 10x10 filigree within the current grid square. Any of the 100 squares in the superimposed 10×ten grid can exist accurately described using a digit from 0 to 9 (with 0 0 beingness the lesser left square and 9 9 being the pinnacle right square).

For the church in Piddling Plumpton, this gives the digits half dozen and vii (6 on the left to right axis (Eastings) and 7 on the bottom to elevation centrality (Northings). These are added to the four-figure grid reference after the two digits describing the same coordinate centrality, and thus our six-figure grid reference for the church becomes 696017. This reference describes a 100-metre past 100-metre square, and non a single bespeak, merely this precision is ordinarily sufficient for navigation purposes. The symbols on the map are not precise in whatever case, for example the church in the example higher up would be approximately 100x200 metres if the symbol was to scale, so in fact, the middle of the blackness square represents the map position of the existent church, independently of the bodily size of the church.

Filigree references comprising larger numbers for greater precision could be determined using large-scale maps and an accurate Romer. This might exist used in surveying but is non by and large used for land navigating for walkers or cyclists, etc. The growing availability and decreasing price of handheld GPS receivers enables determination of accurate grid references without needing a map, but information technology is of import to know how many digits the GPS displays to avoid reading off just the start six digits. A GPS unit unremarkably gives a 10-digit grid reference, based on ii groups of five numbers for the Easting and Northing values. Each successive increase in precision (from half-dozen digit to 8 digit to ten digit) pinpoints the location more precisely past a gene of x. Since, in the UK at to the lowest degree, a 6-effigy grid reference identifies a square of 100-metre sides, an 8-figure reference would place a 10-metre square, and a 10-digit reference a 1-metre foursquare. In social club to give a standard 6-figure grid reference from a 10-effigy GPS readout, the quaternary, 5th, 9th and tenth digits must be omitted, so it is important not to read merely the first 6 digits.

Examples of Projected CRS [edit]

UTM zones on an equirectangular world map with irregular zones in red

• Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM): not a unmarried coordinate organization, but a series of lx zones (each being a gore 6° wide), each a system with its own Transverse Mercator projection.
• Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS): a pair of coordinate systems covering the Arctic and Antarctica using a Stereographic projection.
• Ordnance Survey National Grid (OSNG): a transverse mercator project centered on ii°Due west that covers Groovy Uk with its ain encoding scheme.
• State Plane Coordinate Arrangement (SPCS): another blended system of more than 120 coordinate systems (zones), each covering a land of the United States or a portion thereof.
• Swiss coordinate system (LV95): covers Switzerland, using a Mercator projection.
• Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM): jointly created past the Ireland and Uk to embrace the island of Ireland.
• Bermuda National Grid
• Hellenic Geodetic Reference System 1987 (Greece)
• Israeli Transverse Mercator (NIG)
• Swedish grid (RT90)

See as well [edit]

• E north up
• Geocodes
• Geodetic datum
• Geographical distance
• Graticule (cartography)
• Horizontal airplane
• Map projection
• Spatial reference system
• Spatial grid

References [edit]

1. ^ Chang, Kang-tsung (2016). Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (9th ed.). McGraw-Loma. p. 34. ISBN978-one-259-92964-nine.
2. ^ ^{a b} "OGC Abstract Specification Topic 2: Referencing by coordinates Corrigendum". Open Geospatial Consortium . Retrieved 2018-12-25 .
3. ^ ^{a b} "Using the EPSG geodetic parameter dataset, Guidance Annotation 7-i". EPSG Geodetic Parameter Dataset. Geomatic Solutions. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
4. ^ Russell, Don. "Agreement Maps: The British National Filigree". Uncharted 101 . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
5. ^ ^{a b} Raisz, Erwin (1948). Full general Cartography. McGraw-Hill. pp. 225–229.
6. ^ Buchroithner, Manfred; Pfahlbusch, René (2017). "Geodetic grids in authoritative maps – new findings about the origin of the UTM Filigree". Cartography and Geographic Information Science. 44 (iii): 186–200. doi:10.1080/15230406.2015.1128851.
7. ^ ^{a b c} "Geomatics Guidance Note Number 7, part 2 Coordinate Conversions and Transformations including Formulas" (PDF). International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP). pp. 9–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on half-dozen March 2014. Retrieved v March 2014.
8. ^ Estopinal, Stephen V. (2009). A Guide to Agreement Land Surveys. John Wiley & Sons. p. 35. ISBN978-0-470-23058-nine.
9. ^ "Moving the South Pole" Archived 2011-07-sixteen at the Wayback Auto, NASA Quest
10. ^ "Truncated Grid References". Bivouac.com – Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia. 2006-xi-17.
11. ^ "Grids and Reference Systems". National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 4 March 2014.

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projected_coordinate_system