CONSIDERATION OF VARIOUS TERRESTIAL COORDINATE SYSTEMS

Walter B. Nash

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	The normal method of locating a point on the earth is by its latitude and longitude. Possibly it would be profitable to review the definitions which develop this system. The line through the earth about which it rotates is called the axis. The points where the axis intersects the surface of the earth are the poles. A great circle of the earth is the intersection of any plane containing the earth’s center with the surface of the earth. The great circles which include the poles are called meridians. The prime meridian is the meridian passing from the North Pole through the observatory at Greenwich. The longitude of a point is the angle formed by the meridian through that point and the prime meridian. The great circle perpendicular to the meridians is called the equator. The small circles parallel to the equator are called parallels of latitude. Latitude is the angular displacement from the equator measured by the arc of the meridian between the point and the equator. Departure is the linear distance between two meridians measured along a parallel of latitude.
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 3, Number 4
Pages:	123 - 128
Cite this article:	Nash, Walter B., "CONSIDERATION OF VARIOUS TERRESTIAL COORDINATE SYSTEMS", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1952-1953, pp. 123-128.
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