Systems

Coordinate

Required readings:
Coordinate systems:19-1 to 19-6.
State plane coordinate systems: 20-1 to 20-5 to 20-7,
20-10, and 20-12.

Required figures:
Coordinate systems: 19-1, 19-2, 19-6, 19-7 and 19-8.
State plane coordinate systems: 20-1 to 20-3, 20-10.
Recommended, not required, readings: 19-7 to 19-11,
20-11, and 20-13.

Coordinate Systems

Geoid and Ellipsoid, what for?

Ellipsoid Parameters

Ellipsoid parameters (equations not required):

semi-major axes (a), semi-minor axes (b)
e=
= first
eccentricity
a 2 b 2
b2

N = normal length =

a
e2

sin 2

Great circles and meridians

Two main ellipsoids in North America:

Clarke ellipsoid of 1866, on which NAD27 is based

Geodetic Reference System of 1980 (GRS80): on which NAD83 is
based.
For lines up to 50 km, a sphere of equal volume can be used

Geodetic Coordinate System

System components, coordinates

Geodetic System Coordinates

Definitions :
Geodetic latitude (): the angle in the meridian
plane of the point between the equator and the normal
to the ellipsoid through that point.

Geodetic longitude (): the angle along the equator

between the Greenwich and the point meridians

Height above the ellipsoid (h)

Universal Space Rectangular System

System definition, X, Y, Z
Advantage and disadvantage
X, Y, Z from geodetic coordinates
X = (N+h) cos cos
Y = (N+h) cos sin
Z = ( N(1-e2) +h) sin

State Plane Coordinate Systems

Plane rectangular systems, why use them

Can we just use a single 2D Cartesian coordinate
system, (X, Y), origin Southwest of California?
The answer is that the distortions because of that flat
surface will be big, we have to use systems that
cover smaller areas to limit the distortions. They are
the state plane coordinate systems in the US
How to construct them: Project the earths surface onto a
developable surface.

Two major projections: Lambert Conformal Conic, and

Transverse Mercator.

Secants no distortions

Secants no distortions

Secants, Scales, and Distortions

Scale is exact along the secants, smaller than

true in between.
Distortions are larger as you move away from
the secants, we limit the width to limit
distortions

Zone of limited distortion (1:10,000),

158 miles

Zones of limited
distortion
(1:10,000), 158
miles

Choosing a Projection

States extending East-west: Lambert Conical

States extending North-South: Mercator
Cylindrical.
A single surface will provide a single zone.
Maximum zone width is 158 miles to limit
distortions to 1:10,000. States longer than 158 mi,
use more than one zone (projection).

Standard Parallels & Central

Meridians

Standard Parallels: the secants, no distortion

along them. At 1/6 of zone width from zone edges

Central Meridians: a meridian at the middle of

the zone, defines the direction of the Y axis.
The Y axis points to the grid north, which is the
geodetic north only at the central meridian
To compute the grid azimuth ( from grid north)
from geodetic azimuth ( from geodetic north):
grid azimuth = geodetic azimuth -

Geodetic and SPCS

Control points in
SPCS are initially
computed from
Geodetic
coordinates (direct
problem). If
NAD27 is used the
result is SPCS27. If
NAD83 is used, the
result is SPCS83.

Define: , R, Rb, C,
and how to get
them.

Direct and Inverse Problems

Direct (Forward):
given: , get X, Y?
Solution: X = R sin + C

Y = Rb - R cos
Whenever is used, it is -ve west (left) of the central meridian.

= geodetic azimuth - grid azimuth

Indirect (Inverse): Solve the above mentioned equations to
compute R, and . Use tables to compute , .
In both cases, use a computer program whenever is
available. Wolfpack can do it, see next slide.

Forward Computations: given (,

get (X, Y).

Inverse Computations: given (X,

Y)

get (,

Surveys Extending from one

Zone to Another

There is always an overlap area between the zones.

When in the transition zone, compute the geodetic
coordinates of two points from their X, Y in first
zone (direct problem).
Compute X, Y of the same points in the second
zone system from their geodetic coordinates
(inverse problem)
Compute the azimuth of the line, use the azimuth
and new coordinates to proceed.

Central
meridian