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Ellipsoidal and Cartesian Coordinates Conversion

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The (x,y,z) ECEF cartesian coordinates can be expressed Fundamentals

in the ellipsoidal coordinates , where and λ Ellipsoidal and Cartesian
Title
are, respectively, the latitude and longitude from the Coordinates Conversion
ellipsoid, and h the height above it. Figure 1 illustrates J. Sanz Subirana, J.M. Juan Zornoza
the relation between Cartesian and ellipsoidal and M. Hernández-Pajares,
Author(s)
coordinates. Technical University of Catalonia,
Spain.
Level Advanced

Year of
2011
Publication

Figure 1: Cartesian (x,y,z) and ellipsoidal

From Ellipsoidal to Cartesian coordinates

The Cartesian coordinates of a point (x,y,z) can be obtained from the ellipsoidal coordinates by
the next expressions:

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Ellipsoidal and Cartesian Coordinates Conversion - Navipedia http://www.navipedia.net/index.php?title=Ellipsoidal_and_Cartesian_...

where N is the radius of curvature in the prime vertical:

and where the eccentricity e is related with the semi-major axis a, the semi-minor axis b and the flattening
factor by:

From Cartesian to Ellipsoidal coordinates

The ellipsoidal coordinates of a point can be obtained from the cartesian coordinates (x,y,z) as
follows:

The longitude λ is given by:

The latitude is computed by an iterative procedure.

1. The initial value is given by:

with .

2. Improved values of , as well as the height h, are computed iterating in the equations:

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Ellipsoidal and Cartesian Coordinates Conversion - Navipedia http://www.navipedia.net/index.php?title=Ellipsoidal_and_Cartesian_...

The iterations are repeated until the change between two successive values of are smaller than
the precision required.

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