Difference between revisions of "Coordinates"
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[[Coordinates]] are a means of numerical description for a location on the earths' surface. [[Geocaching]] uses coordinates of [[Latitude and longitude | Latitude]] and [[Latitude and longitude | Longitude]] (Lat/Lon) to describe the location of the cache or its' intermediate [[waypoint]]s. | [[Coordinates]] are a means of numerical description for a location on the earths' surface. [[Geocaching]] uses coordinates of [[Latitude and longitude | Latitude]] and [[Latitude and longitude | Longitude]] (Lat/Lon) to describe the location of the cache or its' intermediate [[waypoint]]s. | ||
| − | For the purposes of geocaching, Lat/Lon coordinates are expressed in Degrees, Minutes, decimal minutes ( | + | For the purposes of geocaching, Lat/Lon coordinates are expressed in Degrees, Minutes, decimal minutes ( DDD°MM.mmm' ), but for purposes of general navigation (especially at sea) Lat/Lon is expressed in Degrees, Minutes and Seconds ( DDD°MM'SS" ). |
| − | + | An alternate system of coordinates is [[UTM]], which is short for [http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/FieldMethods/UTMSystem.htm Universal Transverse Mercator]. UTM would be a better system to use for geocaching, because it's more accurate. Being based on the metric system it's well suited to terrestial applications, unlike DDD°MM.mmm'. However, that point seems to have been overlooked at the time geocaching was invented, so we are stuck with DDD°MM.mmm', unless you want to convert from DDD°MM.mmm' to UTM and back again. | |
| − | An alternate system of coordinates is UTM, which is short for Universal Transverse Mercator. | ||
Revision as of 02:02, 9 July 2005
Coordinates are a means of numerical description for a location on the earths' surface. Geocaching uses coordinates of Latitude and Longitude (Lat/Lon) to describe the location of the cache or its' intermediate waypoints.
For the purposes of geocaching, Lat/Lon coordinates are expressed in Degrees, Minutes, decimal minutes ( DDD°MM.mmm' ), but for purposes of general navigation (especially at sea) Lat/Lon is expressed in Degrees, Minutes and Seconds ( DDD°MM'SS" ).
An alternate system of coordinates is UTM, which is short for Universal Transverse Mercator. UTM would be a better system to use for geocaching, because it's more accurate. Being based on the metric system it's well suited to terrestial applications, unlike DDD°MM.mmm'. However, that point seems to have been overlooked at the time geocaching was invented, so we are stuck with DDD°MM.mmm', unless you want to convert from DDD°MM.mmm' to UTM and back again.
