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Distance Calculation Algorithms - Geoscience Australia

There are several methods to calculate distances between two points on Earth with varying levels of complexity and accuracy. The simplest method uses great circle distance based on spherical trigonometry, while more accurate methods account for the spheroidal shape of the Earth using models like Vincenty's inverse or direct formulas. The document provides details on the formulas and compares calculated distances using the different methods to demonstrate their accuracies over various distances.

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127 views3 pages

Distance Calculation Algorithms - Geoscience Australia

There are several methods to calculate distances between two points on Earth with varying levels of complexity and accuracy. The simplest method uses great circle distance based on spherical trigonometry, while more accurate methods account for the spheroidal shape of the Earth using models like Vincenty's inverse or direct formulas. The document provides details on the formulas and compares calculated distances using the different methods to demonstrate their accuracies over various distances.

Uploaded by

bluebird1969
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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4/15/2015

Distance Calculation Algorithms - Geoscience Australia

Applying geoscience to Australia's


most important challenges
Home Scientific T opics Positioning and Navigation Geodesy and Global Navigation Systems Geodetic T echniques
Distance Calculation Algorithms

Distance Calculation Algorithms


There are many ways to calculate the distance between two points on the Earth's surface, defined by their latitude and
longitude. The methods vary in complexity and accuracy. Generally the simpler the method, the less accurate it is.
Great Circle Distance (Based on Spherical trigonometry)
Spheroidal model for the Earth
Comparison of methods
CALCULATE ONLINE: Vincenty's Inverse Method
CALCULATE ONLINE: Vincenty's Direct Method

Explanation of terms
L1 = latitude at the first point (degrees)
L2 = latitude at the second point (degrees)
G1 = longitude at the first point (degrees)
G2 = longitude at the second point (degrees)
DG = longitude of the second point minus longitude of the first point (degrees)
DL = latitude of the second point minus latitude of the first point (degrees)
D = computed distance (km)

Definitions
South latitudes are negative
East longitudes are positive
Great circle distance is the shortest distance between two points on a sphere. This coincides with the circumference
of a circle which passes through both points and the centre of the sphere
Geodesic distance is the shortest distance between two points on a spheroid
Normal section distance is formed by a plane on a spheroid containing a point at one end of the line and the normal
of the point at the other end. For all practical purposes, the difference between a normal section and a geodesic
distance is insignificant.

Great Circle Distance (based on Spherical trigonometry)


This method calculates the great circle distance, and is based on spherical trigonometry, and assumes that:
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Distance Calculation Algorithms - Geoscience Australia

1 minute of arc is 1 nautical mile


1 nautical mile is 1.852 km.
D = 1.852 * 60 * ARCOS ( SIN(L1) * SIN(L2) + COS(L1) * COS(L2) * COS(DG))
Note: If your calculator returns the ARCOS result as radians, you will have to convert the radians to degrees before
multiplying by 60 and 1.852 degrees = (radians/PI)*180, where PI=3.141592654.

Spheroidal model for the Earth


This method assumes a spheroidal model for the Earth with an average radius of 6364.963km. It has been derived for use
within Australia.
The formula is estimated to have an accuracy of about 200 metres over 50km, but may deteriorate with longer distances.
TERM1
TERM2
TERM3
D

=
=
=
=

111.08956 * (DL + 0.000001)


COS(L1 + (DL/2)
(DG + 0.000001) / (DL + 0.000001)
TERM1 / COS(ARCTAN(TERM2 * TERM3))

Comparison of methods
The Table below shows distances calculated by each of the methods above. Vincenty's formulae (method 3), is the "best"
answer and can be used for comparison with the others.
However, remember that the different methods compute different types of distance (great circle, geodesic etc), and you
must decide which type of system (distance) you wish to use.
The test lines shown are neither exhaustive nor complete, but are indicative of the accuracies which may be obtained.
Method 4 uses the GRS80 ellipsoid, which is used with Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA) coordinate system. This
ellipsoid is effectively the same as the WGS84 ellipsoid used with the Global Positioning System (GPS). All distances are in
kilometres.

From
To

Method 1

Method 2

Method 3

Great Circle

Approx. ellip.

Vincenty's

AA

0.000

0.000

0.000

AB

111.120

111.089

110.861

AC

146.677

146.645

146.647

AD

241.787

241.728

241.428

AE

346.556

346.469

345.929

AF

454.351

454.237

453.493

AG

563.438

563.294

562.376

AH

1114.899

1114.616

1113.142

AI

2223.978

2223.420

2222.323

AJ

3334.440

3333.612

3334.804

AK

4445.247

4444.156

4449.317

AL

5556.190

5554.843

5565.218

Point

Latitude

Longitude

-30

150

-31

150

-31

151

-32

151

-33

151

-34

151

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Distance Calculation Algorithms - Geoscience Australia

-35

151

-40

151

-50

151

-60

151

-70

151

-80

151

Related Information

Online Tools
National Geospatial Reference System
Global Navigation Satellite System Data
AUSGeoid09

Related Pages
International Terrestrial Reference Frame
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)
ANU College of Physical Sciences
International Astronomical Union
VLBI Measuring our Changing Earth
CSIRO Parkes Observatory VLBI Antenna
The International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF)
International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS)
Lageos satellite

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