UNIT 4

4.0. Coordinate System and Global Positioning System (GPS)

4.1. Introduction
This unit introduces the student to the coordinate systems that are used in Zimbabwe together with
map projection and datum. Coordinate system is used in geography and enables every location on
Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such
that one of the numbers represents a vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent
a horizontal position. The unit also introduces the GPS technology which uses various coordinate
systems to locate feature on the earth’s surface. Coordinates together with the GPS are essential in
map reading, navigation, distance, area and elevation measurement, surveying, mapping and precision
farming.
4.2. Objectives
By the end of this unit students should be able to;
 understand and apply Geographic and Plane coordinate system
 understand and apply Map projections
 understand and apply Global Positioning System (GPS)
4.3 Geographic coordinate system
A geographic coordinate system also known as the natural coordinate system is a common choice of
coordinates which uses latitude, longitude and elevation. The "latitude" (abbreviation: Lat., φ, or phi)
of a point on Earth's surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes
through that point and through (or close to) the centre of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same
latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator and to
each other. The North Pole is 90° N; the South Pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated
the equator, the fundamental plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the
globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
The "longitude" (abbreviation: Long., λ, or lambda) of a point on Earth's surface is the angle east or
west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are
halves of great ellipses (often called great circles), which converge at the north and south poles. The
meridian of the British Royal Observatory in Greenwich, in south-east London, England, is the
international prime meridian, although some organizations such as the French Institut Géographique
National continue to use other meridians for internal purposes. Figure 4.1 shows the geographic
coordinates on which the latitude of P measures the angle φ between P and the Equator along the
meridians while the longitude measure the angle λ, between the meridian through P and the Central
meridian
Figure 4.1: Geographic coordinates
The prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often
divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side.
The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E. The combination of these two
components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration
of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a "graticule". The
origin/zero point of this system are located in the Gulf of Guinea.
4.3.1 Distance measurement
Distance between a pair of points on the earth’s surface, A and B can be calculated from the
relationship Distance(A,B) = R arcos[sinφA *sinλ B+ cosφA *cosλ B(λA- λB)] Where R is the radius
the Earth assuming it is spherical. As rules of thumb one second of latitude is about 30 m or 1 degree
is approximately 110 km. One second of longitude varies with latitude from
a maximum at the equator to zero at the poles
4.4. Plane coordinates system
Unlike geographical coordinate’s plane coordinate assumes that the earth is flat. Firstly, it uses a
simple Cartesian or polar coordinate system to specify locations rather than a more complex spherical
coordinate system (the geographic coordinate system of latitude and longitude). By using the
Cartesian coordinate system's simple XY coordinates, "plane surveying" methods can be used,
speeding up and simplifying calculations. Secondly, the system is highly accurate within each zone
(error less than 1:10,000). Outside specific state plane zone accuracy rapidly declines, thus the system
is not useful for regional or national mapping. Figure 4.2 shows plane coordinates.
Figure 4.2: Plane coordinate system
Locations on the plane are defined by polar or Cartesian coordinates. Given an arbitrary origin O, the
distance r and angle Ѳ (with respect to N) define the location of point P in polar coordinates. With
same origin O and Y pointing North and X pointing East the Cartesian coordinate of P are distance x
and y in metres. The ordered coordinate pairs (r, Ѳ) and (x, y) are readily converted from one
coordinate system to another by the relationships x = r Sin Ѳ; y = r Cos Ѳ and r = square root(x2+y2);
Ѳ = tan-1(y/x). The angle Ѳ is defined as the azimuth angle clockwise from the North not the more
common trigonometric convention of being measured from the East
4.4.1 Distance measurement
Distance between a pair of points on the earth’s surface, A and B can be calculated using the
Pythagoras distance between the two points A and B on a plane as: Distance (A, B) = square root (XA
–XB)2 + (YA –YB)2; Where points are located (XA,YA) and (XB,YB)
4.5. Map projections
The earth’s shape is described as a sphere or spheroid but the real truth it is a geoid. To represent the
curved part of the earth on a flat piece of paper or a computer screen is accomplished through
projection. Mapping on a 2D surface means assigning plane coordinates (x,y) to each point on a
reference surface of geographic coordinates (λ, φ). Figure 4.3 describes the shape of the earth.
Figure 4.3: Spheres, spheroids, geoid and ellipsoids
A map projection is a systematic transformation of the latitudes and longitudes of locations from
the surface of a sphere or an ellipsoid into locations on a plane. Maps cannot be created without map
projections. All map projections necessarily distort the surface in some fashion. Depending on the
purpose of the map, some distortions are acceptable and others are not; therefore, different map
projections exist in order to preserve some properties of the sphere-like body at the expense of other
properties. There is no limit to the number of possible map projections.
Maps can be more useful than globes in many situations: they are more compact and easier to store;
they readily accommodate an enormous range of scales; they are viewed easily on computer displays;
they can facilitate measuring properties of the terrain being mapped; they can show larger portions of
the Earth's surface at once; and they are cheaper to produce and transport. These useful traits of maps
motivate the development of map projections.
4.5.1 Classes of map projection
Generally there are three classes of map projections that are used to project the curved surface of earth
to a two dimensional coordinate system. These are conical, azimuthal and cylindrical on which the
later is used in Zimbabwe. Figure 4.4 shows the classes of map projections.
Figure 4.4: Classes of map projections
Cylindrical map projection is further classified into three classes using the aspect of the projection,
which are normal (equatorial), oblique and transverse as in figure 4.5.

Figure 4.5: Cylindrical map projection

In Zimbabwe our plane coordinates (Cartesian) are derived from the cylindrical map projection sing
the transverse aspect as in figure 5.5, our reference ellipsoid is Clarke 1880 spheroid and the datum is
Arc 1950. The coordinates derived from this projection are known as Universal Transverse Mercator.
4.5.1.1. Cylindrical Map Projections: Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) system
One of the most popular Cartesian coordinates is called the UTM system established in 1936 at the
International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. It uses the Transverse Mercator projection, which
results from warping the cylinder round the poles.Using this system, the globe is subdivided into 60
UTM zones, numbered from west to east, starting with zone 1 at 180 deg West. Each UTM Zone is 6
deg of longitude wide and extends 84 deg North to 80deg South. The origin of each zone is the
intersection of the central meridian at the Equator. Displacements in the x and y directions are called
UTM eastings and UTM northings respectively. Conventionally, the origin of each zone is offset to
the West and assigned an Easting of 500 000 m so that in each zone eastings are always positive. The
northing of the Equator in the northern Hemisphere is 0 m and in the Southern hemisphere, it is
arbitrarily assigned a value of
10 000 000 m in order to avoid negative northings. In order to minimise distortion across each zone
the central meridian is reduced by a scale factor of 0.9996. This produces two parallel lines of zero
distortion approximately 180 km either side of the central meridian. The UTM is excellent for maps of
a scale of 1: 250 000 and larger. At smaller scales there are distortions . Figure 4.6 shows the
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) system.

Zimbabwe

Figure 4.6 UTM systems

The UTM spatial referencing system requires three sets of numbers, the easting, the northing, and
either the Zone number or the central meridian. There is no relationship between coordinates of one
zone with another. If there is need for comparison, then the coordinates have to be converted. Central
part of Zimbabwe is in zone 36 K for example a point in the central part of the country to located as
follows UTM 36K 255022;7996500 where the first set of six numbers are eastings and the second set
of 7 numbers are nothings
Activity 4.1

1. Order a topographic map covering the same area as of contact prints and LANDSAT
image and state the coordinate systems of the map including the reference spheroid or
ellipsoid.
2. Mark any two separate points on the map and read off both the geographic and UTM
coordinate the points.
3. Calculate the distance between the two points using coordinates
4. Briefly explain the significance of coordinates on a map

4.6. Global Positioning System

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S.-owned utility that provides users with positioning,
navigation, and timing (PNT) services. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are space-based radio
positioning systems that provide 24 hour three-dimensional positions, velocity and time information.
This system consists of three segments: the space segment, the control segment, and the user segment.
The U.S. Air Force develops, maintains, and operates the space and control segments.
 The space segment consists of a nominal constellation of 24 operating satellites that transmit one-
way signals that give the current GPS satellite position and time.
 The control segment consists of worldwide monitor and control stations that maintain the
satellites in their proper orbits through occasional command maneuvers, and adjust the satellite
clocks. It tracks the GPS satellites, uploads updated navigational data, and maintains health and
status of the satellite constellation.
 The user segment consists of the GPS receiver equipment, which receives the signals from the
GPS satellites and uses the transmitted information to calculate the user's three-dimensional
position and time.
4.6.1. Position determination
Satellites continuously orient themselves to ensure that their solar panels stay pointed towards the
Sun, and their antennas point toward the Earth. A GPS receiver locates four or more of satellites,
figure out the distance to each, and use this information to deduce its own location. This operation is
based on the mathematical principle called Trilateration. The positions of the satellites are forecasted
and broadcasted along with the GPS signal to the user Through several known positions (of the
satellites) and the measured distances between the receiver and the satellites, the position of the
receiver can be determined.
The principle of the GPS system is to measure the signal transmitting paths from the satellites to the
receivers. The nominal orbit period of a GPS satellite that is the time for the satellite to complete one
revolution around the Earth is about 12 hrs. GPS makes use of the time of arrival (TOA) of the GPS
signal to determine positions on Earth’s surface. A GPS satellite, which has a known position in
space, sends out a signal to a receiver on Earth’s surface. The time interval, known as the signal
propagation time, recorded at the receiver is then multiplied by the speed of the signal to give the
emitter-to-receiver distance.
 Location measurement from one satellite is the distance (x) from one satellite tells us we are
located somewhere on the surface of an imaginary sphere centered on that satellite with a radius
of x (see 1 in Figure 4.7)
 Location measurement from two satellites is the distance measurements from two satellites limits
our location to the intersection of two spheres, which is a circle (see 2 in Figure 4.7)
 Location measurement from three satellites is the third measurement that narrows our location to
just two points (see 3 in Figure 4.7)
 Location measurement from four satellites is the fourth measurement that determines which point
is our true location (see 4 in Figure 4.7)
Figure 4.7 shows how the GPS determines a position.

1 2 3

Figure 4.7 GPS in determining location

4.6.2. GPS Services
GPS satellites provide service to civilian and military users. The civilian service is freely available to
all users on a continuous, worldwide basis. The development and implementation of precision
agriculture or site-specific farming has been made possible by combining the Global Positioning
System (GPS) and geographic information systems (GIS). These technologies enable the coupling of
real-time data collection with accurate position information, leading to the efficient manipulation and
analysis of large amounts of geospatial data. GPS-based applications in precision farming are being
used for; farm planning, field mapping, soil sampling, tractor guidance, crop scouting, variable rate
applications, and yield mapping. GPS allows farmers to work during low visibility field conditions
such as rain, dust, fog, and darkness.
Precision agriculture is about collecting timely geospatial information on soil-plant-animal
requirements and prescribing and applying site-specific treatments to increase agricultural production
and protect the environment. Where farmers may have once treated their fields uniformly, they are
now seeing benefits from micromanaging their fields. GPS equipment manufacturers have developed
several tools to help farmers and agribusinesses become more productive and efficient in their
precision farming activities. Location information is collected by GPS receivers for mapping field
boundaries, roads, irrigation systems, and problem areas in crops such as weeds or disease. The
accuracy of GPS allows farmers to create farm maps with precise acreage for field areas, road
locations and distances between points of interest. GPS allows farmers to accurately navigate to
specific locations in the field, year after year, to collect soil samples or monitor crop conditions.
Crop advisors use rugged data collection devices with GPS for accurate positioning to map pest,
insect, and weed infestations in the field. Pest problem areas in crops can be pinpointed and mapped
for future management decisions and input recommendations. The same field data can also be used by
aircraft sprayers, enabling accurate swathing of fields without use of human “flaggers” to guide them.
Crop dusters equipped with GPS are able to fly accurate swaths over the field, applying chemicals
only where needed, minimizing chemical drift, reducing the amount of chemicals needed, thereby
benefiting the environment. GPS also allows pilots to provide farmers with accurate maps.
4.6.3. Benefits
 Precision soil sampling, data collection, and data analysis, enable localized variation of chemical
applications and planting density to suit specific areas of the field.
 Accurate field navigation minimizes redundant applications and skipped areas, and enables
maximum ground coverage in the shortest possible time.
 Ability to work through low visibility field conditions such as rain, dust, fog and darkness
increases productivity.
 Accurately monitored yield data enables future site-specific field preparation.
 Elimination of the need for human "flaggers" increases spray efficiency and minimizes over-
spray.
Activity 4.2

1. Turn on a GPS receiver and set the position format to UTM, datum to Arc 1950, Spheroid
to Clarke 1880, Units to Metres.
2. Using the set GPS receiver measure distance and area.
3. Enter UTM coordinates from Activity 4.1 into the GPS receiver and navigate to the point.
4. Using the GPS receiver take coordinates of various features and produces a point map of
the features.

4.7. Summary
In Zimbabwe we use both Geographic and Cartesian (UTM) coordinate systems, Geographic
coordinates describes location of a point in terms of the angle of the point’s longitude east or
west from the Greenwich Meridian (longitudes) and the angle of the point’s latitude south or
north of the Equator (latitude). UTM coordinates describes location of a point in terms of a
zone, metres in the east and north directions. Coordinates are used to measure distance and
area, navigate, know bearing and locate earth’s features. GPS uses satellite and receivers to
calculate the coordinates of a point with this ability it is used for distance and area
measurement, navigation and precision farming.

Further reading
www.gps.gov/systems/gps/
www.usgs.gov
Leick, A. (2015). GPS satellite surveying 4th edition, John Wiley and Sons 2015
Hofmann-Wellenhof, B, Lichtenegger, H and Collins, J. (2001). GPS Theory and Practice,
5th revised edition, Springer-Verlag
Pearson, F. (1990). Map Projections: Theory and Applications, CRC Press 1990.
Bugayevskiy, L. and Snyder, J. (1995). Map Projections: A Reference Manual, Taylor and
Francis.