Lecture 6 Geodesy and Coordinate Systems

LECTURE 6
Geodesy and Coordinate Systems

Geodesy - Definition
• Geodesy is the study of the earth’s size, shape and
the determination of the exact position of
geographical points e.g longitudes, latitudes and
elevation.
• Geodesists is a person who specializes in the study
of geodesy
• Geodetic refers to any activity or measurement
related to geodesy e.g geodetic datum, geodetic
coordinate
Earth’s Shape
• During the Dark Ages, the earth was thought to
be flat.
• During the Age of Discovery and voyages of
exploration, it was discovered that the earth is a
sphere.
• Further proof that the earth is spherical is
provided by images shot by satellites from space.
• However, detail studies of the earth’s shape by
geodesists reveal that it is a not a perfect sphere
but a spheriod (sphere-like).
• A spheriod, also known as an ellipsoid is a slightly
elongated version of the earth’s shape.
Equatorial axis (a)
Equatorial axis
is greater than
(a) is equal to
Polar axis (b)
Polar axis (b)
Earth’s Shape cont’d
• In actual fact, the earth’s shape is not that smooth
due to mts, valleys, plains and seas.
• This rough structure of the earth is known as the
earth’s topographical surface or terrain.
• An approximate representation of this true earth’s

surface is known as a geoid.
Topographical terrain
Geoid
Ellipsoid
Ocean
Earth
Valley
Hill or
mountain
Coordinate Systems
• A coordinate system is a set of lines or points
that are used for indicating the location of
features and places on the earth’s surface.
• In GIS, there are two types of coordinate
systems:
– Geographic coordinate systems
– Projected coordinate systems
Longitudes and Latitudes
• Geographic coordinate systems uses longitudes and
latitudes to locate features on a curved or plane
earth’s surface.
• Longitudes are defined as imaginary lines running
from the north pole to the south pole and extending
from east to west of the equator. They are also
known as meridians.
• Longitude 0o is a called the Prime or Greenwich
meridian and is a reference longitude because it is
the starting point for all other longitudes.
• There are 180 lines of longitudes on both sides of
prime meridian.
• All longitudes to the east of the prime meridian are
given positive values while those to the west are
negative.
Longitudes and Latitudes cont’d
• Latitudes are imaginary lines running from east to
west on the earth’s surface and extending from north
to south of the equator. Latitudes are also called
parallels because they run parallel to each other.
• The equator is the latitude marked 0o, it is also a
reference latitude because it is the starting point for
all other latitudes.
• There are 90 lines of latitudes on each side of the
equator, the 90th being a dot at the north and south
poles.
• Lines of latitudes north of the equator are given
positive values while those south of the equator are
negative.
• Longitudes and latitudes cross each other forming a
system called graticule
• The equator divides the earth into two

regions called hemispheres.
• The region north of the equator is known as
the northern hemisphere while south of the
equator is known as the southern hemisphere.
• The prime meridian also divides the earth into
two hemispheres.
• West of the prime meridian is the western
hemisphere and east of the prime meridian is
the eastern hemisphere.
+
- - +
600
300
00
200 00 200
300
Latitude and Longitude
Longitude Latitude
(meridians) (parallels)
Connect North and South

Parallel to the equator
Poles
Vertical Horizontal
180 West to 180 East 90 North to 90 South
Western and Eastern Northern and Southern

hemisphere hemisphere
Latitude and Longitude values can be represented

in:
Degrees (D) e.g 30oS, 18oE
Degrees & minutes (DM) e.g 26o30’S, 29o15’E
Degrees, minutes, and seconds (DMS) e.g
28o30’15”S, 30o30’05”E
Decimal degrees (DD) e.g 26.3269oS, 18.5327o E
Importance of Coordinates
• They are important for:
– Locating features: xy coordinates
– Geographic analyses e.g calculations &

measurements involving distances, areas,
overlays, etc are only correct on data that is
referenced to a coordinate system.
– Calculating time: Determine time zones

Longitude and Time
• There are 360o of longitudes (180o on each side of
the Prime Meridian).
• The earth rotates on its axis from west to east
taking 24 hrs (one day) to go round 360o
• If we divide 360o by 24hrs (360÷24 = 15o)
• Therefore, for every 1hr, the earth covers 15o in its
rotation journey.
• If we divide the 360o of longitude into groups of 15o,
we have 24 groups
• Therefore, the world is divided into 24 time zones
and each time zone is 15o apart.
• Assignment: If it takes the earth 1hr to cover 15o
of longitude, how much time does the earth takes
to cover 1o longitude? (show your working)
Time Zones on the World
https://www.abington.k12.pa.us/durand/time-zone-map/
UTC Time vs Local Time
• UTC refers to Coordinate Universal Time
• Formerly known GMT or Greenwich Mean Time
• UTC (GMT) is the time at longitude 0o (Prime meridian)
• The UTC time is the standard time at 0o
• Local time is the time found at each time zone east or
west of the Prime Meridian.
• If we know the UTC time at 0o, we can determine the
local time east or west of longitude 0o by adding as we
go east and subtracting as we go west.
Importance of Latitudes
• Determination of climatic zones
• ???
Assignment
• If the UTC time is 11 am, what will be the local time at
City A (15oE)?
• If the UCT time is 10 pm, what will be that time at San
Diego, USA 117oW?
• At Sao Paulo, Brazil (46oW), what is the UTC time?
• The time at a location is 4 pm and the UTC time is 10
am, where is that location? Give the answer in degrees
and whether it is west or east.
• What happens when you cross the international date
line?
• Which organizations, institution, companies or agencies
make use of this longitude and time concept? Name four.
Additional Resources to Consult
• Time Zones:
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/maps/mapmaker-wor
ld-time-zones/
• Understanding Time Zones:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/understanding
-time-zones/
• Local Time basics (Video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stUq7WdtQ8A

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LECTURE 6

Geodesy and Coordinate Systems

• An approximate representation of this true earth’s

• The equator divides the earth into two

Connect North and South

180 West to 180 East 90 North to 90 South

Western and Eastern Northern and Southern

Latitude and Longitude values can be represented

• They are important for:

– Locating features: xy coordinates

– Geographic analyses e.g calculations &

– Calculating time: Determine time zones

• Understanding Time Zones:

• Local Time basics (Video):

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