Orthodromic navigation

Orthodromic course drawn on the earth globe.

The orthodromic navigation (related to orthodromic course; from the Greek ορtóς, right angle, and δρóμος, path) is a way to navigate following an arc of great circle corresponding to the shortest distance between two points on the globe.[1]

Since the Earth is roughly a sphere, the orthodromic distance of the is often used by mariners to find the distance between two coordinates (knowing its longitude and its latitude) on a map, and the course to be taken to go from one to the other.

Calculation

is the radius of the earth 6.367.000 meter).
is the latitud (in radians).
is the longitude (in radians).
is the great circle arc, the shortest path between two points on the earth's globe

Comparison Chart

Comparison, of orthodromic course (white) compared with a loxodromic course (red).

See also

References

  1. Adam Weintrit; Tomasz Neumann (7 June 2011). Methods and Algorithms in Navigation: Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation. CRC Press. pp. 139–. ISBN 978-0-415-69114-7.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.