From Ocean Teacher Library
Non-Standard Latitude-Longitude NotationsContents |
Background
Considerable diversity exists between the major marine formats in how they handle geographic coordinates (i.e. latitude and longitude). The usual modern standard is "signed decimal degrees." Other notations exist, however, which the user should be aware of. The following table is just a small sample of the conventions in use. The wide use of "quadrant" codes as surrogates for the plus/minus signs on latitude and longitude should be noted. The "Quadrant Notation" cell in the table is to be interpreted as a mercator map of the earth viewed from a point over the Gulf of Guinea.
There is no current standardization of the number of decimal digits being reported, either as a fixed specification or as a function of the accuracy of the navigation system employed. The notation in the table is D=degrees (including the sign character), M=minutes, Upper-Case=whole units, Lower-Case=decimal units.
| Format Name | Lat/Long | South Pole | North Pole | Westernmost Longitude | Easternmost Longitude | Quadrant Notation | |
| TSV-O (Ocean Data View Spreadsheet) | DDDD.ddd | -90 | +90 | 0 | 360 | None | |
| BODC: GLOSS and Current Meter Inventory | DDDMM | 90 | 90 | 180 | 180 | NW | NE |
| SW | SE | ||||||
| GETADE "Modern Guidelines" | ? | -90 | +90 | -180 | +180 | NW | NE |
| SW | SE | ||||||
| ICES | DDDMM.mm | 90 | 90 | 180 | 180 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 2 | ||||||
| IGOSS "KKXX" and "JJXX" | DDDMM | 90 | 90 | 180 | 180 | 7 | 1 |
| 5 | 3 | ||||||
| SD2 | DDDMM.mmm | 90 | 90 | 180 | 180 | 7 | 1 |
| 5 | 3 | ||||||
| TOGA CD 1989-95 | DDD.ddd | -90 | +90 | 0 | 360 | None | |
| URI "SeaBeam" | MM.mmmm | 0 | 10800 | 0 | 21599 | None | |
Subsections of this Article
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Information about this article
Short title: Non-Standard Latitude-Longitude
Description: none
Expertise level: beginner
Author: Murray.Brown
Approval status: approved
Approved by: Murray.Brown
Last change: 2008-10-3
Subsection of: Coordinate Systems for the Earth Surface
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