15

Lecture No. 17

Unit 3

Chapter 4

Spatial Referencing and

Positioning
 Coordinate System
Recap of
lecture Map Projection
 4.1.2 Coordinate systems
Spatial and planar coordinate systems
1. Spatial (or global) coordinate systems are
used to locate data either on the Earth’s surface
in a 3D space, or on the Earth’s reference
surface (ellipsoid or sphere) in a 2D space.
2. Planar coordinate systems on the other hand
are used to locate data on the flat surface of the
map in a 2D space.
 2D Geographic coordinates (φ,λ)
• The most widely used global coordinate system consists of lines of
geographic Latitude (phi or φ or φ ) and longitude (lambda or λ).
• Lines of equal latitude are called parallels. They form circles on the
surface of the ellipsoid.
• Lines of equal longitude are called meridians and they form
ellipses
(meridian ellipses) on the ellipsoid.
The latitude (φ) of a point P (Figure 4.10) is the angle between the
ellipsoidal normal through P ’ and the equatorial plane.
Latitude is zero on the equator (φ = 0◦ ), and increases towards the
two poles to maximum values of φ = +90 ◦ (N90◦) at the North Pole
and φ = - 90◦ (S 90◦) at the South Pole.
3D Geographic coordinates (φ,λ,h)
• 3D geographic coordinates (φ,λ,h) are obtained by
introducing the ellipsoidal height h to the system.
• The ellipsoidal height (h) of a point is the vertical
distance of the point in question above the ellipsoid.
• It is measured in distance units along the ellipsoidal
normal from the point to the ellipsoid surface.
• 3D geographic coordinates can be used to define a
position on the surface of the Earth (point P)
 3D Geocentric coordinates (X,Y,Z)
• The system has its origin at the mass-centre of the Earth with the X
and Y axes in the plane of
the equator.
• The X-axis passes through the meridian of Greenwich, and the Z-axis
coincides with the Earth’s axis of rotation.
• The three axes are mutually orthogonal and form a right-handed
system. Geocentric coordinates can be used to define a position on the
surface of the Earth (point P in Figure 4.11). It should be noted that the
rotational axis of the earth changes its position over time (referred to
as polar motion).
• To compensate for this, the mean position of the pole in the year
1903 (based on observations between 1900 and 1905) has been used
to define the so-called ‘Conventional International Origin’ (CIO).
 2D Cartesian coordinates (X,Y):

• A flat map has only two dimensions: width

(left to right) and length (bottom to top).
Transforming the three dimensional Earth into
a two dimensional map is subject of map
projections and coordinate transformations
 A flat map has only two
dimensions: width (left to right)
and length (bottom to top).
Transforming the three
dimensional Earth into a two
dimensional map is subject of
map projections and coordinate
transformations

Pole
YES

NO
 Eastings, Northings and map grid:
• X-axis is also sometimes called Easting and the Y-axis the Northing).
The intersection of the X and Y-axis forms the origin.

• The plane is marked at intervals by equally spaced coordinate lines, called the map
grid.

• Normally, the coordinates x=0 and y=0 are given to the origin. However, sometimes
large positive values are added to the origin coordinates.

• This is to avoid negative values for the x and y coordinates in case the origin of the
coordinate system is located inside the area of interest. The point which then has the
coordinates x=0 and y=0 is called the false origin.

• An example is the coordinate system used in the

Netherlands.
 2D Polar coordinates (α,d)

• Another possibility of defining a point in a plane is by polar coordinates.

• This is the distance d from the origin to the point concerned and the angle α
between a fixed (or zero) direction and the direction to the point.
• The angle α is called azimuth or bearing and is measured in a clockwise
direction.
• It is given in angular units while the distance d is expressed in length units.
Bearings are always related to a fixed direction (initial bearing) or a datum line.
• In principle, this reference line can be chosen freely.
• Polar coordinates are often used in land surveying. For some types of surveying
instruments it is advantageous to make use of this coordinate system.
• figure
 Classification of map projections:
• Scale distortions: There is simply no way to
flatten out a piece of ellipsoidal or spherical
surface without stretching some parts of the
surface more than others.
• Intermediate surfaces: Some map projections can
be visualized as true geometric projections directly
onto the mapping plane, onto an intermediate
surface, which is then rolled out into the mapping
plane.
• The planar, conical, and cylindrical surfaces in Figure 4.16 are given all
tangent surfaces; they touch the horizontal reference surface in one point
(plane) or along a closed line (cone and cylinder) only.
• The other cases are transverse projections (symmetry axis in
the equator) and oblique projections (symmetry axis is some
where between the rotation axis and equator of the ellipsoid
or sphere). These cases are illustrated in Figure 4.18.
 Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
• The Universal Transverse Mercator
(UTM) uses a transverse cylinder,
secant to the horizontal reference
surface. UTM is an important
projection used worldwide. The
projection is a derivation from the
Transverse Mercator projection.
• Normal cylindrical projections are
typically used to map the world in
its entirety. Conical projections are
often used to map the different
continents, while the normal
azimuthal projection may be used
to map the polar areas. Transverse
and oblique aspects of many
projections can be used for most
parts of the world
 Map projection classification based on
distortion properties:

•In a conformal map projection the angles between lines in the map are
identical to the angles between the original lines on the curved reference
surface. This means that angles (with short sides) and shapes (of small
areas)are shown correctly on the map.
Conformal map projections represent angles correctly, but as the region
becomes larger, they show considerable area distortions.
•In an equal–area (equivalent) map projection the areas in the map are -
identical to the areas on the curved reference surface (taking into account
the map scale), which means that areas are represented correctly on the
map.
•In an equidistant map projection the length of particular lines in the map
are the same as the length of the original lines on the curved reference
surface(taking into account the map scale).
• Equal-area projections on the other hand, represent areas
correctly, but as the region becomes larger, it shows
considerable distortions of angles and consequently shapes
(Figure 4.20). Maps which are to be used for measuring area
(e.g. distribution maps) often make use of an equal-area map
projection.
If a map is true to scale along the meridians (i.e.no distortion in
North-South direction) we say that the map is equidistant along
the meridians(e.g. the equidistant cylindrical projection) (Figure
4.21).
 4.1.4 Coordinate transformations
• Map and GIS users are mostly confronted in
their work with transformations from one two-
dimensional coordinate system to another.
• Datum transformations are transformations
from a 3D coordinate system (i.e. horizontal
datum) into another 3D coordinate system.
We may relate an unknown coordinate system
to a known coordinate system on the basis of a
set of selected points whose coordinates are
known in both systems. These points may be
ground control points (GCPs) or common points
such as corners of houses or road intersections,
as long as they have known coordinates in both
systems.
 2D Polar to 2D Cartesian transformations:
The transformation of polarcoordinates(α,d), into Cartesian map
coordinates(x,y) is done when field measurements, angular and distance
measurements are transformed into map coordinates. The equation for this
transformation is:

A more realistic case makes use of a translation and a rotation to transform

one system to the other.
 Changing map projection:
• The forward equation of the target projection
is used to transform the geographic
coordinates(φ, λ) into target projection
coordinates(x′, y′).
• The first equation takes us from a projection A
into geographic coordinates. The second takes
us from geographic coordinates (φ, λ) to another
map projection B. These principles are
illustrated in Figure 4.22.
A GIS has handled data referenced spatially with
respect to the(x,y) coordinates of a specific map
projection.
• For GIS application domains requiring 3D spatial
referencing, a height coordinate may be added to
the(x,y) coordinate of the point.
• The additional height coordinate can be a height H
above mean sea level, which is a height with a
physical meaning. These(x,y,H) coordinates can be
used to represent the location of objects in a 3D GIS.
 Datum transformations:
• We wish to transform spatial data from the
UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) projection
to the Dutch RD system, and that the data in the
UTM system are related to the European Datum
1950 (ED50).
• In this example the change of map projection
should be combined with a datum
transformation step for a perfect match. This is
illustrated in Figure 4.23.
Datum transformation parameters:
• If the co-ordinates of these 5 points are not
correct–often the case for points measured on a
local datum system–the estimated parameters
may be inaccurate.
• The coordinates in the local horizontal datum
may be distorted by several tens of metres
because of the inherent inaccuracies of the
measurements used in the triangulation
network.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1PpoolrMK4
 Sets of numerical values for the transformation
parameters are available from three organizations:

1. The set provided by the federal mapping organization of

Germany was calculated using common points distributed
throughout Germany. This set contains all seven parameters and
is valid for all of Germany.
2. The set provided by the mapping organization of Baden-
Wurttemberg has been calculated using common points
distributed throughout the province of BadenWurttemberg. This
set contains all seven parameters and is valid only within the
borders of that province.
3. The set provided by the National Imagery and Mapping
Agency (NIMA)of the USA has been calculated using common
points distributed throughout Germany and based on the ITRF.
The three sets of transformation parameters vary by several tens of metres, for the
aforementioned reasons. These sets of transformation parameters have been used to transform
the ITRF cartesian coordinates of a point in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg.
The ITRF(X,Y,Z) coordinates are: (4,156,939.96 m,671,428.74 m,4,774,958.21 m).
 Coordinate System

Recap of
Changing Map
lecture Projection

Map
Transformation
Thank you