Latitude and Longitude - finding coordinates (2024)

This was very helpful. Thank you very much!

Nice site

Super helpful! Thanks :)

My issue is this: I am retired us army Blackhawk pilot. Retired 1997. I have been flying EMS helicopters now x 4.5 years. I have not had to plot Lat /Long since late 80's.

I'm due a check ride next 10 days. I fly a Bell 407GX Helicopter and use a Garmin 1000 all glass co*ckpit. Heck it's 2015 who plots Lat/long anymore. Well the CHK pilots are now expecting us to plot on an aviation sectional a Lat long for a scene flight just to prove we can do it.

I use to be highly proficient plotting Lat/longs but not anymore. I understand the DDD (N32 W 092 that's too easy, it's the MM & SS pinpoint breakdown that gives me heartache, I don't know why I make it so difficult , any ideas friend? Much appreciate anything you can give me re: plotting Lat/long on Aviation Sectionals

Any links also are appreciated I have not been able to google Lat/long plotting on sectionals, by the way Sectional Scales are 1:500,000

Thank u very much

CB

Cb .. being ex Australian Digger (Army - Infantry 1977 - 1987) not having any Aviation plotting skills, I searched around and located this U Tube clip refers to Aviation plotting - don't know if it is any assistance to help re-jolt the memory bank ... refer to link
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBnY-1F7ayg

Goodluck

This site made longitude and latitude really easy to understand, thanks very much! I'm glad I found this site before I sat my Geography examination paper, because it is important to understand how to measure longitude and latitude in it.

I was trying to determine, understand, and compare the latitude and longitude of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia with relation to Toledo,Ohio and Miami Beach,Florida, two places where I have lived. Your explanation that latitude affects climate whereas longitude does not, was helpful in understanding climatic differences. I have a relative living in Kitti, on Pohnpei, which has launched me into viewing the world now as a global coordinate system. Your explanation was clear and concise. I thank you.

you been great help learning to sail
thanks

Us there a website I can zoom into to view longitude and latitude areas of the world?

@John - See www.latlong.net/

Excellent info. I LOVE IT!! Easy to understand. Thank You!!!

You show the White House being 77°. Isn't that supposed to be -77°?

Regarding the White House: No, the convention is to either state W for a western longitude (which is provided above), or use the minus without any direction. Both convey the fact that the longitudinal angle is measured west of the prime meridian.

Note: Using both conventions (i.e., -77 dgr W) is incorrect.

Thank you for this exceptional article. Very effective and beautifully written. 5 stars. I will suggest this to other readers. Thank you. Beautiful.

Golden Website Mate - Clarified so much in a simple way to help me teach my kids! I love thinking of how many stare at the figures but know not from where they come or how it came about...

I am editing a historical novel set in France WWII. The author has one of his characters using a compass to get coordinates for a hidden bunker. Is this possible -- getting coordinates simply by using a compass?

@Puzzler - that's not realistic. If he took bearings from multiple locations far apart, he could estimate the location of a place, but not by taking just one bearing. See Triangulation page for locating a place with compass bearings.

thank you this helped me with homework.

Nice job explaining this subject

Thank you ^_^

Thanks for this. I noticed a small mistake... Above you say.."For example, Seattle, Washington, USA is at latitude 47.6° North and longitude 122.33° West. From the center of the earth, look up 47.6° from the equator and turn right (west) 122.33° from the Prime Meridian and you will be looking right at Seattle." Seattle, Washington is to the "Left" from the center not to the "right". Easy fix. Thanks for the info.

@Adam - I assume I am standing at the center of the earth with my head pointing at the north pole and my feet pointing at the south pole, and my face looking out at the Prime Meridian (or longitude of 0°). From that location and orientation, if I look straight ahead, I would see the ocean where the equator and the prime meridian intersect.
If I raise my eyes up 47.6° that would change my latitude to Seattle's. If I turn my body to my right 122.3° that would change my longitude to Seattle's. I would be looking directly up at "Seattle"

Hi, I'm trying to find the best way of drawing an accurate line of longitude across a map - how would I go about this? Thanks.

@Joe - It may be just a vertical line, or a very convoluted curve, depending on the kind of map projection used to create the map. See map projections.

Hello,
I am currently going to college after being out of school for sometime;totally changing career paths! I am a GIS seeking student and have fought with this Lat/Long stuff for awhile now. I just wanted to say THANK YOU! reading this TOTALLY helped me to have a complete understanding of just how Lat/Long works! Thank you!!!!! You should be a teacher! 8) I greatly appreciate this sight!I am going to pass this page along to my class mates who are in the same struggle.

Thank you for an excellent job in explaining such a weighty topic so clearly and plainly. You obviously are not a politician.

IT IS VERY GOOD BUT HOW CAN WE GET DIRECTIONS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER JUST LIKE NORTH OR EAST OR NORTH EAST OR NNEAST OR SOUTH IS THERE ANY CALCULATIONS OF FINDING DIRECTION FROM LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE OF TWO PLACES

@Rajendra - See this page

illustration is very easy to understand.

if you have a bearing of South 40 degrees 22 minutes and 48 second west. How does that convert into an actual compass azimuth

thank you much am enjoying my class after reading this

Super easy to understand, excellent way to present the topic in such logical way!

I was a Amp.Recon the first time inVietnam in the Marines. And used the 1: 500,000 map. I was on the Tumer joy DD951 ( Used in the gulf of Tonkin with the Maddox after they vcame back in Nov 1964. I was great with a compass and never got lost otherwise I wouldn’t be telling you this. Amp Recon swam to shore at times 10 miles. Wet suit fins and a with a willie peter bag with our dry clothes and what we needed to measure the depth of water from the shore.

I liked the information in the passage, I loved learning about latitude and longitude it was so fascinating. It is so fun learning about the world. I would like to do this again. It was such a good 1 theme of Geography. It is good to know that latitude is east and west and that longitude is north and south.

Very, very helpful! Now i have a 9 for geography!! Thank you zo much!!!!

Thanks for the information !

Thank You, A well put explanation!

I am using Google Earth Pro (G.E.P.) to find battle locations in North Korea. G.E.P. will immediately show you the lat/long for any location. Is there any way to use the lat/long data to identify the corresponding 1;50,000 military map that would contain that location?

Thanks.. I benefitted a lot from your explanation.

if i was looking at a map/ survey from 1893 would the map/GPS coordinates be the same as it plotted today.

I have some info that may be helpful to someone, so I thought I would share.
Determining Longitude using a straight stick, the sun, and a watch when GPS is not available. Place a straight stick, upright and vertical, in a south facing, horizontal, level, surface. As the sun moves across the sky, mark the end points of the stick's shadow over time while noting the time of each mark. As the sun becomes higher in the sky, the time intervals should be five minutes or less for accurate mapping. Determine which shadow mark and corresponding time is the shortest (the sun is highest in the sky, which is "high noon"). Knowing the time which corresponds with high noon, the time zone your watch is set to, and the fact that the earth rotates 15 degrees every hour or 1/4 degree every minute provides adequate information to determine your longitudinal position using basic math. The watch time must be corrected for accuracy using the Equation of Time.

I have some info that may be helpful to someone, so I thought I would share.
If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, Latitude can be determined by measuring the angle between the horizon and Polaris, the north star.

Well-organized page, crisp and informative.