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Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system

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for a brass disk near Donner Summit, in California. Given the dimensions of the ellipsoid, the conversion from lat/lon/height-above-ellipsoid coordinates to X-Y-Z is straightforward—calculate the X-Y-Z for the given lat-lon on the surface of the ellipsoid and add the X-Y-Z vector that is
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perpendicular to the ellipsoid there and has length equal to the point's height above the ellipsoid. The reverse conversion is harder: given X-Y-Z can immediately get longitude, but no closed formula for latitude and height exists. See "
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may also be used. Due to differences between datums, the ECEF coordinates for a location will be different for different datums, although the differences between most modern datums is relatively small, within a few meters.
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and geocentric (ECEF) or local Cartesian (ENU) coordinates. This provides accurate results for all inputs including points close to the center of the Earth.
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the first iteration gives latitude correct within 10 degree as long as the point is within 10,000 meters above or 5,000 meters below the ellipsoid.
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is also in the plane of the equator, passing through extending from 90°W longitude (negative) to 90°E longitude (positive)
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systems for measuring locations on the surface of the Earth, but it is also used in applications such as tracking
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is the line between the North and South Poles, with positive values increasing northward. In WGS 84, this is the
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that binds the coordinate system to actual locations on the Earth. The ECEF that is used for the
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Conversions between ECEF and geodetic coordinates (latitude and longitude) are discussed at
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is a type of altitude defined as the difference between the two aforementioned quantities:
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The distance from a given point of interest to the center of Earth is called the
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that represents locations in the vicinity of the Earth (including its
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orientation of the coordinate system and additional information
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Clearer notes on converting ECEF coordinates to WGS-84 datum
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at the center of the chosen ellipsoid. In WGS 84, this is
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The ECEF coordinate system has the following parameters:
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Datum Transformations of GPS Positions Application Note
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includes a utility CartConvert which converts between
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Notes on converting ECEF coordinates to WGS-84 datum
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International Terrestrial Reference System and Frame
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The ECEF coordinates (x, y, z) shown in relation to
498:. Its most common use is in tracking the orbits of 1096:Snay, Richard A.; Soler, Tomás (December 1999). 712:Geocentric coordinates can be used for locating 1098:"Modern Terrestrial Reference Systems (Part 1)" 655:, and can actually be measured against an ECEF. 1075:United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs 457:Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system 436: 8: 16:3-D coordinate system centered on the Earth 443: 429: 410:Spatial Reference System Identifier (SRID) 405:International Terrestrial Reference System 42: 1066:National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. 775:add actual distance as the Z axis to the 19:For broader coverage of this topic, see 1201: 955: 825:Polar view, Earth-centered, Earth fixed 45: 1068:"World Geodetic System 1984 datasheet" 909:(IRNSS are geosynchronous satellites) 7: 747:coordinates, with the center of the 268: 694:." Using Bowring's formula in 1976 670:(positive); in WGS 84, this is the 579:; it is not to be confused for the 536:, which is a generalization of the 415:Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) 377:European Terrestrial Ref. Sys. 1989 982:Clynch, James R. (February 2006). 797:An example of Earth-centered frame 551:, not restricted to points on the 482:, and surrounding outer space) as 287:Ordnance Survey Great Britain 1936 253:Discrete Global Grid and Geocoding 144:Horizontal position representation 14: 1252: 1240: 1228: 1216: 1204: 818: 803: 755:can be aligned with the Earth's 590:geographic coordinate conversion 203:Global Nav. Sat. Systems (GNSSs) 53: 1280:Astronomical coordinate systems 728:. They are differentiated from 708:Astronomical coordinate systems 604:, ECEF consists of an abstract 367:N. American Vertical Datum 1988 397:Internet link to a point 2010 327:Geodetic Reference System 1980 245:Quasi-Zenith Sat. Sys. (QZSS) 1: 387:Chinese obfuscated datum 2002 773:celestial coordinate systems 649:international reference pole 465:geocentric coordinate system 337:Geographic point coord. 1983 1166:September 27, 2007, at the 944:Planetary coordinate system 785:galactic coordinate systems 297:Systema Koordinat 1942 goda 1296: 1046:Open Geospatial Consortium 726:Cartesian X, Y, and Z axes 705: 357:World Geodetic System 1984 18: 1275:Global Positioning System 1148:ECEF datum transformation 614:Global Positioning System 347:North American Datum 1983 317:South American Datum 1969 616:(GPS) is the geocentric 602:spatial reference system 472:spatial reference system 208:Global Pos. System (GPS) 175:Spatial reference system 21:Spatial reference system 1174:geodetic datum overview 1153:March 22, 2007, at the 1007:Chobotov, V.A. (2002). 965:GPS Satellite Surveying 922:Earth-centered inertial 812:Earth-centered inertial 730:topocentric coordinates 672:IERS Reference Meridian 662:is in the plane of the 963:Leick, Alfred (2004). 494:measurements from its 40: 1105:Professional Surveyor 939:Orbital state vectors 706:Further information: 463:), also known as the 103:Geographical distance 31: 714:astronomical objects 504:satellite navigation 277:Sea Level Datum 1929 129:Geodetic coordinates 984:"Earth Coordinates" 789:spherical astronomy 751:as the origin. The 557:geocentric altitude 553:reference ellipsoid 515:geocentric distance 307:European Datum 1950 265:Standards (history) 165:Reference ellipsoid 113:Figure of the Earth 996:on April 18, 2015. 753:plane of reference 743:, astronomers use 685:An example is the 185:Vertical positions 41: 1020:978-1-60086-097-3 1010:Orbital Mechanics 757:celestial equator 606:coordinate system 582:geodetic altitude 539:geocentric radius 453: 452: 401: 400: 180:Spatial relations 170:Satellite geodesy 125: 1287: 1257: 1256: 1255: 1245: 1244: 1243: 1233: 1232: 1231: 1221: 1220: 1209: 1208: 1207: 1200: 1135: 1134: 1132: 1130: 1125:on June 13, 2011 1121:. Archived from 1115: 1109: 1108: 1102: 1093: 1087: 1086: 1084: 1082: 1077:. United Nations 1072: 1063: 1057: 1056: 1054: 1052: 1038: 1032: 1031: 1029: 1027: 1004: 998: 997: 995: 989:. 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The 554: 546: 541: 540: 533: 529: 525: 521: 516: 511: 509: 505: 501: 497: 493: 489: 485: 481: 477: 473: 470: 466: 462: 458: 446: 441: 439: 434: 432: 427: 426: 424: 423: 416: 413: 411: 408: 406: 403: 402: 396: 394: 391: 390: 386: 384: 381: 380: 376: 374: 371: 370: 366: 364: 361: 360: 356: 354: 351: 350: 346: 344: 341: 340: 336: 334: 331: 330: 326: 324: 321: 320: 316: 314: 311: 310: 306: 304: 301: 300: 296: 294: 291: 290: 286: 284: 281: 280: 276: 274: 271: 270: 262: 261: 254: 251: 249: 243: 241: 235: 233: 227: 225: 221:BeiDou (BDS) 219: 217: 211: 209: 206: 204: 201: 200: 194: 193: 186: 183: 181: 178: 176: 173: 171: 168: 166: 163: 161: 158: 155: 151: 147: 145: 142: 140: 137: 135: 132: 130: 127: 123: 122:circumference 119: 114: 111: 109: 106: 104: 101: 100: 94: 93: 86: 83: 81: 78: 76: 73: 71: 68: 67: 61: 60: 56: 52: 51: 48: 44: 39: 35: 30: 26: 22: 1259:Solar System 1127:. Retrieved 1123:the original 1113: 1104: 1091: 1081:December 16, 1079:. Retrieved 1074: 1061: 1051:December 25, 1049:. Retrieved 1045: 1036: 1024:. Retrieved 1009: 1002: 991:the original 977: 964: 958: 838:  Earth 810:Polar view, 745:heliocentric 741:nearby stars 738: 718:Solar System 711: 702:In astronomy 695: 684: 678: 659: 653:polar motion 644: 633: 627: 600:As with any 599: 587: 580: 572: 568: 561: 556: 544: 537: 531: 527: 523: 519: 514: 512: 491: 487: 483: 478:, interior, 464: 460: 456: 454: 197:Technologies 152: / 64:Fundamentals 25: 1247:Outer space 1235:Spaceflight 1129:December 7, 1026:October 24, 771:. These 3D 75:Geodynamics 1269:Categories 950:References 777:equatorial 724:along the 500:satellites 480:atmosphere 1211:Astronomy 1190:EPSG:4978 765:Milky Way 763:, or the 596:Structure 469:cartesian 459:(acronym 154:Longitude 80:Geomatics 38:longitude 1184:geodetic 1164:Archived 1151:Archived 916:See also 903:IRNSS-1I 892:IRNSS-1G 881:IRNSS-1F 870:IRNSS-1E 859:IRNSS-1C 848:IRNSS-1B 787:used in 781:ecliptic 761:ecliptic 687:NGS data 510:motion. 333:ISO 6709 231:(Europe) 229:Galileo 215:(Russia) 213:GLONASS 150:Latitude 139:Geodesic 97:Concepts 34:latitude 1197:Portals 734:azimuth 716:in the 664:equator 508:crustal 502:and in 476:surface 467:, is a 393:Geo URI 363:NAVD 88 273:NGVD 29 247:(Japan) 239:(India) 223:(China) 85:History 70:Geodesy 47:Geodesy 1017:  935:(ITRS) 901:  899:  890:  888:  879:  877:  868:  866:  857:  855:  846:  844:  836:  783:, and 759:, the 679:Y axis 660:X axis 645:Z axis 634:origin 622:NAD 83 618:WGS 84 490:, and 383:GCJ-02 373:ETRS89 353:WGS 84 343:NAD 83 323:GRS 80 283:OSGB36 237:NAVIC 118:radius 1223:Stars 1101:(PDF) 1071:(PDF) 994:(PDF) 987:(PDF) 969:Wiley 924:(ECI) 313:SAD69 293:SK-42 108:Geoid 1131:2010 1083:2021 1053:2018 1028:2021 1015:ISBN 739:For 677:The 658:The 643:The 632:The 461:ECEF 455:The 303:ED50 120:and 36:and 767:'s 749:Sun 720:in 522:= ( 1271:: 1103:. 1073:. 1044:. 967:. 791:. 779:, 736:. 592:. 585:. 571:− 567:= 542:, 530:+ 526:+ 517:, 486:, 1199:: 1133:. 1107:. 1085:. 1055:. 1030:. 971:. 674:. 576:0 573:R 569:R 564:′ 562:h 548:0 545:R 534:) 532:Z 528:Y 524:X 520:R 492:Z 488:Y 484:X 444:e 437:t 430:v 124:) 116:( 23:.

Index

Spatial reference system

latitude
longitude
Geodesy

Geodesy
Geodynamics
Geomatics
History
Geographical distance
Geoid
Figure of the Earth
radius
circumference
Geodetic coordinates
Geodetic datum
Geodesic
Horizontal position representation
Latitude
Longitude
Map projection
Reference ellipsoid
Satellite geodesy
Spatial reference system
Spatial relations
Vertical positions
Global Nav. Sat. Systems (GNSSs)
Global Pos. System (GPS)
GLONASS (Russia)

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