GIS 205 – GIS and Remote Sensing

Lesson 5
Georeferencing and Projection
Lesson 5: Geo-referencing and Projection
Introduction
Georeferencing is the process of conveying real coordinates to the spatial data. It
assigns coordinates to the pixels of raster images. Common frames and coordinate
systems are developed to define the positions within the information. It helps in
determining how the areas in an image correspond to the surface. When you know
about the coordinates of points given in the images, you can match these points to
those on the charts.

In this lesson, you will be able to geo-reference map.

Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this lesson, the students will be able to:
1. Discuss the concept of coordinate systems, map projections, transformation
and georeferencing.
2. Perform map projection.
3. Perform georeferencing.

ACTIVITY
Please refer to the attached activity.
Activity No. 7 Georeferencing

ANALYSIS
1. Explain why coordinate system and projection are central to maps, mapping
and GIS.
2. Is it possible to have different coordinates for the same location?

ABSTRACTION
A. Understanding Earth

Earth’s shape
The earth is generally viewed as a sphere; however, its shape is not as perfect as
a sphere in reality. Given below are the models that have attempted to describe
the shape of the earth:

Spherical model

 Based on a circle, it treats earth as a sphere to make mathematical

calculations easier.

Ellipsoid/ Oblate spheroid model

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 Based on an ellipse, rotating an ellipse around the semi-minor axis creates

an ellipsoid.
 Latitude, longitude and planar coordinate systems are determined with
respect to the ellipsoid.
 Earth is flattened at poles with a bulge at equator and this is attributed to
the earth’s rotation. Rotation of earth has centrifugal force associated with
it, which causes an object to move away from the centre of gravity. The
force is greatest at equator causing an outward bulge and thus giving that
region a larger circumference

Geoid model

 Describes unique and irregular shape of the earth. The variation in the
density of different rock types and irregularities caused by mountain ranges
and ocean depths affect the gravity of earth.
 Geoid can be perceived as a sea level surface (where dynamic effects such
as tides and waves are excluded) whose irregular shape is attributed to the
earth’s gravity
 No simple surface such as sphere or spheroid/ellipsoid can model the sea
level surface completely so best fit of the spheroid/ellipsoid to the sea level
surface is performed.

Figure 30. Representation of geoid model

 The geoid differs from the shape of ellipsoid by up to ± 100 m and this
difference is known as geoid separation or geoid undulation
 Elevations and contour lines depicted on maps are measured with respect
to the geoid

Datums
A datum is a reference point or surface against which measurements are made
using models of the shape of the earth.

I. Vertical Datum: A vertical datum is a reference surface used to measure

elevations of the point on earth’s surface. It is tidal, based on sea level, or
geodetic, based on ellipsoid
The tidal vertical datum takes local mean sea level as reference for height
measurement. Mean sea level is the arithmetic mean of the hourly water
elevation taken over a specific 19 years cycle which is defined as zero

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elevation for local area and is close approximation to the geoid (geoid and
local mean sea level differ by not more than a couple of meters). As zero
elevation defined for one country is not necessarily same for other countries,
therefore a number of local vertical datums are defined.

Figure 31. Vertical Datum

The mean sea level height is also known as orthometric height or geoid
height.

The geodetic vertical datum uses ellipsoid as the reference surface. The
surface of the ellipsoid is considered to represent zero altitude. Points above
the ellipsoid represent positive altitude and points below the surface
represent negative altitude. The altitude is also known as ellipsoidal or
geodetic height. GPS devices furnish ellipsoidal heights.
The relationship between ellipsoidal height H and geoid height h is given as
𝐻+ℎ+𝑁
where N refers to the geoid ellipsoid separation.

II. Horizontal datum: A horizontal or geodetic datum is defined as an ellipsoid

which is used as a reference surface for the planimetric measurements on
the Earth surface usually expressed in latitudes and longitudes. It can be
of two types:
a. Local geodetic datum: The one which best approximates the size and
shape of a particular part of earth’s sea level surface. The center of this
spheroid doesn’t coincide with center of mass of the earth

Figure 32. Local geodetic datum

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b. Global/Geocentric datum: The one that best approximates the size and
shape of the whole earth. The center of this spheroid coincides with
centre of mass of the earth. The US Global Positioning System uses
geocentric datum

Figure 33. Geocentric datum

The use of local datums results in uneven connectivity of longitudinal and latitudinal
lines between different countries/regions. These mismatches were common over
hundred meters and created confusion about locating an area correctly. With the
advent of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology this disagreement was no
longer acceptable. World-wide datums which are now used in all countries/regions
began to be developed.

The datum presently used for GPS is called WGS 84 (World Geodetic System
1984). It consists of a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system and an
associated ellipsoid. The positions can either be described as XYZ Cartesian
coordinates or latitude, longitude and ellipsoid height coordinates. The origin of the
datum is the center of mass of the Earth and it is designed for positioning anywhere
on Earth.

B. Coordinate System

A coordinate system is a reference system used for locating objects in a two- or

three-dimensional space.

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Geographic Coordinate System

A geographic coordinate system, also known as global or spherical coordinate

system is a reference system that uses a three-dimensional spherical surface to
determine locations on the earth. Any location on earth can be referenced by a
point with longitude and latitude.

We must familiarize ourselves with the geographic terms with respect to the Earth
coordinate system in order to use the GIS technologies effectively.
 Pole: The geographic pole of earth is defined as either of the two points
where the axis of rotation of the earth meets its surface. The North Pole lies
90º north of the equator and the South Pole lies 90º south of the equator
 Latitude: Imaginary lines that run horizontally around the globe and are
measured from 90º north to 90º south. Also known as parallels, latitudes are
equidistant from each other.
 Equator: An imaginary line on the earth with zero-degree latitude, divides
the earth into two halves–Northern and Southern Hemisphere. This parallel
has the widest circumference.

Figure 34. Division of earth into hemispheres

 Longitude: Imaginary lines that run vertically around the globe. Also known
as meridians, longitudes are measured from 180º east to 180º west.
Longitudes meet at the poles and are widest apart at the equator

 Prime meridian: Zero-degree longitude which divides the earth into two
halves–Eastern and Western hemisphere. As it runs through the Royal
Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich, England it is also known as
Greenwich meridian

Figure 35. Latitude and longitude measurements

Equator (0º) is the reference for the measurement of latitude. Latitude is measured
north or south of the equator. For measurement of longitude, prime meridian (0º)
is used as a reference. Longitude is measured east or west of prime meridian. The

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grid of latitude and longitude over the globe is known as graticule. The intersection
point of the equator and the prime meridian is the origin (0, 0) of the graticule.

Coordinate measurement

The geographic coordinates are measured in angles. The angle measurement can
be understood as per following:
A full circle has 360 degrees 1 circle = 360º
A degree is further divided into 60 minutes 1º = 60′
A minute is further divided into 60 seconds 1′ = 60″

An angle is expressed in Degree Minute Second.

While writing coordinates of a location, latitude is followed by longitude. For

example, coordinate of Philippines is written as latitude of 12°52’46.92” N,
121°46’26.4” E.

Decimal Degree is another format of expressing the coordinates of a location. To

convert a coordinate pair from degree minute second to decimal degree following
method is adopted:

12°52′ 46.92" = 12 + (52/60) + [46.92/(60 × 60)] = 12.8797°

We have 12 full degrees, 52 minutes - each 1/60 of a degree, and 46.92 seconds
- each 1/60 of 1/60 of a degree

So, we can write coordinates of Philippines in decimal degree format as: 12.8797°
N, 121.7740° E.

Local Time and Time Zones

With rotation of earth on its axis, at any moment one of the longitudes faces the
Sun (noon meridian), and at that moment, it is noon everywhere on it. After 24
hours the earth completes one full rotation with respect to the Sun, and the same
meridian again faces the noon. Thus, each hour the Earth rotates by 360/24 = 15
degrees.

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This implies that with every 15º of longitude change a new time zone is created
which is marked by a difference of one hour from the neighboring longitudes
specified at 15º gap. The earth's time zones are measured from the prime meridian
(0º) and the time at Prime meridian is called Greenwich Mean Time. Thus, there
are 24 time zones created around the globe.

Date

The International Date Line is the imaginary line on the Earth that separates two
consecutive calendar days. Generally, it is said to be lying exactly opposite to the
prime meridian having a measurement of 180º meridian but it is not so. It zigs and
zags the 180º meridian following the political jurisdiction of the states but for sake
of simplicity it is taken as 180º meridian. Starting at midnight and going east to the
International Date Line, the date is one day ahead of the date on the rest of the
Earth.

Projected Coordinate system

A projected coordinate system is defined as two-dimensional representation of the
Earth. It is based on a spheroid geographic coordinate system, but it uses linear
units of measure for coordinates. It is also known as Cartesian coordinate system.
In such a coordinate system the location of a point on the grid is identified by (x, y)
coordinate pair and the origin lie at the center of grid. The x coordinate determines
the horizontal position and y coordinate determines the vertical position of the
point.

Figure 36. Cartesian coordinate system

In such a coordinate system the location of a point on the grid is identified by (x, y)
coordinate pair and the origin lie at the center of grid. The x coordinate determines
the horizontal position and y coordinate determines the vertical position of the
point.

C. Map Projection

Map projection is a mathematical expression using which the three-dimensional

surface of earth is represented in a two-dimensional plane. The process of

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projection results in distortion of one or more map properties such as shape, size,
area or direction.

A single projection system can never account for the correct representation of all
map properties for all the regions of the world. Therefore, hundreds of projection
systems have been defined for accurate representation of a particular map element
for a particular region of the world.

Classification of Map Projections

Map projections are classified on the following criteria:
 Method of construction
 Development surface used
 Projection properties
 Position of light source

Method of Construction
The term map projection implies projecting the graticule of the earth onto a flat
surface with the help of shadow cast. However, not all of the map projections are
developed in this manner. Some projections are developed using mathematical
calculations only. Given below are the projections that are based on the method of
construction:
 Perspective Projections: These projections are made with the help of
shadow cast from an illuminated globe on to a developable surface
 Non-Perspective Projections: These projections do not use shadow cast
from an illuminated globe on to a developable surface. A developable
surface is only assumed to be covering the globe and the construction of
projections is done using mathematical calculations.

Development Surface
Projection transforms the coordinates of earth on to a surface that can be flattened
to a plane without distortion (shearing or stretching). Such a surface is called a
developable surface. The three basic projections are based on the types of
developable surface and are introduced below:

1. Cylindrical Projection
 It can be visualized as a cylinder wrapped around the globe.
 Once the graticule is projected onto the cylinder, the cylinder is opened
to get a grid like pattern of latitudes and longitudes.
 The longitudes (meridians) and latitudes (parallels) appear as straight
lines
 Length of equator on the cylinder is equal to the length of the equator
therefore is suitable for showing equatorial regions.

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Aspects of cylindrical projection:

(a) (b) (c)

(a) Normal: when cylinder has line of tangency to the equator. It includes
Equirectangular Projection, the Mercator projection, Lambert's Cylindrical
Equal Area, Gall's Stereographic Cylindrical, and Miller cylindrical
projection. (b) Transverse: when cylinder has line of tangency to the
meridian. It includes the Cassini Projection, Transverse Mercator,
Transverse cylindrical Equal Area Projection, and Modified Transverse
Mercator. (c) Oblique: when cylinder has line of tangency to another point
on the globe. It only consists of the Oblique Mercator projection.

2. Conic Projection
 It can be visualized as a cone placed on the globe, tangent to it at some
parallel.
 After projecting the graticule on to the cone, the cone is cut along one of
the meridians and unfolded. Parallels appear as arcs with a pole and
meridians as straight lines that converge to the same point.
 It can represent only one hemisphere, at a time, northern or southern.
 Suitable for representing middle latitudes.

Aspects of conic projection:

(a) Tangent: when the cone is tangent to only one of the parallel.

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(b) Secant: when the cone is not big enough to cover the curvature of earth,
it intersects the earth twice at two parallels.

3. Azimuthal/Zenithal Projection
 It can be visualized as a flat sheet of paper tangent to any point on
the globe
 The sheet will have the tangent point as the centre of the circular
map, where meridians passing through the centre are straight line
and the parallels are seen as concentric circle.
 Suitable for showing polar areas

Aspects of zenithal projection:

(a) Equatorial zenithal: When the plane is tangent to a point on the equator.
(b) Oblique zenithal: when the plane is tangent to a point between a pole
and the equator.
(c) Polar zenithal: when the plane is tangent to one of the poles.

Projection Properties

According to properties map projections can be classified as:

 Equal area projection: Also known as homolographic projections. The
areas of different parts of earth are correctly represented by such
projections.
 True shape projection: Also known as orthomorphic projections. The
shapes of different parts of earth are correctly represented on these
projections.
 True scale or equidistant projections: Projections that maintain correct
scale are called true scale projections. However, no projection can maintain
the correct scale throughout. Correct scale can only be maintained along
some parallel or meridian.

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Position of light source

Placing light source illuminating the globe at different positions results in the
development of different projections. These projections are:
 Gnomonic projection: when the source of light is placed at the centre of the
globe
 Stereographic Projection: when the source of light is placed at the periphery
of the globe, diametrically opposite to the point at which developable surface
touches the globe
 Orthographic Projection: when the source of light is placed at infinity from
the globe opposite to the point at which developable surface touches the
globe

Selection of Map Projection

Choosing a correct map projection for an area depends on the following:
 Map Purpose
Considering the purpose of the map is important while choosing the map
projection. If a map has a specific purpose, one may need to preserve a
certain property such as shape, area or direction
On the basis of the property preserved, maps can be categorized as
following
a. Maps that preserve shapes.
Used for showing local directions and representing the shapes of the
features. Such maps include:
 Topographic and cadastral maps.
 Navigation charts (for plotting course bearings and wind
direction).
 Civil engineering maps and military maps.
 Weather maps (for showing the local direction in which
weather systems are moving).
b. Maps that preserve area
The size of any area on the map is in true proportion to its size on
the earth. Such projections can be used to show
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 Density of an attribute e.g. population density with dots

 Spatial extent of a categorical attribute e.g. land use maps
 Quantitative attributes by area e.g. Gross Domestic Product
by country
 World political maps to correct popular misconceptions about
the relative sizes of countries.
c. Maps that preserve scale
Preserves true scale from a single point to all other points on the
map. The maps that use this property include:
 Maps of airline distances from a single city to several other
cities
 Seismic maps showing distances from the epicenter of an
earthquake
 Maps used to calculate ranges; for example, the cruising
ranges of airplanes or the habitats of animal species
d. Maps that preserve direction
On any Azimuthal projection, all azimuths, or directions, are true from
a single specified point to all other points on the map. On a conformal
projection, directions are locally true, but are distorted with distance.

e. General purpose maps

There are many projections which show the world with a balanced
distortion of shape and area. Few of these are Winkel Tripel,
Robinson and Miller Cylindrical.For larger-scale maps, from
continents to large countries, equidistant projections are good at
balancing shape and area distortion. Depending on the area of
interest, one might use Azimuthal Equidistant,Equidistant Conic and
Plate Carrée.

 Study area
a. Geographical location
The line of zero distortion for a cylindrical projection is equator. For
conical projections it is parallels and for Azimuthal it is one of the poles.
If the study area is in tropics use cylindrical projection, for middle
latitudes use conical and for Polar Regions use Azimuthal projections.
b. Shape of the area
Young in 1920 described a way of selecting the map projection which is
known as Young’s rule. According to this rule, if the ratio of maximum
extent (z) (measured from the centre of the country to its most distant
boundary) and the width (δ) of the country comes out to be less than
1.41, Azimuthal projection is preferable. If the ratio is greater than 1.41
a conical or cylindrical projection should be used.
Z/δ < 1.41 Azimuthal Projection
Z/δ >1.41 Conical or Cylindrical projections

Projection Systems
Given below is the description of the projection systems that are mostly used:
A. Cylindrical Projection
i. Equirectangular projection

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This is a Projection on to a cylinder which is tangent to the equator.

It is believed to be invented by Marinus of Tyre, about A.D. 100.

1. Poles are straight lines equal in length to the equator

2. Meridians are straight parallel lines, equally spaced and are
half as long as the equator. All meridians are of same length
therefore scale is true along all meridians.
3. Parallels are straight, equally spaced lines which are
perpendicular to the meridians and are equal to the length of
the equator.
4. Length of the equator on the map is the same as that on the
globe but the length of other parallels on map is more than the
length of corresponding parallels on the globe. So the scale is
true only along the Equator and not along other parallels.
5. Distance between the parallels and meridians remain same
throughout the map.
6. Since the projection is neither equal area nor orthomorphic,
maps on this projection are used for general purposes only.

ii. Lambert's cylindrical equal-area projection

It is devised by JH Lambert in 1772. It is a normal perspective
projection onto a cylinder tangent at the equator

1. Parallels and meridians are straight lines

2. The meridians intersect parallels at right angles
3. The distance between parallels decrease toward the poles but
meridians are equally spaced
4. The length of the equator on this projection is same as that on
globe but other parallels are longer than corresponding
parallels on globe. So, the scale is true along the equator but
is exaggerated along other parallels
5. Shape and scale distortions increase near points 90 degrees
from the central line resulting in vertical exaggeration of

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Equatorial regions with compression of regions in middle

latitudes
6. Despite the shape distortion in some portions of a world map,
this projection is well suited for equal-area mapping of regions
which are predominantly north-south in extent, which have an
oblique central line, or which lie near the Equator.

iii. Gall's stereographic cylindrical projection

Invented by James Gall in 1855, this projection is a cylindrical
projection with two standard parallels at 45ºN and 45ºS.

1. Poles are straight lines.

2. Meridians are straight lines and are equally spaced.
3. Parallels are straight lines but the distance between them
increases away from the equator.
4. Shapes are true at the standard parallels. Distortion increases
on moving away from these latitudes and is highest at the
poles.
5. Scale is true in all directions along 45ºN and 45ºS.
6. Used for world maps in British atlases.

iv. Mercator projection

Gerardus Mercator in 1569 invented this projection.

1. Parallels and meridians are straight lines

2. Meridians intersect parallels at right angle
3. Distance between the meridians remains the same but
distance between the parallels increases towards the pole
4. The length of equator on the projection is equal to the length
of the equator on the globe whereas other parallels are drawn

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longer than what they are on the globe, therefore the scale
along the equator is correct but is incorrect for other parallels
5. As scale varies from parallel to parallel and is exaggerated
towards the pole, the shapes of large sized countries are
distorted more towards pole and less towards equator.
However, shapes of small countries are preserved
6. The image of the poles is at infinity
7. Commonly used for navigational purposes, ocean currents
and wind direction are shown on this projection

v. Transverse Mercator
This projection results from projecting the sphere onto a cylinder
tangent to a central meridian.

1. Only centre meridian and equator are projected as straight

lines. The other parallels and meridians are projected as
curves.
2. The meridians and the parallels intersect at right angles
3. Small shapes are maintained but larger shapes distort away
from the central meridian.
4. The area distortion increases with distance from the central
meridian
5. Used to portray areas with larger north-south extent. British
National Grid is based on this projection only.

B. Pseudo-cylindrical Projections
A pseudo cylindrical projection is that projection in which latitudes are
parallel straight lines but meridians are curved.

i. Mollweide Projection

1. The poles are points and the central meridian is a straight line

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2. The meridians 90º away from central meridians are circular

arcs and all other meridians are elliptical arcs.
3. The parallels are straight but unequally spaced.
4. Scale is true along 40º 44' North and 40º 44' South.
5. Equal –area projection
6. Used for preparing world maps

ii. Sinusoidal Projection

1. The central meridian is a straight line and all other meridians

are equally spaced sinusoidal curves.
2. The parallels are straight lines that intersect centre meridian
at right angles.
3. Shape and angles are correct along the central meridian and
equator
4. The distortion of shape and angles increases away from the
central meridian and is high near the edges
5. Equal area projection
6. Used for world maps illustrating area characteristics. Used for
continental maps of South America, Africa, and occasionally
other land masses, where each has its own central meridian.

iii. Eckert VI

1. Parallels are unequally spaced straight lines.

2. Meridians are equally spaced sinusoidal curves.
3. The poles and the central meridians are straight lines and half
as long as equator.
4. It stretches shapes and scale by 29% in the north-south
direction, along the equator. This stretching reduces to zero at
49º 16' N and 49º 16' S.
5. The areas near the poles are compressed in north-south
direction.
6. Suitable for thematic mapping of the world.

C. Conical Projection

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i. Bonne’s Projection

1. Pole is represented as a point and parallels as concentric arcs

of circles
2. Scale along all the parallels is correct
3. Central meridian is a straight line along which the scale is
correct.
4. Other meridians are curved and longer than corresponding
meridians on the globe. Scale along meridians increases
away from the central meridian
5. Central meridian intersects all parallels at right angle. Other
meridians intersect standard parallel at right angle but other
parallels obliquely. Shape is only preserved along central
meridian and standard parallel
6. The distance and scale between two parallels are correct.
Area between projected parallels is equal to the area between
the same parallels on the globe. Therefore, is an equal area
projection
7. Maps of European countries are shown in this projection. It is
also used for preparing topographical sheets of small
countries of middle latitudes.

ii. Polyonic Projection

1. The parallels are arcs of circles with different centers

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2. Each parallel is a standard parallel i.e. each parallel is

developed from a different cone
3. Equator is represented as a straight line and the pole as a
point
4. Parallels are equally spaced along central meridian but the
distance between them increases away from the central
meridian.
5. Scale is correct along every parallel.
6. Central meridian intersects all parallels at right angle so the
scale along it, is correct. Other meridians are curved and
longer than corresponding meridians on the globe and so
scale along meridians increases away from the central
meridian.
7. It is used for preparing topographical sheets of small areas.

D. Azimuthal/Zenithal Projection
i. Polar Zenithal Equal area projection

1. The pole is a point forming the centre of the projection and the
parallels are concentric circles.
2. The meridians are straight lines radiating from pole having
correct angular distance between them.
3. The meridians intersect the parallels at right angles.
4. The scale along the parallels increases away from the centre
of the projection.
5. The decrease in the scale along meridians is in the same
proportion in which there is an increase in the scale along the
parallels away from the centre of the projection. Thus the
projection is an equal area projection.
6. Shapes are distorted away from the centre of the projection.
Scale along the meridians is small and along the parallels is
large so the shapes are compressed along the meridians but
stretched along the parallels.
7. Used for preparing political and distribution maps of polar
regions. It can also be used for preparing general purpose
maps of large areas in Northern Hemisphere.

ii. Polar Zenithal Equidistant Projection

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1. The pole is a point forming the centre of the projection and the
parallels are concentric circles.
2. The meridians are straight lines radiating from pole having
correct angular distance between them.
3. The meridians intersect the parallels at right angles.
4. The spacing between the parallels represent true distances,
therefore the scale along the meridians is correct.
5. The scale along the parallels increases away from the centre
of the projection.
6. The exaggeration and distortion of shapes increases away
from the centre of the projection.
7. The projection is neither equal area nor orthomorphic.
8. It is used for preparing maps of polar areas for general
purposes.

iii. Gnomonic Projection

It is also known as great-circle sailing chart.

1. The pole is a point forming the centre of the projection and the
parallels are concentric circles.
2. The meridians are straight lines radiating from pole having
correct angular distance between them.
3. The meridians intersect the parallels at right angles.
4. The parallels are unequally spaced. The distances between
the parallels increase rapidly toward the margin of the
projection. This causes exaggeration of the scale along the
meridians.
5. The scale along the parallels increases away from the centre
of the projection.

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6. The exaggeration and distortion of shapes increases away

from the centre of the projection. The exaggeration in the
meridian scale is greater than that in any other zenithal
projection.
7. It is neither equal area nor orthomorphic.
8. An arc on the globe which is a part of a great circle is
represented as a straight line on this projection. This is
because the radii from the centre of the globe are produced to
meet the plane placed tangentially at the pole.
9. It is used to show great-circle paths as straight lines and thus
to assist navigators and aviators in determining appropriate
courses.

iv. Sereographic Projection

1. The pole is a point forming the centre of the projection and the
parallels are concentric circles.
2. The meridians are straight lines radiating from pole having
correct angular distance between them.
3. The meridians intersect the parallels at right angles.
4. The parallels are unequally spaced. The distances between
the parallels increase toward the margin of the projection. The
exaggeration in the meridian scale is less than that in the case
of Gnomonic projection.
5. The scale along the parallels also increases away from the
meridian and in the same proportion in which it increases
along the meridians. At any point scale along the parallel is
equal to the scale along the meridian.
6. The areas are exaggerated on this projection and the
exaggeration increases away from the centre of the projection.
7. A circle drawn on the globe is represented by a circle on this
projection.
8. It is used to show world in hemispheres. Also used for
preparing aeronautical charts and daily weather maps of the
polar areas.

v. Orthographic Projection

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1. The pole is a point forming the centre of the projection and the
parallels are concentric circles.
2. The meridians are straight lines radiating from pole having
correct angular distance between them.
3. The meridians intersect the parallels at right angles.
4. The parallels are not equally spaced. The distances between
them decrease rapidly towards the margin of the projection.
So, the scale along the meridians decreases away from the
centre of the projection.
5. The scale along the parallel is correct.
6. The distortion of the shapes increases away from the centre
of the projection.
7. It is neither equal area nor orthomorphic.
8. The projection is used to prepare charts for showing the
celestial bodies such as moon and other planets.

E. Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)

UTM projection divides the surface of the Earth into a number of zones,
each zone having a 6-degree longitudinal extent, Transverse Mercator
projection with a central meridian in the center of the zone. UTM zones
extend from 80 degrees South latitude to 84 degrees North latitude. The
zones are numbered from west to east. The first zone begins at the
International Date Line (180°).

The particular transverse Mercator map that is used to represent each zone
has its central meridian running north-to-south down the center of the zone.

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This means that no portion of any particular zone is very far from the central
meridian of the transverse Mercator map that is used to depict the zone.
Since a Universal Transverse Mercator zone is 6° of longitude wide, no
portion of a UTM zone is more than 3° of longitude from the zone's central
meridian. Since the distortion in a transverse Mercator map is relatively low
near the map's central meridian, the result of this close proximity to the
map's central meridian is that the transverse Mercator map used to depict
each zone within the coordinate system contains relatively little distortion.

D. Transformation

The process of transformation, maps every point from one coordinate space to
another. Using transforms, one can rotate, translate and scale content freely in
two-dimensional space.

Rotation

A rotation is a transformation that is performed by spinning the object around a

fixed point known as the center of rotation. It can be performed clockwise as well
as counterclockwise. The angle by which the object is turned is called the angle of
rotation.

Rotation (a) Clockwise (b) Counterclockwise

Translation

It is the process of moving each point of an object by the same distance in the
same direction. It involves shifting the origin of the current coordinate system
horizontally and vertically by a specific amount.

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Figure 37. Illustrating translation of (2, 1).

Scaling

Scaling changes the size of the grid. It lets the stretching and shrinking of the grid
along the x and y axes independently.

Figure 38. Scaling

It does not change the origin of the grid but makes the grid multiplied by a given
value. The figure above shows scaling transformation, which doubles the scale of
both axes. The square maintains its origin at (10, 10) even after scaling. Because
the scale is made twice, therefore origin i.e. (10, 10) of the new grid lies at (20, 20)
of the original grid.

Changing Map Projections

To transform data from one coordinate system to another, forward and inverse
equations are used. The inverse equation of the source projection transforms the
coordinates of source projection into geographic coordinates. Then, the forward
equation of the target projection is used to transform the geographic coordinates
into the target projection coordinates.

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Cartesian coordinate Transformation

Two dimensional Cartesian coordinates (x, y) can be transformed from one
coordinate system to another coordinate system using three primary
transformation methods which are:
 Conformal Transformation: It is a linear transformation which changes
one coordinate system into another by the process of rotation, uniform scale
change followed by translation
 Affine Transformation: It is a linear transformation which changes one
coordinate system into another by the process of rotation, scale change in
x and y direction, followed by translation.

The difference between the conformal and affine transformations could be

understood by the figure given below.

Figure 39. Transformation (a) Conformal (b) Affine

The shape of the original rectangular grid is maintained due to the uniform
scale change in the case of conformal transformation whereas in affine
transformation the shape of the rectangular grid is changed due to the
difference in scale in x and y direction.
 Polynomial Transformation: It is a non-linear transformation which relates
two 2D Cartesian coordinate systems through a translation, a rotation and
a variable scale change

Datum Transformation

Datum transformation is a transformation of a three-dimensional coordinate system

into another three-dimensional coordinate system. It is done when the source
projection is based on a different datum than the target projection. The
transformation parameters are estimated on the basis of a set of selected points
whose coordinates are known in both datum systems.

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Mathematically a datum transformation can be realized directly by relating the

geographic coordinates of both datum systems or indirectly by relating the
geocentric coordinates of the datums.
Datum transformation via geographic coordinates
1. Geographic Offset
2. Molodensky and Abridged Molodensky transformation
3. Multiple regression transformation
Datum transformation via geocentric coordinates
1. Geocentric translation
2. Helmert 7-parameter transformations
3. Molodensky-Badekas 10-parameter transformation

E. Georeferencing

It is a process of locating an entity in real world coordinates. It aligns geographic

data to a known coordinate system representing earth defined through projection
systems so it can be viewed, queried, and analyzed with other geographic data.
To georeference a geographic data, the positions of known points, called control
points, are determined. The Ground Control Points (GCPs) are defined as the
points with known geographical location, whose positions on map correspond to
their positions on earth. GCPs are collected from fixed objects and are marked on
the data to be georeferenced that define where the data is on earth. The whole
data adjusts itself according to these GCPs. At least three control points are
required for georeferencing a data. Additional control points help increasing the
accuracy. Once the data is georeferenced, each point has a coordinate associated
to it which means the location of any object in the data (map) can now be
determined

Figure 40. Georeferencing an image

In brief, the process of georeferencing establishes control points; inputs the known
geographic coordinates of these control points, chooses the coordinate system and
other projection parameters and then minimizes residuals. Residuals are the
difference between the actual coordinates of the control points and the coordinates
predicted by the geographic model created using the control points. The residuals
help in determining the level of accuracy of the process. The quality of the
rectification depends on the number, accuracy, and distribution of the control points
and the choice of transformation model.

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Georeferencing Raster Data

The raster data occupy a raster space which is defined as a digital image of the
arrangement of the pixels in a grid. The computer reads the header of the data file
and determines the dimension of the raster space. The position of a cell in the
raster space is referenced by row and column (row, column). This system of
referencing the raster cells is called raster coordinate system. The origin for this
system lies at the upper left corner of the monitor because the computer monitor
displays an image from left to right and from top to bottom. The method of
referencing positions in raster space is different from that on maps. The origin of
the map coordinate system is the lower left corner. To visualize raster data spatially
raster data needs to be transformed into a map coordinate system i.e. the raster
coordinates (row, column) are transformed into corresponding ground coordinates
(East, West).
There are two approaches to georeferencing:
1. Image to Map rectification
2. Image to Image registration

Image to Map: rectification is the process by which geometry of an image is made

planimetric. It involves the measurement of the image coordinates of the reference
cells (GCPs) and the corresponding ground coordinates to relate the image with
the real world. The two sets of coordinates are used to solve a set of polynomial
equations whose order depends upon the amount of geometric distortion in the
raster image. Generally affine transformation is used for the purpose:

Where X and Y are the ground coordinates, and, x and y are the image
coordinates.

A minimum of three GCPs are required to solve these equations, though greater
the GCPs more accurate is the rectification. On solving the equations we get the
values of the six (a, b, c, d, e and f) coefficients. Any image coordinate can then
be substituted in the equations to get the corresponding ground position on the
used map coordinate system. The positions of the original grid cells will have to be
interpolated in the mapping coordinate system.

After the coordinate transformation the raster cells may have been oriented
differently than the way they were originally in the raster coordinate system. The
attribute value is to be interpolated for the cells oriented to the new coordinate
system. This is called resampling. There are three common methods of
resampling:

Nearest neighbor: In this method, the attribute value of the original cell nearest to
a cell in the output raster layer is assigned to the corresponding cell.
a. Bilinear interpolation: It assigns the value to a cell in the output raster layer
by taking weighted average of the surrounding four cells in the original grid
nearest to it.

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b. Cubic convolution: It assigns the value to a cell in the output raster layer by
taking weighted average of the surrounding sixteen cells in the original grid
nearest to it.
Among these three the nearest neighbor is preferred because it doesn’t change
the values of the original grid cells assigned to the reoriented grid cells but it
produces blocky images. The cubic convolution on the other side does change the
values but it generates smoother images.
The result of an image to map rectification is a geometrically correct grid of raster
cells.

Image to Image registration is a method of georeferencing a raster layer with the

help of another raster, which is already georeferenced by the process of image to
map rectification. The already georeferenced raster is used as a reference for the
raster which is to be rectified. Control points are selected from the two raster layers,
the coordinate transformation and resampling is then done in the similar manner
as it is done for image to map rectification. Image to Image registration is used to
spatially match several raster layers to a single reference raster layer.

APPLICATION
Please refer to the attached activity.
Activity No. 7 Georeferencing

Closure
You finally understood the principles of georeferencing and projection. With the
complementary activity, you were able to add geographic information to the image
so that QGIS can place the image in its appropriate real-world location. In the next
lesson, you will package your map for presentation. We will explore more about
cartographic designing. If you are ready, then let’s start Lesson 6!

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