Institute of

Flight System Dynamics

Flight Guidance I – Exercise 4

The coordinates of the most northern and most southern points in Greenland and India are:
Longitude Latitude
North -34.102 deg 83.640 deg
Greenland
South -43.915 deg 59.778 deg
North 77.811 deg 35.521 deg
India
South 77.546 deg 8.078 deg

Task 1: Mercator Projection

Figure 1:Mercator Projection with Northern Hemisphere with Greenland and India Highlighted
Source: thetruesize.com

The figure shows the Mercator projection of the northern hemisphere with Greenland and India
highlighted. From the lecture, we know that areas appear larger in the projection, the bigger their
distance to the equator is. The question now is, how big the vertical stretch of the two countries actually
is and how large it appears on the 1:1 map.
a) Calculate the vertical stretch of Greenland and India using the approximation of a sphere for
the earth with 𝑟𝐸 = 6356766 𝑚.
To calculate the vertical stretch of the two countries, the vertical distance between the most northern
and most southern point needs to be calculated. Since the longitude, is not relevant for the vertical
distance, the problem is reduced to the calculation of the segment of a circle with the radius of the
earth:
∆𝑦𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 = 𝑟𝐸 (𝜇𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ − 𝜇𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ )
∆𝑦𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 = 2647 𝑘𝑚
∆𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎,𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 = 3045 𝑘𝑚
In contrast to Figure 1, the numbers show that Greenland is actually smaller than India. If both countries
are located at the equator (Figure 2), the similarity in size becomes clear.

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Flight Guidance I – Exercise 4

Figure 2: Greenland and India Located at the Equator

Source: thetruesize.com

b) Calculate the vertical stretch of the two countries for a Mercator projection and compare the
values with the results from a).
For a sphere, the formula for the Mercator projection is:
𝑥 = 𝑟𝐸 (𝜆 − 𝜆0 )
𝜋 𝜇
𝑦 = 𝑟𝐸 ln [tan ( + )]
4 2
Thus, the vertical distance between the two points of each country is:
𝜋 𝜇𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝜋 𝜇𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ
∆𝑦 = 𝑟𝐸 [ln tan ( + ) − ln tan ( + )]
4 2 4 2
∆𝑦𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 10051 𝑘𝑚
∆𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎,𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 3322 𝑘𝑚
This means the ratio between the size on a Mercator map and the true size is 3.80 for Greenland and
1.09 for India. The distortion of the Mercator projection makes Greenland look a lot bigger than it
actually is.
c) At a latitude of 𝜇𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 = 78 𝑑𝑒𝑔 on a Mercator map, Greenland is roughly 5734 𝑘𝑚 wide.
Calculate the actual width and the width it would have on a Mercator map at a latitude of
𝜇𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐ℎ = 48 𝑑𝑒𝑔 (like Munich). The map is centered at the prime meridian.
As a first step, the difference of longitude between the most western and most eastern point of
Greenland, at the given latitude, needs to be calculated. The inverse formulas for the projection
between Mercator and sphere are:
𝑦
𝜋 − 𝑦
𝜇 = − 2 tan−1 (𝑒 𝑟𝐸 ) or 𝜇 = tan−1 (sinh ( ))
2 𝑟𝐸
𝑥
𝜆= + 𝜆0
𝑟𝐸
Since the map is centered at the prime meridian, 𝜆0 = 0 and ∆𝜆 is calculated as:
∆𝜆𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 = 51.68 𝑑𝑒𝑔
To get the actual width of Greenland from ∆𝜆, the radius 𝑎 of the cut sphere (Figure 3) at 𝜇 = 78 𝑑𝑒𝑔
needs to be calculated.

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Flight Guidance I – Exercise 4

Figure 3: Spherical Segment

Source (wikipedia.de)

𝑎 = 𝑟𝐸 cos 𝜇
𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 = 1.322 ∙ 106 𝑚
With the equation from the lecture slides, the actual distance between the eastern and western shore
of Greenland is
∆𝑥 = 𝑟∆𝜆
∆𝑥𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 = 𝑎𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 ∆𝜆𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑
∆𝑥𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 = 1192 𝑘𝑚
Comparing this result with the distance from the description of this task, the ratio between the Mercator
projection and the sphere is 4.81.

Generally, the horizontal distortion on a Mercator map can be calculated by comparing the radius 𝑎 of
the cut sphere with the radius of the Earth.
𝑟𝐸 𝑟𝐸 1
𝜙= = =
𝑎 𝑟𝐸 cos 𝜇 cos 𝜇

Figure 4: Horizontal Distortion for a Mercator Projection

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Flight Guidance I – Exercise 4

Repeating these steps for a Mercator projection of Greenland at a latitude of Munich yields:
∆𝑥𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
∆𝑥𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟(𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐ℎ) =
cos 𝜇𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐ℎ
∆𝑥𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟(𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐ℎ) = 1782 𝑘𝑚
Consequently, at a latitude of 𝜇 = 48 𝑑𝑒𝑔, the ratio to the sphere is still 1.49.

A compromise between the angle and area preservation is the Kavrayskiy VII projection as shown in
Figure 5.

Figure 5: Kavrayskiy VII Projection

Another approach for a cylindrical projection with area preservation is the pseudo cylindrical, equal-
area, composite Goode-Homolosine projection as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Goode-Homolosine Projection

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Flight Guidance I – Exercise 4

Task 2: Lambert Projection
The effect of distortion that was visible in Task 1 is now to be examined for a conical Lambert projection
with the standard parallels at 𝜇1 = 75 𝑑𝑒𝑔 and 𝜇2 = 15 𝑑𝑒𝑔. The Earth is approximated as a sphere.
a) Calculate the parameters 𝑛 and 𝐶 for the given conical Lambert projection.

Figure 7: Characteristics of Conical Lambert Projection

The equations for the parameters 𝑛 and 𝐶 for a sphere can be taken from the lecture notes:
cos 𝜇1
ln
cos 𝜇2
𝑛= 𝜋 𝜇
tan ( − 1 )
ln 4 2
𝜋 𝜇
tan ( − 2 )
4 2
cos 𝜇1 cos 𝜇2
𝐶= =
𝜋 𝜇1 𝑛 𝜋 𝜇 𝑛
𝑛 ∙ (tan ( − )) 𝑛 ∙ (tan ( − 2 ))
4 2 4 2
With the values from the description, the results are:
𝑛 = 0.747
𝐶 = 1.576

b) Calculate the vertical stretch of Greenland and India for the conical Lambert projection and
compare the results with those from Task 1.
The equation for the vertical position on a conical Lambert projection is:
𝜋 𝜇 𝑛
𝑦 = 𝑟𝐸 ∙ 𝐶 (tan ( − )) cos 𝑛𝜆
4 2
In this equation, 𝜆 can be set to zero because the term only represents the rotation on the conical
projection and in this task, only the vertical stretch is important. Thus, the term cos 𝑛𝜆 becomes 1.
Consequently, the vertical stretch can be calculated via the difference of the most northern and
southern point in the y-axis:
𝜋 𝜇𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑛 𝜋 𝜇𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑛
∆𝑦𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 𝑟𝐸 ∙ [𝐶 (tan ( − )) − 𝐶 (tan ( − )) ]
4 2 4 2
∆𝑦𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 2611 𝑘𝑚
∆𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎,𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 2913 𝑘𝑚

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Flight Guidance I – Exercise 4

Compared to the sphere, the ratio for Greenland is now only 0.99 and for India only 0.96. It is obvious
that the conical Lambert projection provides a much more accurate map (according to size) than the
Mercator projection.

c) Calculate the width from Task 1 c) (1192 𝑘𝑚) for the Lambert projection at 𝜇 = 78 𝑑𝑒𝑔 and at
the equator and compare the results.
The width on a conical Lambert projection is calculated from the unrolled cone as illustrated in Figure
7. The radius can be calculated from the vertical position 𝑦. 𝛼 can be calculated according to the lecture
slides
𝛼 = 𝑛 ∙ ∆𝜆
Using the equations already applied in Subtask b), the radius for Greenland and the Equator on the
unrolled cone are (not to be confused with the radius of the Earth):
𝜋 𝜇 𝑛
𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 𝑦𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 𝑟𝐸 ∙ 𝐶 (tan ( − ))
4 2
𝑟𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 1.861 ∙ 106 𝑚
𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟,𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = 1.002 ∙ 107 𝑚
Before the width of Greenland, when located on the Equator of the map, can be calculated, the new
difference in longitude of the most western and eastern points needs to be determined. From Task 1
c) it is known that the true distance is 1192 km. With the radius of the earth, the difference in longitude
becomes:
∆𝑥𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑠𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
∆𝜆𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 =
𝑟𝐸
The width is then calculated from the circle segment with 𝑟 and 𝛼:
∆𝑥 = 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 ∙ 𝛼 = 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 ∙ 𝑛 ∙ 𝜆
∆𝑥𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑,𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡 = 1254 𝑘𝑚
∆𝑥𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟,𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑡 = 1403 𝑘𝑚
At the correct position on the map, the ratio between the width of Greenland on a conical Lambert
projection and on a sphere is only 1.05. For projections at the Equator, the ratio only increases to 1.18
for the given properties of the projection. If the value of 𝜇1 was to be increased, the ratio for the
projection at the Equator would increase likewise.

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