WEEK 1 – DAY 2

Definitions - Earth
(Coordinate System of the Earth)

Image source: https://techflourish.com/categories/earth-tilt-sun-clipart.html

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
o LO1.4 Define 'great circle', 'small circle',
'spherical angle', 'spherical triangle', 'poles of
a great circle'
o LO1.5 Define 'earth's poles', 'equator' and

'meridians'
o LO1.6 Define 'latitude' and 'parallels of

latitude', 'prime meridian' and 'longitude'

o LO1.7 Define 'international nautical mile',

'cable' and 'knot'

IMPORTANCE OF THE TOPIC
o Togive the students
knowledge and understanding
about the different terms or
coordinate system of the Earth.
DEFINITION OF
TERMS
Image source: https://techflourish.com/categories/earth-tilt-sun-clipart.html
 POLES

•Points where the earth’s axis meets

the surface.
THE POLES OF THE EARTH

•InFig. 1a, P and P’ are the

extremities of the Earth’s axis of
rotation, and are called the
‘poles’.
 THE POLES OF THE EARTH

•The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
EAST AND WEST
The direction towards which the
Earth rotates is called ‘east’; the
opposite direction is called
‘west’.
 NORTH AND SOUTH
•The two poles are distinguished
arbitrarily. The Earth, when
viewed from the North Pole(P),
rotates in an anti-clockwise
direction (Fig. 1b)
 NORTH AND SOUTH
•The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
NORTH AND SOUTH
•Alternatively, the North Pole
may be regarded as that pole
which lies to the left of an
observer who is facing east. The
opposite pole is called the South
Pole(P’).
NORTH AND SOUTH
•The north-south direction is clearly
at right angles to the east-west
direction. The axis PP’ if projected
would lie very nearly in the same
direction as a star known as the
Pole Star or Polaris.
 GREAT CIRCLE

•A sphere is formed by rotating a

circle about a diameter.
•Any section of a sphere by a
plane must therefore be a circle.
 GREAT CIRCLE
•Ifthe plane passes through the
center of the sphere, the
resulting section is the largest
that can be obtained and is
known as a ‘great circle’.
 GREAT CIRCLE

•Itis important because it gives the

navigator the shortest track between
any two places which lie on it, since the
great-circle track is the nearest
approach to a straight line which can be
drawn on the surface of the sphere.
 SMALL CIRCLE
•Ifthe plane does not pass
through the center of the sphere,
the section is known as a ‘small
circle’. (Fig. 1)
 •The Admiralty
Manual of

SMALL CIRCLE Navigation Volume

1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
SPHERICAL ANGLE

•The angle between two intersecting

arcs of great circles of a sphere
measured by the plane angle formed by
the tangents to the arcs at the point of
intersection.
 SPHERICAL ANGLE

•Source: http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast121/lectures/lec03.html
SPHERICAL TRIANGLE

•A triangle formed by three arcs

of great circles on a sphere.
 SPHERICAL TRIANGLE

Source: http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/ast121/lectures/lec03.html
 EQUATOR
•The great circle midway
between the poles is known as
the ‘equator’. Every point on the
equator is therefore 90⁰ from the
poles(Fig. 1).
 •The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –

EQUATOR
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
MERIDIANS
•These are semigreat circles
joining the poles, and are
perpendicular to the equator. In
Fig. 1a, PAP’ is one meridian;
PA’P’ is another on the other
side of the Earth.
 •The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –

MERIDIANS
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE
• To find the position of any
point in a plane, it is sufficient
to know its shortest distances
from two lines in that plane,
preferably at right angles to
each other(Fig. 2a).
 LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

•The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

• When the point lies on a sphere,

the same method holds in
principle, but the distances from
the two axes must be measured
in angular and not linear units.
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

• The corresponding axes on the

Earth’s surface are the equator
and the meridian through
Greenwich(Fig. 2b)
 LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

•The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

• The equator is selected because it

is conveniently situated for the
purpose: it is midway between the
poles and its plane is at right
angles to the axis of spin.
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

• The Greenwich meridian is

selected by international
agreement and is known as the
‘prime meridian’.
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

• Distances from these axes are

measured in the directions
governed by the Earth’s
rotation – North, South, East
and West.
LATITUDE
• In Fig. 2c, PFP’ is the
meridian passing through a
place F and meeting the
equator at L. the angular
distance FL is called the
‘latitude’ of F.
 LATITUDE

•The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
LATITUDE
• The angle FCL thus measures
the latitude of F. The latitude
of a place is therefore the
angular distance of that place
N. or S. of the equator.
 LATITUDE

•The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
 LATITUDE
• The angle is measured at the
center of the Earth in the plane
of the meridian through the
place. It is expressed in
degrees, minutes and seconds,
from 0⁰ to 90⁰.
 LATITUDE

•The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
PARALLEL OF LATITUDE

• Places having the same latitude

as F clearly lie on small circle,
the plane of which is parallel to
the plane of the equator. This
small circle is called ‘parallel of
latitude’.
 LONGITUDE
• In Fig. 3a, PFP’ is the meridian
through F meeting the equator
in B. The meridian through
Greenwich meets the equator
in A.
 LONGITUDE

•The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
 LONGITUDE
• The angular distance AB is called the
‘longitude’ of F. The longitude of a
place is thus the angular distance,
expressed in degrees, minutes and
seconds, between its meridian and
the Meridian of Greenwich.
 LONGITUDE
• The angle is measured at the
center of the Earth in the plane
of the equator.
 LONGITUDE
• Longitude is named ‘E’ or ‘W’,
depending on whether the
place is east or west of the
Greenwich meridian.
LONGITUDE
• Longitude cannot be greater than
180⁰ east or west, because the
plane of the Greenwich meridian
bisects the Earth(Fig. 3b).
 LONGITUDE

•The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
 LONGITUDE
• For this reason, longitude is
always measured along the
shorter arc, e.g. AB, and not
AWEB.
 LONGITUDE

•The Admiralty
Manual of
Navigation Volume
1(10th Edition) –
Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
 POSITION
• The position of a place can
therefore be described in terms
of latitude north or south of the
equator and longitude east or
west of the Greenwich
meridian.
 POSITION
• St. Thomas’ Church tower,
Portsmouth, for example, is in
latitude 50 degrees, 47 minutes, 24
seconds north of the equator, and
in longitude 1 degree, 6 minutes,
10 seconds west of Greenwich.
POSITION
• The position is recorded thus:

50⁰ 47’ 24’’N

001⁰ 06’ 10’’W
LINEAR MEASUREMENT OF
DISTANCE AND SPEED
 DISTANCE
•Distance - Is the spatial separation
between two positions on the surface of
the earth.
•In navigation, it is the length in nautical
miles of the rhumb line joining the two
places.
 STATUTE MILE
•The statute mile(also known
as the Land Mile) is a standard
fixed length of 1760 yards or
5280 feet(1609.36 m)
GEOGRAPHICAL MILE

•A Geographical Mile is the

length of 1’ of arc measured
along the Equator(ie 1’ of
Longitude); its value is 1855.3
m(WGS 84).
GEOGRAPHICAL MILE
•As the Equator is a circle(Great
Circle), the Geographical Mile
is the same length at all parts of
the Equator and is equal to “a
sin 1’ of arc”, where “a” is the
radius of the Equator.
INTERNATIONAL NAUTICAL MILE

•The International Nautical Mile

is a standard fixed length of 1852
m. Its abbreviation is the term “n
mile”(or “n.mile” or “nm”).
 KNOT
•In navigation, it is convenient to
have a fixed or standard unit for
measuring speed. This unit is
called a Knot, and is one
International Nautical
Mile(1852 m) per hour.
KNOT

•Itsabbreviation is the term

“kn”(NOT “kt”). The name
‘Knot’ originates from running
out a log line with distances
marked by knots tied in the line.
LENGTH OF A CABLE

•One-tenth of a sea mile is

known as a Cable, which varies
between 184.3m(201.55 yds)
and 186.2m(203.63 yds)
according to Latitude.
LENGTH OF A CABLE

•A Cable thus approximates to

200 yards, and this nominal
distance is a convenient measure
normally used at sea for short
range navigational purposes.
SUMMARY
• Distance – Statute,
Geographical, International
mile
• Great circle and small circle
• Spherical angle and sperical
triangle
SUMMARY
• International nautical mile,
cable
• Knot – nautical mile per
hour, unit of speed
SUMMARY
• Earth’s poles – North and
South Poles
• Equator, Latitude, Parallels
of latitude
• Prime meridian, Longitude
REFERENCES:
•The Admiralty Manual of
Navigation Volume 1(10th
Edition) – Chapter 1, Para 0110
to 0115 (1-11)
•http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/
ast121/lectures/lec03.html