Lect#07

Dr. Munawar Shah

 Coordinate System
• a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more
numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the
position of the points or other geometric elements.
The spherical coordinate system is commonly used in
physics. It assigns three numbers (known as
coordinates) to every point in Euclidean space: radial
distance r, polar angle θ (theta), and azimuthal angle
φ (phi). The symbol ρ (rho) is often used instead of r.

Spherical CS
Common coordinate systems

• Number line
• Cartesian coordinate system
• Polar coordinate system or Spherical Coordinate system
• Cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems
And so on….
Geographic Coordinate Systems

• The geographic coordinate system (GCS) is a

spherical or ellipsoidal coordinate system for
measuring and communicating positions
directly on the Earth as latitude and longitude.
• It is the simplest, oldest and most widely
used in Space Science. Although latitude and
longitude form a coordinate tuple like a
Cartesian coordinate system, the geographic
coordinate system is not Cartesian because the
measurements are angles and are not on a
planar surface.
• one latitudinal degree is 110.6 kilometers
• one longitudinal degree is 111.3 kilometers
 Map projection Cartography is the study and
practice of making and using maps.
Combining science, aesthetics and technique,
cartography builds on the premise
that reality can be modeled in ways

• In cartography, a map projection is a way to flatten a globe's surface

that communicate spatial information effectively.

into a plane in order to make a map.

• This requires a systematic transformation of the latitudes and
longitudes of locations from the surface of the globe into locations on
a plane.
 Common projection System
A Special Case – Universal Transverse Mercator System
(UTM)