The current use of Global Positioning Systems and Geographic Information System software has increased awareness of the importance of recording datums and ellipsoids. However, this information was not commonly recorded in the past and it wasn't recorded for the NURE HSSR program. We do know that during the time these samples were collected (late 1970's and very early 1980's), there were very few choices of datums or ellipsoids in use within the United States.

Every point located on the equator (an imaginary great circle passing round the middle of the Earth) is at zero degrees of latitude. Zero degrees longitude is every point on the Greenwich Meridian or primary meridian - an imaginary line which runs from the North Pole to the South Pole. By international convention it runs through "the primary transit" instrument (main telescope) at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Check out the Royal Greenwich Observatory special visit.

The downloadable ZCTA gazetteer files contain the latitude/longitude coordinates for each Census 2000 ZCTA. Coordinates for ZCTA internal points (calculated by considering the latitude/longitude of all bounding features and then creating an area-weighted average point inside the polygon) are also available in the TIGER/Line® Files.

Explaining this in detail is beyond the scope of this FAQ, but if you missed Geography 101, check out this NASA page for a good explanation.

There are a lot of speculative theories floating around. The following list includes a few of them.

Check out the "Mapping and Geography" section on the links page - especially the MapBlast and MapQuest links.

One might confuse the difference between degrees/minutes/seconds and Decimal Degrees. To convert from decimal degrees to degrees/minutes/seconds with 45.63248 as an example: Multiply by 60, to obtain 37.94880 – 37 is the number of minutes; 37 then will follow 45 degrees. To convert from degrees-minutes-seconds to decimal degrees using 45 degrees, 37 minutes, 57 seconds as an example:

It depends on where you got the data from. Lots of data that can be downloaded from the internet comes with metadata (data about data). You can usually find a section in the metadata describing the coordinate system that the data is stored in.

Yes My World can convert data as long as you know what coordinate system the data is in. When you import the data, it will ask you.

Didger 2 from Golden Software converts data and boundary files between 21 different projections, including Unprojected Latitude/Longitude and UTM. The 16-bit versions of Windows use a coordinate system that limits the maximum paper size. The 32-bit versions of Windows (NT) do not have this limitation. There are several ways to work around the problem: To print a map on 24"x 40" paper at a scale of 1.0 in. = 1.

quot; N, 100?20'11" W is a typical latitude and longitude coordinate. The coordinate above is the location of Pierre, South Dakota. Below you will find the break-down of the symbols above. Pierre is located 44 degrees, 22 minutes and 5 seconds north of the equator. Pierre is also located 100 degrees, 20 minutes and 11 seconds west of the Prime Meridian. The distance to Pierre can be calculated using the information above. The approximate distance to Pierre is 3061.

applicant would need to enter the name of a place nearest to their project location, and run a search for it. The results will include the latitude and longitude for the location.

Latitude and longitude may be obtained from the property deed or county plat maps available at the local library or county recorder. If the information cannot be obtained from the above sources, contact the DNR Emission Inventory Staff for assistance.

The first is something called a "datum". In simple terms, this is the "model" used to represent the shape of the earth. This is necessary, because the earth is not really round. WGS-84 is an example of a map datum. Other common datums in use are NAD27 and NAD83. We use WGS-84 here, because the Global Positioning System itself uses it. By the way, your GPS probably also defaults to this datum, so you shouldn't need to change it.

The easiest way is to use the Virtual Globetrotting Geocoding Tools. With these tools, you can find a latitude/longitude from: IP address Additionally, you could use the techniques in submitting a map to find a location on the map.