Latitude, Longitude, And Great Circle Distances

By Chip Pearson
www.cpearson.com/Excel/LatLong.aspx
!"#an"$%%&
'his wor(sheet contains )ormulas )or wor(ing with Latitude and Longitude *alues in Excel. +t also illustrates )ormulas )or
calculating the Great Circle Distance ,etween two points on Earth.
-aduis .) Earth /mean0 1iles 2&34.4$
5ilometers 62!.%
+nput )ields are in green.
Calculated )ields are in red.
Great Circle Distances
A Great Circle Distance is the shortest distance ,etween two points on a sphere. All lines o) Longitude are Great Circles.
'he only latitudinal Great Circle is the E7uator.
'he )unctions in this wor(sheet use the -AD+A89 )unction, which is part o) the Analysis 'ool Pa(, so the Analysis 'ool Pa( add"in must
,e loaded /'ools menu, Add"+ns item0.
A Great Circle Distance is calculated ,y )inding the interior spherical angle ,etween the two points and then multiplying that
angle ,y the radius o) the Earth. 'he interior spherical angle is calculated with the )ollowing e7uation /(nown as the :a*ersine ;ormula0.
<here

+nterior 9pherical Angle

Latitude " Latitude$

Latitude
Latitude$

Longitude " Longitude$

'his angle multiplied ,y the radius o) the Earth yields the Great Circle Distance ,etween to locations.
Excel=s trigonometric )unctions /9+8, C.9, etc0 wor( with -adians rather than Degrees, so the Latitude and Longitude *alues must ,e con*erted to -AD+A89.
'hese )unctions use the -AD+A89 )unction to carry out the con*ersion. 'his )unction is part o) the Analysis 'ool Pa(, so this add"in must ,e
loaded /'ools 1enu, then Add"+ns item0. 'his add"in is not re7uired with Excel $%%! and later.
>sing 'ime ;ormat Degress, 1inutes, and 9econds
'his section illustrates con*erting deg?min?sec *alues to degrees, minutes and seconds, and to decimal degrees
and calculating the distance ,etween two locations. Distance is also calculated )rom -adians.
chip@cpearson.com

)
Latitude Longitude
Location Deg?1in?9ec %A %%= %%B %%A %%= %%B +n these cells, enter the *alues as time, deg?min?ss
Location$ Deg?1in?9ec %%A %%= %%B %%A %%= %%B
Latitude
Deg 1in 9ec Deg
Location % % %%
Location$ % % % %%
Decimal Degrees Latitude Longitude -adians C/Degrees/4%0DP+
Location %% %.%!E322 .!E32$&
Location$ % %% % .!E32$&
Distance 5ilometers 1iles /statute0 5ilometers 1iles
.&! 6&.%&E .&! 6&.%&E
>sing Decimal Degrees
'his section illustrates con*erting ,etween decimal degrees and degrees, minutes, and seconds, and
calculating the distance ,etween two locations.
Con*ersion with array )ormula
Latitude Longitude Degrees
Location Dec Degrees $%.3 %.%%%% $%
Location$ Dec Degrees %.%%%% %.%%%% %
Distance 5ilometers 1iles /statute0
$$4%.!66 E!.$%$
+nitial And Ending Bearings
'he 9tart Bearing is the compass direction that one should set
sail to sail on a great circle. End Bearing is the compass direction
that you will ,e going when you arri*e at your destination.
8orth East
%.%%%% %.%%%%
8orth$ East$
% E3
9tart Bearing End Bearing
&% $!%
'his wor(sheet contains )ormulas )or wor(ing with Latitude and Longitude *alues in Excel. +t also illustrates )ormulas )or
A Great Circle Distance is the shortest distance ,etween two points on a sphere. All lines o) Longitude are Great Circles.
'he )unctions in this wor(sheet use the -AD+A89 )unction, which is part o) the Analysis 'ool Pa(, so the Analysis 'ool Pa( add"in must
A Great Circle Distance is calculated ,y )inding the interior spherical angle ,etween the two points and then multiplying that
angle ,y the radius o) the Earth. 'he interior spherical angle is calculated with the )ollowing e7uation /(nown as the :a*ersine ;ormula0.
'his angle multiplied ,y the radius o) the Earth yields the Great Circle Distance ,etween to locations.
Excel=s trigonometric )unctions /9+8, C.9, etc0 wor( with -adians rather than Degrees, so the Latitude and Longitude *alues must ,e con*erted to -AD+A89.
'hese )unctions use the -AD+A89 )unction to carry out the con*ersion. 'his )unction is part o) the Analysis 'ool Pa(, so this add"in must ,e
'his section illustrates con*erting deg?min?sec *alues to degrees, minutes and seconds, and to decimal degrees
and calculating the distance ,etween two locations. Distance is also calculated )rom -adians.
+n these cells, enter the *alues as time, deg?min?ss
Longitude
1in 9ec
% %
% %
C/Degrees/4%0DP+
'his section illustrates con*erting ,etween decimal degrees and degrees, minutes, and seconds, and
Con*ersion with array )ormula
1inutes 9econds
2% E%
% %