Engineering Surveying II
Lecture 01 – Coordinate System
LOGO
Contents
Introduction
Geoid and Ellipsoid
Types of Coordinate
Coordinate Transformation
Height System
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Introduction
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.
If we want to have a mathematical representation
of a point (point’s coordinate) we need to have a
reference surface we can refer to.
Knowing the shape of the Earth we can define
this surface.
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Earth’s natural surface
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Representation of the earth’s surface
By plane (plane surveying)
By spherical surface (R=6371 km)
By an ellipsoid of revolution
By the geoid ( or mean sea level)
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Earth Shape Models
Geoid - the surface of the earth's gravity field, which is
approximately the same as mean sea level.
It is perpendicular to the direction of gravity pull.
Since the mass of the earth is not uniform at all points, and
the direction of gravity changes, the shape of the geoid is
irregular.
Ellipsoidal - a smooth mathematical surface which
resembles a squashed sphere that is used to represent
the earth’s surface.
Various different ellipsoids have been used as
approximations.
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N
b a = Semi major axis
b = Semi minor axis
f = a-b = Flattening
a a
S
Name Year a (m) 1/f Remarks
Clarke 1880 6 378 249.145 293.465 Ethiopia
GRS 80 1980 6 378 137 298.257 222 101 Recomm. by IAG
WGS 84 1984 6 378 137 298.257 223 563 Used in GPS
Hayford 1910 6 378 388 297 N America, ED 87
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Types of coordinate
We have mainly two types of coordinate systems as listed
below:
` 3D Cartesian coordinate system
uses the concept of mutually perpendicular lines to denote
the coordinate of a point.
points are represented in the form of coordinates (x, y, z)
in three-dimension.
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3D Geodetic Coordinates (φ, λ, h)
uses a three-dimensional ellipsoidal surface to define locations
on the earth.
Latitude (ϕ) - is the angle between the ellipsoidal normal
through P’ and the equatorial plane.
Longitude (λ) - the angle between the meridian ellipse
that passes through Greenwich and the meridian ellipse
containing the point in question.
Ellipsoidal height (h) - the vertical distance of the point
in question above the ellipsoid.
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2D rectangular coordinates
horizontal positions of control points for most applications
in engineering surveying are defined using plane
rectangular coordinate.
used extensively for dimensional control on site
any point P has coordinates which are known as the easting
EP and northing NP
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2D Polar coordinates
When using this, the position of point B is located with
reference to point A by polar coordinates D and q
where D is the horizontal distance between A and B and q the
whole-circle bearing of the line A to B.
they are only used in surveying for defining the relative
position of one point with respect to another.
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Coordinate Transformation
b. Cartesian to Geodetic
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a. Geodetic to Cartesian
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C. Polar to 2D Cartesian coordinate
If the polar coordinates of a point is (θ, D), then the 2D
Cartesian coordinate of the point can be computed as:
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C. Polar to 2D Cartesian coordinate
If the polar coordinates of a point is (EA, NA), the distance
(D) and azimuth (θ) are known, then the coordinates of B
(EB, NB) can be compute as:
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D. Cartesian to polar coordinate
If the coordinates of A and B are (EA, NA) and (EB, NB)
respectively, then the polar coordinates of B (EB, NB) with
respect to A can be obtained by:
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Example
1. The coordinates of point A are 311.617 mE, 447.245 mN.
Calculate the coordinates of point B where DAB = 57.916 m
and θAB = 37°11'20" and point C where DAC = 85.071 m
and θAC = 205°33'55".
2. The coordinates of two points A and B are known as EA =
469.721m, NA = 338.466m and EB = 501.035m, NB =
310.617m. Calculate the horizontal distance DAB and whole-
circle bearing θAB of line AB.
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3. The geodetic coordinate of a control point located near
construction site is (60o 60’45’’, 110o 60’45’’, 1800m). What is
the Cartesian coordinate of the point?
4. Convert the following Cartesian coordinate system to
geodetic coordinate system.
X = 1005786.731m
y = 4261897.822m
Z = 6372439 m
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Height system
A height system is a one-dimensional coordinate system used to
express the metric distance (height) of a point above a reference
surface (i.e., the zero-height level).
Ellipsoidal and Orthometric heights
Ellipsoidal height - a distance along a normal above or below the
surface of an ellipsoid.
Heights from GNSS - GNSS receiver gives an ellipsoidal height
Orthometric height - referenced to the Geoid and is a distance
measured along the local gravity vector (the vertical) from the Geoid
to the local equipotential surface passing through the point to be
heighted.
A GNSS receiver first produces XYZ coordinates which can be converted into
geodetic latitude, longitude and an ellipsoidal height. To be of use in surveying,
the ellipsoidal height must be converted into an orthometric height based on the
Geoid. The relationship between an ellipsoidal or GNSS height h and an
orthometric height H.
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Orthomatric - Ellipsoid height Relationship
H = Orthometric Height
h = Ellipsoidal Height
H=h-N
N = Geoid Height
H TOPOGRAPHIC SURFACE
h
Ellipsoid Geoid
GRS80
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reference system and fram
Reference systems - constants, conventions, models, and
parameters, which serve as the necessary basis for the
mathematical representation of geometric and physical
quantities.
example is a three-dimensional Cartesian system with the
origin in the geo-centre, equatorial orientation, metric scale
and rotating with the Earth.
Reference frames - realize the reference system physically,
i.e., by a solid materialization of points, and mathematically,
i.e., by the determination of parameters (e.g., geometric
coordinates).
Examples are terrestrial monuments or spatial matters,
whose coordinates are computed from the measurements
following the definition of the reference system.
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Thank You!!!
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