Project 1:

Plotting Coordinates and Projections

Susan T. Williams
GEOG 482

Figure 1: Albers Equal-Area Conic Projection of Kyle, TX.

Map projection produced by Susan T. Williams, using the Penn State Online GIS Education Interactive Album
of Map Projections (2005a). Retrieved July 20, 2011 from http://projections.mgis.psu.edu

Map Overview
The map shown above pinpoints the location of Kyle, my current home town in the great state of Texas.
The particular map projection used here is the Albers Equal-Area Conic in which the conterminous
United States is spotlighted within the bounding coordinates of +25.5 to +49.5 degrees latitude and
-67 to -125 degrees longitude.
A conic projection results in a map that could be shaped into a cone and set on top of a
sphere, much like an upside-down ice cream cone (see Figure 2). In fact, lets go with
that visual because who doesnt like ice cream? Think of the raised ribs on the outside
of an ice cream cone that all converge at the tip of the cone these are your meridians,
equally-spaced straight lines that converge to a singular point. Then imagine that you
bite the tip off the ice cream cone, and you can visualize how the poles are represented
as arcs rather than as single points. The cone intersects the globe or ice cream, as
the case may be at two standard parallels.
The projection parameters used for the above map are:
Standard

Standard

Central

Latitude

Parallel 1

Parallel 2

Meridian

of Origin

29.5 N

45.5 N

-96 W

90 N

Figure 2: Drawing of inverted ice cream

cone depicting the nature of conic map
projections. (Personal drawing rendered
by J. Tyler Williams, son of the author,
on July 22, 2011.)

These standard parallels were selected according to the one-sixth rule of thumb (Snyder and Voxland,
1994). This rule states that one of the possible methods used to determine the standard parallels is
obtained by dividing the difference in range of latitudes by six, then setting the first standard parallel at
one-sixth the range above the southernmost latitude and the second standard parallel at one-sixth the
range below the northernmost latitude. In this example, the northernmost extent was set at 49.5 degrees
and the southernmost extent was set at 25.5 degrees, a range of 24 degrees latitude which nicely
encompasses the conterminous United States. When 24 degrees is divided by 6, per the one-sixth rule,
we find each sixth equals 4 degrees. Thus by subtracting 4 degrees from the 49.5 degrees northern
boundary, we see that our first standard parallel should be set at about 45.5 degrees. Likewise with the
southern boundary, adding 4 degrees to the lower 25.5 degree latitude helps us set our second standard
parallel at 29.5 degrees latitude. This is just one example, however, and there are other possible
approaches.
The Equal-Area component of the map projection name refers to the main strength of this type of map
projection: the areas of all regions on the map are shown in the same proportion to their true areas on the
earth. In other words, if you took a chocolate chip from that ice cream we discussed earlier and placed it
somewhere on the map, it would cover the same area on the surface of the ice cream as it would when
placed anywhere on the map.
While this particular type of map is excellent at preserving area, there will unfortunately be some degree
of distortion in shapes and angles (conformality), scale, and distance. The red-colored distortion ellipses
shown on maps such as this illustrate the various distortions that occur within each particular projection,
including size, angle, distance, and direction (DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p. 22), while minimizing distortions
within and near the selected standard parallels. There is no observable distortion on this particular map
as all the ellipses remain circular and remain the same size.
Different types of map projections preserve different types of properties, and no single projection type is
able to accurately portray all of these properties. In other words, there is no perfect map projection, so

one must carefully consider which quality needs to be maintained and which can be compromised in
order to select the projection type best suited to the specific need.
This type of map is commonly used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and is best suited for
areas that lie mainly in an east-to-west orientation such as the United States (USGS, 2006b).
Additionally, this type of map projection is best suited for regions in middle latitudes where distances are
most accurate and when the total range in latitude from north to south does not exceed 3035. (Snyder
and Voxland, 1994).
The Albers Equal-Area Conic projection and Lambert Conformal Conic projection are both conic-based
maps, but they differ in that the Lambert Conformal Conic preserves shape rather than area. Since most
people are already at least somewhat familiar with the unique shape of Texas, I felt it would make more of
an impact to accurately represent the area... because, after all, everything is bigger in Texas!

Figure 3: Albers Equal-Area Conic Projection of Kyle, TX with extents removed.

Map projection produced by Susan T. Williams, using the Penn State Online GIS Education Interactive Album
of Map Projections (2005b). Retrieved July 22, 2011 from http://projections.mgis.psu.edu

The same Albers Equal-Area Conic map projection is shown again above, this time with the map extents
removed, in order to illustrate how shapes become less accurate and distortion increases the farther a
location is from the two standard parallels. Notice how the ellipses farthest from Kyle are grossly
distorted in shape, but their general area remains the same regardless of the shape and location.

Geographic Coordinates
The geographic coordinate system is a method of establishing the position of a point, line, or other
geometric figure in relation to an established reference system (DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p. 10). In very
simplistic terms, its like an address book for the whole world. A typical address has multiple components,
generally consisting of a house or apartment number, street name, city, state and country. The
geographic coordinate system is a basic grid system that can be projected onto different shapes to make
maps and uses a set of numbers much like an address to help us pinpoint any spot on the earth.
The two components of the system are latitude and longitude, each consisting of a set of numbers that
serve as part of the earths address. Imagine a giant net that has been draped over the globe. Each of
the nets ropes that run in an east-west direction represent the latitude, or how far north or south of the
equator your location is, while the ropes that run in a north-south direction represent the longitude, or how
far east or west your location is in reference to the prime meridian. The prime meridian is a designated
line of longitude that runs from north to south through Greenwich, England.

Figure 4: Latitude and Longitude Grid Showing Intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian at 0,0 origin.
Map projection produced by Susan T. Williams, using National Geographic Education Online MapMaker 1-page
Maps (2003). All rights reserved. Reproduced here for educational purposes only. Retrieved July 22, 2011 from
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/outline-map

Many cities are laid out from a central spot, usually city hall or some other downtown area. The earth has
a central spot too that we refer to as the origin where the coordinates start at 0,0. The equator serves
as the earths origin of latitude and the prime meridian serves as the origin of longitude. The place where
these two imaginary coordinate lines intersect is the origin of 0,0, currently located in the Gulf of Guinea
south of the country of Ghana on the African continent.
As you move away from the origin, your coordinates will change depending on the direction you are
heading. Similar to balancing your checkbook, when you are above or north of the origin, your latitude
coordinates will be positive and when you go down or south of the origin, your latitude coordinates will
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become negative. For east and west coordinates of longitude, the numbers will be positive as you move
east and negative as you move west.
One way to express geographic coordinates is in the degrees, minutes, and seconds format. Using this
format, the geographic coordinates of my home town, Kyle, Texas, as highlighted on the map above are:
Location

Geographic Coords. Format

Latitude

Longitude

Datum

Kyle, Texas, USA

Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds

29 59' 21" N

097 52' 38" W

NAD83

Source: United States Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information Survey. (2006a)

A second format that can be used to relate geographic coordinates is referred to as decimal degrees.
The mathematical formula which converts a coordinate from degrees, minutes, seconds into decimal
degrees is:
Decimal degrees = D + (minutes + (seconds / 60)) / 60 (DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p. 12)
Using this formula, I can enter the degrees, minutes, and seconds of my hometown:
Latitude: 29 + (59 + (21 / 60)) / 60) =

29.989167

Longitude: 97 + (52 + (38 / 60)) / 60 =

-097.877222

The results are the geographic coordinates expressed in decimal degrees, making certain the longitude
has a negative value because it is west:
Location

Geographic Coords. Format

Latitude

Longitude

Datum

Kyle, Texas, USA

Decimal Degrees

29.989167

-097.877222

NAD83

Lets say you want to find my address of Kyle, Texas. Latitude of 29 degrees will tell you which
hemisphere Im in (northern, because it is a positive value). Longitude of -97 degrees will narrow that
down again by half (western hemisphere, because it is a negative value). So, much like a state and
country code written on a piece of mail, those two coordinates alone reveal that I am not only in the
northwestern quarter of the globe, but somewhere in the state of Texas. The next set of numbers, 59
minutes and 21 seconds latitude, along with 52 minutes and 38 seconds longitude, will pinpoint my
hometown of Kyle, Texas very precisely, just like a street name and house or apartment number written
on a piece of mail.
For the time being, the decimal degrees method of stating geographic coordinates does not seem to be
as commonly used here in the United States as the degrees/minutes/seconds method, at least not among
civilians and ordinary citizens. Degrees/ minutes/ seconds itself was not terribly well-known or
understood among the average citizen but has recently become more popular due to the release of
affordable GPS receivers that aid in geocaching and other outdoor pursuits.
Latitude and longitude coordinates are considered unprojected as the system is based on curved
coordinates meant to resemble the basic three-dimensional sphere of the earth rather than the flat twodimensional plane of a map.
It is important to acknowledge that a coordinate system is only as good as the reference ellipsoid that it is
based on. An ellipsoid is basically a three-dimensional ellipse, like a sphere is a three-dimensional circle,
and is the main geometric shape that we use to approximate the earths surface, thereby simplifying the
math required to fit a coordinate system grid to the model of the Earth's shape. (DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p.
15).
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Technology is constantly changing and improving, enabling us to more accurately determine positions on
the surface of the earth, which means that the reference ellipsoids that we use sometimes change as
well. Although there are many different ellipsoids in use around the world, the reference ellipsoid
currently in use as the basis of the Global Positioning System (GPS) is the World Geodetic Survey of
1984 (WGS84) ellipsoid. (DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p. 15)

UTM Coordinates
The UTM coordinates of my home town of Kyle, Texas are:
Location

Coordinate System

Easting

Northing

Zone

Datum

Kyle, Texas,
USA

Universal Transverse
Mercator (UTM)

608304.572
meters

3318115.390
meters

14

NAD83

Source: National Geodetic Survey (2004a).

The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection is another type of grid system used to establish a
global location. It expresses the measurements in meters which are more suited to a flat map instead of
degrees, minutes, and seconds which are more suited to a sphere. Similar to geographic coordinates
that use a set of numbers to define latitude and another set for longitude, the UTM uses two sets of
numbers also in order to pinpoint a precise location. The first number, called an Easting, measures the
distance to the east from the start of a UTM zone boundary. The second number, called a Northing,
measures the distance from the equator in meters (DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p. 21).
The UTM grid divides the surface of the earth into 60 column-like zones, each of which spans 6 degrees
in width (longitude), and are numbered from west to east from the International Dateline. The vertical line
drawn down the center of each zone serves as the central meridian and is given an Easting measurement
of 500,000 meters. This
false Easting ensures
that there will never be
any negative coordinates,
which simplifies
calculations and reduces
chance of error. Any
numbers to the west of
this central meridian will
be less than 500,000 and
any numbers east of the
central meridian will be
greater than 500,000 (ElRabbany, 2002).

Figure 5: The Universal Transverse Mercator grid that covers the conterminous 48
United States comprises 10 zonesfrom Zone 10 on the west coast through Zone
19 in New England. (USGS, 2006c). Retrieved July 23, 2011 from
http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/factsheets/fs07701.html

The equator has also

been given a false
Northing value of
10,000,000 meters in
order to avoid negative

numbers for any locations south of the equator.

The width of the zones becomes less as you move north or south and the lines of longitude come closer
to converging. The polar regions - areas that have locations above 84 degrees north latitude and below
80 degrees south latitude - are not covered in the UTM system, but can be referenced using the
supplementary Universal Polar Stereographic (UPM) coordinate system (MapTools, 2008).
The UTM coordinates are based on the cylindrical Transverse Mercator projection in which conformality
(shapes) and angle measurements are preserved when projected onto a flat surface. The UTM system
was developed by cartographers and military officials to help overcome the limitations of the geographic
coordinate system namely, that of using curved grids and spherical coordinates to ascertain locations,
distances, and area on a flat plane (DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p. 21). The geographic coordinate system is
open to other errors as well, namely that of human error in which someone may inadvertently
misunderstand or misinterpret degrees, minutes, and seconds as decimal degrees or vice versa.
Degrees in and of themselves dont really have a standard length, which makes it a bit difficult to
accurately measure areas and distance. This may not sound like a big deal, but it could result in a
difference of great distances, which would certainly be an inconvenience, at best, or a case of life-ordeath at worst, such as in the case of search and rescue teams.
The Transverse Mercator
projection at left is centered
on zone 30 (which is
colored yellow). The red
distortion ellipses along
Zone 30 are all similar in
both size and shape,
illustrating how distortion is
minimized within that zone.
The distortion ellipses
increase in size away from
Zone 30, indicating that
map distortion increases
also. However, they do
maintain the same shape,
indicating that objects retain
their true form (DiBiase,
2011, Ch. 2, p. 21). This is
just one example and a map
projection can be centered
on each of the 60 UTM
zones, thereby minimizing
distortion of scale in each of
those zones to no greater
than 1 part in 1,000. In
other words, a 1,000 meter
distance measured
anywhere within that UTM
Figure 6: Transverse Mercator Projection of the world centered on Zone 30 (in
zone will not be more than
yellow). (DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p. 22).
one meter off.
In order to obtain the UTM coordinates for my hometown of Kyle, TX, the latitude and longitude
coordinates from The North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83) were entered into the online NGS UTM
utility. NAD83 is one of the horizontal datums that associates a coordinate system with the surface of the
earth in reference to a specific ellipsoid. When using any coordinate system, you need to be certain to
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identify the particular datum in use or your locations may be skewed.

The aforementioned NAD83 is based on an ellipsoid known as GRS80 that bases its origin in the center
of the Earths mass. GRS80 is nearly identical to ellipsoid WGS84 (World Geographic System of 1984),
the model used for the Global Positioning System (GPS). The datum most often used prior to NAD83 is
the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD27), which based its origin on the geodetic center of the United
States in Meades Ranch, Kansas. Note that it is not the location itself that is changing but rather the
coordinate system that defines the location that is changing. This means that when latitude and longitude
coordinates are entered into the NGS UTM utility using NAD27 rather than NAD83, the resulting UTM
Easting and Northing coordinates may change significantly due to the grid shift that can occur when using
datums based on differing ellipsoids (DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p. 16)
For example, when entering Kyle, Texas latitude and longitude coordinates into the NGS UTM utility
using NAD27 rather than NAD83, the coordinates are:
Location

Coordinate System

Easting

Northing

Zone

Datum

Kyle, Texas,
USA

Universal Transverse
Mercator (UTM)

608306.758
meters

3317935.417
meters

14

NAD27

Source: National Geodetic Survey (2004a).

When entering the original NAD83 or NAD27 latitude and longitude coordinates into the NGS online
NADCON utility at http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/TOOLS/Nadcon/Nadcon.shtml, one can see that by simply
using a different datum as a reference, the total magnitude of shift in this location is 36.294 meters
(National Geodetic Survey, 2004b).
When viewing the Transverse Mercator map in Figure 6 above, it becomes apparent that this type of
projection is best suited to long, narrow areas that are oriented north-south. When mapping wider areas
with an east-west orientation, such as the United States, regional coordinates may often be used instead
of UTM coordinates.

State Plane Coordinates (SPC)

The State Plane coordinates of my hometown, Kyle, Texas, are:
Location

Coordinate System

Easting

Northing

Zone

Datum

Kyle, Texas,
USA

State Plane
Coordinates (SPC)

708334.979
meters

4239448.243
meters

4204
TXSC

NAD83

Source: National Geodetic Survey (2004c).

The State Plane Coordinate system (SPC) is another type of planar coordinate system used to pinpoint a
location on the surface of the earth. As a planar system, it ignores the complex spherical curvature of the
earth and uses a grid-like surveying system instead which results in faster, more simplified calculations.
This also means that measurements will be expressed in meters which are more suited to a flat map
instead of degrees, minutes, and seconds which are more suited to a sphere.
Like the UTM, the SPC zones also use Eastings and Northings to measure distances east and north of an
origin. These origins, like the UTM, are placed in such a way as to avoid any negative coordinates.

Figure 7: Map of United States depicting the zones that exist within the State Plane Coordinates System.
(Merchant, 2004).

There are distinct differences between the SPC and UTM systems, however. State Plane Coordinates
zones cover smaller areas than UTM zones, making the SPC advantageous when there is a need to
accurately measure areas and distances within a smaller territory, such as a state, region, county, or city.

There are approximately 124 SPC zones for the 50 United States, and the number of zones within a state
is generally determined by the amount of area the state covers. With the exception of one zone in
Alaska, each zone is based on either the Lambert Conic Conformal projection (if the zones orientation
runs east-to-west) or the Transverse Mercator projection (if the zones orientation runs north-to-south).
Alaskas panhandle uses a variant called the Oblique Mercator projection because it is oriented along an
angle (??) (see Figure 7). All three types of projections are conformal, meaning that true angles are
preserved, and scale distortion is zero along the standard parallels for each projection.
The SPC Zones are not as uniformly defined as the UTM zones, but SPC zones do generally make use
of existing state and county lines to establish boundaries that are easily understood by local government
agencies and surveyors. One of the major benefits of the SPC system is the fact that, because of the
smaller zones, less error accrues to positions, distances, and areas" (DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p. 25). This
system is highly accurate within each zone, having a maximum error of 1 part in 10,000 (Stem, 1990).

Figure 8: Map projection of SPC Zones in the state of Texas with the location of my hometown city of Kyle
approximated (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 2007).

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However, even with its high accuracy within a zone, the SPC system is not perfect and, as with any
system, there are drawbacks. One of the main issues with the state plane coordinate system is that each
individual zone uses a unique coordinate system. While this may not be an issue for mapping within the
boundaries of a given zone, it could be problematic when dealing with regional areas that span more than
one state plane zone. River watershed projects or state-wide planning projects are some examples of
this obstacle, requiring users to deal with multiple zones and complicating the calculations (Hartzell,
Preston, Lewis Strunk, and Charles Ghilani, 2002).
As stated at the beginning of this section, the Kyle, Texas SPC coordinates were obtained using the
NAD83 datum. When entering the coordinates into the NGS Geodetic to SPC online conversion utility at
http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/spc_getpc.prl and using the NAD27 datum, my results become:
Location

Coordinate System

Easting

Northing

Zone

Datum

Kyle, Texas,
USA

State Plane Coordinates

(SPC)

2355436.183
feet

785560.148
feet

4204
TXSC

NAD27

The zone, 4204 TXSC remains the same, but note that the output measurement is now in feet rather
than meters.
The magnitude of shift between varying datums can be anywhere from 10 to 100 meters in the
conterminous United States (National Geodetic Survey, 2004d). As discussed previously in the UTM
section, you need to be certain to identify the particular datum in use with any coordinate system, or your
locations may be skewed.

Comparison
We all appreciate the efforts of Christopher Columbus and the other forward-thinkers and mathematicians
of his era that helped civilization realize that the earth is round, yet we persist in using flat maps. One
major reason for this is that they are much easier and cheaper to produce and carry around (can you
imagine hiking with a globe in your backpack?) The issue then becomes producing maps with accurate
data. While the paper is flat, the Earth is not, so the data must be projected onto the flat plane. There are
many different ways to project, but each method causes some type of distortion which limits accuracy.
Additionally, each coordinate system must be associated with a datum. A datum aids in describing the
approximate size and shape of the earth as well as the origin and orientation of the coordinate system in
reference to it (U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, 2010). There are many different datums available, but the
two most commonly used in the U.S. are the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD27) and North
American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). As mentioned previously, NAD83 and NAD27 are ellipsoids based on
differing origins (see Figure 9).
It is important to include the datum when stating which coordinate system you are using, as a different
datum may result in a location shift even within the same coordinate system. Technology is constantly
changing and improving, enabling us to more accurately determine positions on the surface of the earth,
which means that the reference ellipsoids that we use sometimes change as well.

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Figure 9: Graphic illustrating differing datums used for the earth (Roman, 2007).

The geographic coordinate system is convenient in that it is well-known and global in scope, using only
one system to cover the entire earth. The system is based on the three-dimensional shape of the earth
which results in high accuracy and no distortions. It is this quality makes this system well-suited for
pinpointing precise locations on the earths surface. Unfortunately, this quality means that it is not wellsuited for a planar map and makes calculations more difficult. Latitude and longitude are not linear
measurements, so they would not make much sense when used to calculate planar distance.
In addition to the widely-used unprojected geographic coordinate system, the UTM and SPC are the most
common projected coordinate systems used in the U.S. (ESRI, 2011).
The UTM and SPC systems have much in common, as they are both projected onto a grid divided into
zones. Both are conformal projections, meaning that they preserve shape while distorting relative size
(DiBiase, 2011, Ch. 2, p. 22), although the UTM uses only the Transverse Mercator projection and the
SPC coordinate system uses a combination of projections depending on the orientation of the zones.
Both systems also utilize two standard parallels and a central meridian in each zone, in addition to a
similar standard of measurements that simplify calculations. UTM zones, however, are defined by
degrees of longitude whereas SPC zones are generally defined by political boundaries rather than
geographic borders. The UTM system covers most of the earth except for the polar regions, whereas the
SPC is limited strictly to the United States. The SPC compensates for its limited territorial scope by using
smaller zones that provide an accuracy rate of 1 part in 10,000 (Stem, 1990), which is four times more
accurate than the UTMs accuracy of 1 part in 2,500.

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In conclusion, each coordinate system has advantages and disadvantages that should be considered
when deciding on which system to implement. By carefully considering the specific needs of the project,
one will be able to choose which coordinate system is best suited for that objective.

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Hartzell, Preston, Lewis Strunk, and Charles Ghilani. (2002) Pennsylvania State Plane Coordinate
System: Converting to a Single Zone. Surveying and Land Information Systems 62.2 (2002): 95-103.
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rd

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Snyder, John P. and Philip M. Voxland (1994). An Album of Map Projections. USGS Professional Paper
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24, 2011 from http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land/maps/gis/map_downloads/map_gallery/proj/.
Projection with hometown location added was produced by Susan T. Williams on July 24, 2011 using
GIMP freeware from http://www.gimp.org.
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http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/MapProjections/projections.html
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This document is published in fulfillment of an assignment by a student enrolled in an educational offering of The
Pennsylvania State University. The student, named above, retains all rights to the document and responsibility for its
accuracy and originality.

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