Geographic latitude is the angle between the plane of the equator and the local direction of the zenith, which is measured from 0 to 90 degrees to either side of the equator. The length of the day directly depends on the latitude.
It is necessary
- - GPS or GLONASS;
- - geographic map;
- - calculator;
- - ruler.
Instructions
Step 1
It is possible to determine the distance by geographical latitude using GLONASS (indirect measurement) or GPS systems by loading a scaled terrain map into them. This way you can find out the different distances between the points.
Step 2
To establish a geographic distance on a map, for example, the extent of a continent, find its extreme points: southern and northern.
Step 3
Next, determine their latitude. This can be done in parallels (horizontal lines on the map). Find the parallels closest to the found points and set their latitude, which is always indicated on the sides of the map. If any of the values are in the middle of the parallel lines, calculate the latitude approximately. To do this, add the arc length from point to parallel in degrees to the set latitude.
Step 4
Knowing the latitude of both points, you can determine the distance between them in degrees. If the values are in one hemisphere, simply subtract the smaller from the larger distance. When finding points in different hemispheres, add the moduli of values, because latitude is the distance from the equator to a point.
Step 5
After determining the distance in degrees, calculate its length in kilometers. To do this, multiply the length of each degree by the number of degrees. Remember that everyone is different in parallel, so the number of kilometers in each degree will be different. When determining, take into account the angle, it is indicated by a number on the parallel line. To find the number of kilometers in one degree, multiply the cosine of the angle of the parallel you need by the degree of the equator, which is from 111 km to 111.3 km.
Step 6
Next, multiply your result by the number of degrees you calculated.
Step 7
You can also calculate the distance in a simple way using a ruler. Measure the desired length in centimeters and multiply by the map scale. Of course, determining the distance in this way will be very rough.
