State Plane Coordinates rely on an imaginary flat reference surface with Cartesian axes. They describe measured positions by ordered pairs, expressed in northings and eastings, or y- and x- coordinates. The y coordinate is the northing and the x coordinate is the easting.
What do State Plane Coordinates look like? The State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS), which is only used in the United States, is a plane coordinate system (north-south and east-west lines are perpendicular) in which each individual state has between one to six zones, depending on the state’s size and shape.
Similarly, How do airline pilots use coordinate planes? Pilots use geometry to plan their routes and to keep their aircraft on course. They read directional compasses and calculate how many degrees to turn their aircraft during flight. This allows them to angle the aircraft toward its destination.
How does the coordinates work?
What are the two most common projections used in the state plane coordinate system?
Most state plane zones are based on either a transverse Mercator projection or a Lambert conformal conic projection. The choice between the two map projections is based on the shape of the state and its zones.
What type of coordinates do surveyors use?
There are two general divisions of coordinates used in surveying—polar coordinates and rectangular coordinates. These can each be subdivided into three classes: plane coordinates, spherical coordinates, and space coordinates.
When did state plane coordinate systems start? The State Plane Coordinate System of 1927 was designed in the 1930s by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (predecessor of the National Ocean Service) to enable surveyors, mappers, and engineers to connect their land or engineering surveys to a common reference system, the North American Datum of 1927.
How did planes navigate before GPS? Before GPS, pilots used the sun, moon, and stars to determine their position in flight. Using a tool called a bubble sextant, pilots could measure the altitude of a celestial body.
The primary instrument of navigation is the magnetic compass. The needle or card aligns itself to magnetic north, which does not coincide with true north, so the pilot must also allow for this, called the magnetic variation (or declination). The variation that applies locally is also shown on the flight map.
How can pilots see at night? Pilots rely on flight instruments, navigation sensors and weather sensors (primarily radar) instead of normal vision when flying at night or passing through cloud. The aircraft itself has multiple lights on its exterior to help pilots land when it’s dark (and to help others spot the plane).
How do you read coordinates?
When outlining the coordinates of a location, the line of latitude is always given first followed by the line of longitude. Therefore, the coordinates of this location will be: 10°N latitude, 70°W longitude. The line of latitude is read as 41 degrees (41°), 24 minutes (24′), 12.2 seconds (12.2”) north.
How are coordinates written? Start with your line of latitude, writing the degrees, then the minutes, then the seconds. Then, add the North or South as the direction. Then, write a comma followed by your line of longitude in degrees, then minutes, then seconds. Then, add East or West as the direction.
How do you write coordinates?
Coordinates are always written in brackets, with the two numbers separated by a comma. Coordinates are ordered pairs of numbers; the first number number indicates the point on the x axis and the second the point on the y axis.
Why is Spc more accurate than UTM?
SPC zones achieve better accuracy than UTM zones because they cover smaller areas, and so are less susceptible to projection-related distortion.
How do you read bearing coordinates? In land surveying, a bearing is the clockwise or counterclockwise angle between north or south and a direction. For example, bearings are recorded as N57°E, S51°E, S21°W, N87°W, or N15°W.
How do you read Land coordinates?
When outlining the coordinates of a location, the line of latitude is always given first followed by the line of longitude. Therefore, the coordinates of this location will be: 10°N latitude, 70°W longitude. The line of latitude is read as 41 degrees (41°), 24 minutes (24′), 12.2 seconds (12.2”) north.
How do you read the coordinates of a survey?
Degrees, minutes, and seconds are the units of measure for property survey bearings. For example, N 38° 03′ 09″ E would translate as 38 degrees, 3 minutes, 9 seconds from the north to the east. The boundary lines, or « legs, » are often denoted in feet and listed directly below or after the bearing.
Why would you not use State Plane Coordinate System to map multiple states? Outside a specific state plane zone accuracy rapidly declines, thus the system is not useful for regional or national mapping. … Most state plane zones are based on either a transverse Mercator projection or a Lambert conformal conic projection.
What do Robinson maps distort?
The Robinson projection is neither conformal nor equal-area. It generally distorts shapes, areas, distances, directions, and angles. The distortion patterns are similar to common compromise pseudocylindrical projections. Area distortion grows with latitude and does not change with longitude.
How did pilots navigate in the 60s? Celestial navigation was a common method of finding a plane’s location, where navigators would use a bubble sextant to calculate the aircraft position relative to the sun, moon, or stars. This method was used up until the jet age in the 1960s, with early 747s even having a sextant port on the cockpit roof.
In the early days, pilots had to navigate by looking out the window and finding visual landmarks, or by celestial navigation. … These bonfires and arrows were used in conjunction with pilotage and dead reckoning, and were followed by more advanced radio navigation systems.
How did pilots navigate? Pilots frequently used dead recording and pilotage to navigate their flights. In lower altitudes, pilots used dead reckoning more than pilotage and in higher altitudes, they referenced dead reckonings less than pilotage.