How is latitude and longitude expressed

After finding the precise coordinates, in minutes and seconds, for your lines of latitude and longitude, write them out in the correct order. 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. Method 3. Identify the point of latitude and longitude. You can also use minutes followed by decimal points to identify latitude and longitude. However, you must again start by identifying the broad lines of latitude and longitude.

Figure out where the lines of latitude and longitude meet to pinpoint your location. Figure out the minutes, including decimal points. Some maps identify minutes followed by decimal points rather than minutes followed by seconds. An online map should be able to provide you with the minutes broken down into decimals for each line of latitude and longitude.

For example, a line of latitude may be found at Determine whether numbers are negative or positive. When using the degrees and decimal minutes system, you do not use directions like north, south, east, and west. Instead, you use positive and negative numbers to determine where locations fall on a map. When using decimals to indicate latitude and longitude, positive numbers fall north of the equator and negative numbers fall south of the equator.

The number Lines of longitude fall east or west of the Prime Meridian. Positive numbers fall east of the Prime Meridian, while negative numbers fall west. For example, the number Write out latitude and longitude. To write out the full location, start with the line of latitude.

Follow this with the coordinates using minutes and decimals. Add a comma and then the line of longitude followed by its minutes and decimals. Remember to use positive and negative numbers to indicate the direction of coordinates. You do not use the degree symbol with this format. Identify the number of minutes and decimals and then write out the coordinates. The above example could be written as, "15 Method 4.

Find the latitude and longitude. Degrees of latitude and longitude are often broken down by decimals. Rather than minutes and seconds, lines representing one degree are divided to get decimals pinpointing the exact location. First, find the right degrees of latitude and longitude. Parallels or "Lines of Latitude" and degree readings for latitudes in increments of 30 degrees.

Note that the lines are parallel when we look at the earth from the equator. If we look at them from the poles, they appear circular. The latitude is the angle formed by a line going from the center of the earth to the equator at the point on the equator that is closed to the point of interest and another line that goes from the center of the earth to the parallel that goes through the point of interest.

Geospatial Activities. Accurate measurements of latitude using the North Star have been made since at least the third century B. Before then, sailors would often sail north or south to get to the desired latitude, then just head east or west until they reached the target longitude. Many unsuccessful solutions were proposed, including astronomical observations, but it was a clock maker, John Harrison, who developed a series of clocks that eventually satisfied the criteria.

The first version the H1 weighed over 80 lbs, but his final timepieces, the H4 and H5, could be held in the palm of one hand. Ironically, even though his clocks satisfied the criteria, Harrison was never named as the winner of the longitude prize, and in fact no winner was ever officially determined. With accurate timepieces now available, a ship could have one clock set for Greenwich time or some other home location , and another clock set to local time, which could be reset each day by observing the sun.

The time difference between the two clocks could be used to calculate longitude. Today we use GPS Global Positioning System technology to determine latitude and longitude, and even the smallest smart phones and smart watches can use GPS to calculate position. GPS works through a system of orbiting satellites that constantly emit signals containing the time and their position. A GPS receiver receives these signals from multiple satellites, and triangulates the signals to calculate position.

The N or S following a latitude measurement indicate whether the degrees are measured north or south of the equator. Longitude , the lines that run up and down on a map or globe, is always listed second when assigning a measurement. The E or the W following a longitude measurement indicate whether the degrees are measured east or west of the prime meridian.

Minutes and seconds sometimes follow latitude and longitude measurements to more accurately pinpoint a location.