Lars E Sjöberg, New Solutions to the Direct and Indirect Geodetic Problems on the Ellipsoid
New Solutions to the Direct and Indirect
Geodetic Problems on the Ellipsoid
Lars E Sjöberg
Summary
Taking advantage of numerical integration solves the direct
and indirect geodetic problems on the ellipsoid. In general
the solutions are composed of a strict solution for the sphere
plus a correction to the ellipsoid determined by numerical in-
tegration. The solutions are demonstrated by three numeri-
cal examples.
Zusammenfassung
Die klassische Berechnung der geodätischen Hauptaufgaben
auf dem Rotationsellipsoid beruht auf der Entwicklung der In-
tegranden der elliptischen Integrale in Taylor-Reihen. In die-
sem Beitrag wird die exakte Lösung für die Kugel mit Kor-
rekturen für das Ellipsoid, die durch numerische Integration
bestimmt werden, kombiniert. Als eine weitere Anwendung
kann die Fläche eines geodätischen Polygons mit dieser Me-
thode berechnet werden. Die Lösungen werden anhand von
drei numerischen Beispielen veranschaulicht.
Fachbeitrag
1 Introduction
The direct and indirect geodetic problems on the ellipsoid
have attracted the attention of numerous geodesists in the
past. Although ellipsoidal solutions are of less importance
in the space age, problems related with geodesics may still
be relevant. Examples can be found e. g. in the application
of the Law of the Sea, military surveys and in the optimi-
sation of aircrafts’ and ships’ routes.
The classical solutions of these problems were fre-
quently in the forms of power series of the ellipsoidal
eccentricity. Some of the basic formulas used below are
provided e. g. by Heck (1987). Today it is natural to take
advantage of numerical integration by computers. Klotz
(1991) and Schmidt (1999) presented some pioneer work
along this line, and our solutions to the direct and indi-
rect problems will also rely on numerical integrations. Si-
milarly, the area under the geodesic can be conveniently
computed by numerical integration (Sect. 4).
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 Fachbeitrag L. E. Sjöberg, New Solutions to the Direct and Indirect Geodetic Problems on the Ellipsoid

2 The direct problem on the ellipsoid Hence, β2 can be determined by

Let us assume that the ellipsoidal parameters a and b, the

semi-major and -minor axes, are given. From these we  
(
sin β2 = 1 − c2 sin (s − ds)/ a + arcsin x1 / 1 − c2  , (4) )
compute the first eccentricity by e = a2 − b2 / a . More
details on the basic formulas used are presented in Heck where ds is preferably determined by numerical integra-
(1987), Klotz (1991) and Schmidt (1999). tion. As the upper integration limit depends on β2 , Eq. (4)
should be iterated. As a starting value ds can be set to 0.
North P2 (ϕ2 , λ 2 ) ? [One problem of Eq. (3c) is the singularity of the integral
for x = 1 − c2 .]
s
If β1 = β2 , of course, the above procedure does not hold,
but β1 = β2 can be checked by the formula
α1
 x1 
s = a π − 2arcsin  + ds1 , (5a)
 1 − c2 
P1 (ϕ1 , λ1 )
where
Fig. 1: The direct problem on the ellipsoid
1−c2
(1 − x 2 )dx
∫
2
ds1 = −2ae . (5c)
Problem: Let us assume that the coordinates of latitude (ϕ1 )
and longitude (λ1 ) of point P1 are given. Also given are the
x1 (
1 − c2 − x 2 1 + 1 − e2 + e2 x 2 )
azimuth α1 at P1 and the geodesic arc length s to another
point P2. Determine the coordinates of P2 (see Fig. 1). Remark: If β1 ≈ β2 the iteration of Eqs. (3b) and (3c) may
be very slow or fail, which calls for a special investiga-
Solution: tion out of the scope of this article.
a) Let us first convert some trigonometric functions of the
geodetic latitude ϕ to functions of the reduced latitude β : c) If β1 ≠ β2 , the longitude λ 2 is given by the formula
(e. g. Heck 1987 or Schmidt 1999)
tan β = k tan ϕ ,
β2
sin β = k sin ϕ / 1 − e2 sin 2 ϕ and 1 − e2 cos2 β dβ
λ 2 = λ1 + c ∫
β1
cos2 β − c2 cos β
cos β = cos ϕ / 1 − e2 sin 2 ϕ (1) β2
dβ
= λ1 + c ∫ + dλ (6a)
cos β cos2 β − c2
where k = 1 − e2 . β1
i=2
 t 
= λ1 + arcsin i  + dλ
b) Compute Clairaut’s constant for the geodesic by the  t 0  i=1

formula
where
c = cos β1 sin α1 . (2)
x2 =sin β2
dx
dλ = −e2c ∫ , (6b)
If β1 ≠ β2 and starting from the following equation for
the given arc length s (Heck 1987 and Schmidt 1999):
x1 =sin β1
2 2
(
1 − c − x 1 + 1 − e2 + e2 x 2 )
β2
1 − e2 cos2 β t i = tan βi and t 0 = 1 − c2 / c .
s = a∫ cos βdβ , (3a)
β1
cos2 β − c2
The integral of Eq. (6b) can be determined by numerical
we arrive at the formula integration between the limits x1 and x2.
x=x
 x 
2
If β1 = β2 ≠ 0 , the longitude of the new point is given by

s = a arcsin + ds , (3b)
 1 − c2  x=x1
 1−c2
dx
where
λ 2 = λ1 + 2c ∫ (1 − x ) 2
1 − c2 − x 2
+ dλ '
x1
(7a)
x2
(1 − x2 )dx π t 
ds = −ae2 ∫ . (3c)
= λ1 + 2  − arcsin 1  + dλ '
x1 (
1 − c2 − x 2 1 + 1 − e2 + e2 x 2 ) 2
 t 0 

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 Lars E Sjöberg, New Solutions to the Direct and Indirect Geodetic Problems on the Ellipsoid Fachbeitrag

where Solution:
a) First convert the geodetic latitudes ϕ i to reduced lati-
1−c2
dx tudes βi .
dλ ' = −2e c ∫ . (7b)
2

x1 ( 1− c 2
−x 2
)(1 + 1 − e2 + e2 x 2 ) b) Then determine Clairaut’s constant for the geodesic
running through the two given points (Sjöberg 2005b).
As an alternative to the above equations we may take ad-
Three cases must be distinguished.
vantage of the similarities of Eqs. (3a) and (6a) to derive

c i) In the general case with β1 ≠ β2 , compute

∆λ = s + I + dλ1 , (8a)
a
t12 + t22 − 2t12 t22 cos DL
where t20 = , (11a)
sin 2 DL
i =2

x2
x 2dx  t x i 
 c ∫ = arcsin i − c arcsin  ,
 x1 (1 − x ) 1 − c − x
2 2 2 
 t0 1 − c2 i =1 where t i = tan βi ,



 x1 ≠ x 2

I= DL = λ 2 − λ1 − dλ c (11b)


 1−c2

 x 2dx x1 t 
 2c

 ∫ = π (1 − c) + 2c arcsin − arcsin 1  ,
 (1 − x 2
) 1 − c 2
− x 2 
 1 − c 2 t 0
 and

 x1



 x1 = x 2 . x2
dx
dλ c = −e2c ∫ . (11c)
(8b)
and
x1 (
(1 − c2 − x 2 ) 1 + 1 − e2 + e2 x 2 )

 x2
x 2dx

∫
2

 −ce if x1 ≠ x 2 Eq. (11c), with x i = sin βi , is conveniently integra-




x1 1 − c − x 1 + 1 − e2 + e2 x 2
2 2
( ) ted numerically. Clairaut’s constant is then given by
dλ1 = 


1−c2
 x 2dx
−2ce2 ∫ if x1 = x 2 .





x1 1 − c − x 1 + 1 − e2 + e2 x 2
2 2
( )
c = 1/ 1 + t20 . (12)

(8c)
In the special case that both given points are located on ii) If β1 = β2 ≠ 0 , Clairaut’s constant is given by the
the equator Eq. (8a) reduces to equation

cs
1−c2
x 2dx cos (Dλ )
∆λ = + π (1 − c) − 2ce2 ∫ c= , (13a)
a 0
2 2
(
1− c − x 1 + 1− e + e x 2 2 2
), t + cos2 (Dλ )
2
1

(9)
where (with x1 = sin β1 )
or, approximately,
1−c2
λ 2 − λ1 dx
cs
1−c2
x dx 2 Dλ = + e 2c ∫ .
∆λ ≈ + π(1 − c) − ce2 ∫ 2 x1 (1 − c 2
−x 2
)(1 + 1 − e2 + e2 x 2 )
a 0 1 − c2 − x 2

(13b)
cs c(1 − c2 )π 2
= + π(1 − c) − e . (10)
a 4
iii) If β1 = β2 = 0 , Clairaut’s constant is given by

This completes the solution of the direct problem on the cos (DL)
c= , (14a)
ellipsoid. t + cos2 (DL)
2
11

where t11 = tan dβ11 , dβ11 < βmax being an arbitrary
but small latitude, and
3 The indirect problem
1−c2
λ 2 − λ1 dx cdβ11
In the indirect problem the coordinates of two points (say DL = + e 2c ∫ − .
2 0 (1 − c2 − x2 )(1 − e2 + e2x2 ) 1 − c2
P1 and P2) are given.
(14b)
Problem: Determine the arc length along the geodesic
between the two points and the azimuths of the geodesic In all three cases the procedures require iteration to reach
at the two points. the final determination of c.

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 Fachbeitrag L. E. Sjöberg, New Solutions to the Direct and Indirect Geodetic Problems on the Ellipsoid

c) The arc length follows from Eqs. (3a) and (3b). If Alternatively, Eq. (20a) can be written
β1 = β2 , we may take advantage of Eqs. (8a)-(8c) to derive x1
f1 (x) − 1
T = b2 (α 2 − α1 ) + b2ck ∫ dx , (21a)
a g(x)
s = (∆λ − I − dλ1 ) . (15) x2
c
where
In particular, if β1 = β2 = 0 , the arc length can be ap- 1 1 1 + e 1 − x2
proximated by f1 (x) = + ln . (21b)
2(1 − e2 + e2 x 2 ) 4e 1 − x 2 1 − e 1 − x 2

a πe2 
s≈  ∆λ − π(1 − c) + (2 − c)(1 − c2 )  . (16)
c  4  In the above equations b = a 1 − e2 , ϕ1 and ϕ2 > ϕ1 are
the latitudes at the intersections of the meridians and the
geodesic, x i = cos ϕ i , α i = arcsin (c / cos βi ) and
d) The azimuths at points P1 and P2 are given by Clairaut’s
equation, Eq. (2): cos βi = x i / 1 − e2 (1 − x 2i ) . (22)

sin α i = c / cos βi . (17)

The integral terms of Eqs. (20a) and (21a), of order e2,
This completes the solution to the indirect geodetic pro- are suitable for numerical integration. Note that f1 (x) is
blem on the ellipsoid. well conditioned for any x in the interval 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 with
f1 (1) = 1 .

If ϕ1 = ϕ2 , Eqs. (20a, b) and (21a, b) are modified to

4 Area computation under the geodesic ϕmax
f (ϕ) − sin ϕ
T = b (π − 2α1 ) + 2b ck ∫
2 2
dϕ (23)
Following Sjöberg (2005a) the area (T) on the ellipsoid li- g(ϕ)
0
mited by the equator, a geodesic with the Clairaut con-
stant c and the two meridians with longitudes λ1 and and
λ 2 > λ1 can be written x1
f1 (x) − 1
T = b (π − 2α1 ) + 2b ck ∫
2 2
λ2 λ2 dx , (24)
g(x)
∫ f (ϕ)dλ = b (α − α1 ) + b ∫ [f (ϕ) − sin ϕ ]dλ , (18a)
2 2 2
T=b 2 cos ϕmax
λ1 λ1

where
where
sin ϕ 1 1 + e sin ϕ cos ϕ max = kc / 1 − e2c2 and c = sin α1 . (25)
f (ϕ ) = + ln . (18b)
2(1 − e2 sin 2 ϕ) 4e 1 − e sin ϕ

In the last equality of Eq. (18a) we have taken advantage

of the following differential property of the geodesic: 5 Numerical examples
sin ϕdλ = dα . (19) We will present three numerical examples on the direct
and indirect problems and area computation on the ellip-
soid with a = 6378 km and e2 = 0.00694.
Expressing dλ in terms of latitude [e. g. Sjöberg 2005a,
Eq. (19)], we finally arrive at the solution Example 5.1:
ϕ2
a) Let P1 be defined by β1 = λ1 = 0 , s = 1000 km and
f (ϕ) − sin ϕ α1 = 60° . Compute P2 and α 2 .
T = b2 (α 2 − α1 ) + b2ck ∫ dϕ , (20a)
ϕ1
g(x)
Solution: From Eq. (2) we get Clairaut’s constant:
where c = cos β1 sin α1 = 0.866025 .
By iterating Eq. (3b) and (4) we obtain β(0)2 = 0.078153 ,
g (x) = x  1 − e2 (1 − x 2 ) (1 − c2 )− (1 − e2c2 )(1 − x 2 ) , β(2) = β (3)
= β = 0.078524 , which yields
   2 2 2
(20b) β2 = 4°29'56''.81 .
Then the longitude of P2 is given by Eqs. (6a) and (6b),
k = 1 − e2 and x = cos ϕ .
yielding λ 2 = 0.136239 = 7°48'21''.45 .

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 Lars E Sjöberg, New Solutions to the Direct and Indirect Geodetic Problems on the Ellipsoid
b) Let P1 and P2 be defined from a). Compute s and α1 .
Solution: First c is iterated twice by Eqs. (11) and (12)
to 0.866025. This yields rect problems on the ellipsoid by adding the strict solu-
α1 = arcsin(c / cos β1 ) = arcsin 0.866025 = 5959'59''.83 .
Then the arc length is determined by Eqs. (3a) and (3b) to
s = 999.9999979 km.
Example 5.2:
a) Let λ1 = β1 = β2 = 0 , λ 2 = 50 . Compute s and α1 .
Solution: First c is determined by Eqs. (14a) and (14b).
As the integrand of Eq. (14b) becomes singular at
the upper integration limit, it was approximated by
1 − c2 − 0.005 . After 2 iterations c = 0.999403 had sta-
bilized. Then the arc length and the azimuth at P1 were
computed by Eqs. (16) and (2) to s = 5557.26246 km and
α1 = 1.536261 = 88116' ''.62 , respectively.
b) Let P1, s and α1 be given according to a). Compute the
coordinates of P2.
Solution: First the latitude of P2 was searched by Eq. (4),
which did not converge. Then, by assuming that also
β2 = 0 , Eq. (10) yielded λ 2 = 50.00'00''.00 . Then, using
Eq. (16), we obtained s = 5557.26247, which value thus
agrees with its given value in a). Thus we have verified
that P2 is located on the equator, and the direct problem
is solved.
Example 5.3:
Compute the area under the geodesic limited by the me-
ridians through P1 and P2 in Example 5.1.
Solution: The azimuths are given by
α1 = arcsin(c / cos β1 ) = 1.04719674 and
α 2 = arcsin(c / cos β2 ) = 1.05257549 .
From b = a 1 − e2 one obtains the approximate area
T1 = b2 (α 2 − α1 ) = 217283.20 km2.
Furthermore, ϕ1 = 0 and
( )
ϕ2 = arctan tan β2 / 1 − e2 = 0.0787968 , which
inserted into Eqs. (20a) and (20b) yields
ϕ2
f (ϕ) − sin ϕ
T2 = bck ∫ dϕ = 2.36 km2
ϕ1
g (ϕ)
and, finally,
T = T1 + T2 = 217285.56 km2.
Fachbeitrag
6 Concluding remarks
We have demonstrated how to solve the direct and indi-
tion for the sphere and an ellipsoidal correction determi-
ned by numerical integration. By employing numerical
integration, the routines of which are usually available in
current computer software like MATLAB®, the problems
of classical geodesy are easily solved to desired precision.
Remaining problems to be solved are related with the case
that the two points of interest on the geodesic are loca-
ted at nearly the same latitude, implying that the propo-
sed solutions for the direct and indirect problems become
numerically unstable.
Acknowledgement
The author is indebted to Dr. Ming Pan for the numeri-
cal computations.
References
Heck, B.: Rechenverfahren und Auswertemodelle der Landesvermes-
sung. Herbert Wichmann Verlag, Karlsruhe, 1987.
Klotz, J.: Eine analytische Lösung kanonischer Gleisungen der Geodä-
tischen Linien zur Transformation ellipsoidischen Flächenkoordina-
ten. Deutsche Geodätische Kommission, München, Reihe C, Nr. 385,
1991.
Schmidt, H.: Lösung der geodätischen Hauptaufgaben auf dem Rota-
tionsellipsoid mittels numerischer Integration. ZfV 124: 121–128,
1999.
Sjöberg, L. E.: Determination of areas on the plane, sphere and ellipsoid.
Survey Review, 2005a (Accepted.)
Sjöberg, L. E.: Precise determination of the Clairaut constant in ellipso-
idal geodesy, 2005b (Submitted to Surv. Rev.)
Author’s address
Lars E Sjöberg
Royal Institute of Technology, Division of Geodesy
SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46 8 790-7330, Fax: + 46 8 790-7343
sjoberg@geomatics.kth.se
131. Jg. 1/2006 zfv 39