TNyCA

Grado Aeroespacial

Reference frames and coordinate systems

Joan Vila Carbó

 TNyCA
Bibliografía Grado Aeroespacial

Navegación Aérea, Cartogra a y Cosmogra a

Dagoberto José Salazar Hernández
http://nacc.upc.es, 2008.

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 TNyCA
Reference frames and coordinate systems Grado Aeroespacial

Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
3
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 TNyCA
Introduction Grado Aeroespacial

Basic concepts
Air navigation: process of ying an aircraft from a well known initial location to
a well known destination following a path de ned by a set of intermediate
positions known as waypoints.
- Navigating implies a permanent knowledge of the aircraft position.
Problems:
- How to specify the position of objects on Earth’s ground or ying around it?
- How to specify an aircraft position?
- How to describe an air navigation route?
- How to represent navigation charts?
- How to measure distances on Earth’s ground? Earth is not at...
- What is the shortest distance between two points?
- How to determine the course to follow?
A reference frame becomes necessary!!!!

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 TNyCA
Introduction Grado Aeroespacial

Reference frame and charts

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 TNyCA
Introduction Grado Aeroespacial

Routes, distances, courses.

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 TNyCA
Introduction Grado Aeroespacial

Posi on determina on
Positioning: process of measuring the distance (as a distance or an angle)
between a given point and the axes of a reference system.
Reference frames: systems of axes with respect to which position is measured.
- Several reference frames can be used depending how the position is handled.
Coordinate system: way of expressing position with respect a given reference
frame.
- Example: In the ECEF reference frame there are two ways of expressing
positions and distances to the frame axes:
‣ Linear distances
‣ Angular distances (LLA)

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 TNyCA
Introduction Grado Aeroespacial

Reference frames classi ca on

Frames with origin in the Earth’s center:

- ECI (Earth-Centred Inertial) frame
- ECEF (Earth-Centred, Earth-Fixed) frame
‣ Linear distances
‣ Angular distances - LLA (Longitude, Latitude, Altitude)

Frames with origin in the center of mass of the vehicle:

- NED (North, East, Down) also called local or navigation frame.
- ENU (East, North, Up)
‣ Variant: (azimut, elevation, distance)
- BFF (Body Fixed Frame)
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Air navigation units Grado Aeroespacial

Distance, speed, and al tude units

Nautical Mile (NM): length unit that corresponds to 1 minute of a latitude arc
along mesured along any meridian or 1 minute of longitude in Ecuador. By
convention:
- 1NM = 40007,8 km /(360x60 minutes of arch) = 1,8522 km
- 1NM = 1.15078 miles or terrestrial mile (1 mile = 1.60934 km)
- 1NM = 6,076 ft
Knot: speed unit de ned as 1NM/hour
- 1 knot = 1.15078 mph.
- 1 knot = 0.51444 m / s
- 1 knot = 1,8522 km / h
Feet: length unit de ned as 0.3048 m. It is very commonly used for altitudes.
- It corresponds to 12 inches

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 TNyCA
Reference frames and coordinate systems Grado Aeroespacial

Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
10
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 TNyCA
The shape of Earth Grado Aeroespacial

Models of the Earth's surface

Geodesy: science that studies the measurement and mapping of the Earth's
surface. It is key for modern precision navigation.
Three main approaches for modelling the Earth’s shape:
- Sphere: suitable for making simple and approximate calculations.
- Ellipsoid: simple gure that takes into account the attening of the earth.
- Geoid: the ellipsoid is not suitable when we want to measure altitudes, since
the mean sea level (MSL) depends on the irregularities in the Earth's
gravitational eld.

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The shape of Earth Grado Aeroespacial

The WGS-84 ellipsoid

The World Geodetic System 84 (WGS-84), developed by the Department of
Defense of the USA, is an ellipsoid whose origin is the center of mass of the
Earth and de nes the Earth parameters listed below.
Very popular because it is used by the Satellite Global Positioning System
(GPS).

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elipsoide. Por lo general el factor f es muy pequeño, por lo
TNyCA
The shape of Earth
umbra proporcionar 1/f . Por la misma razón a veces, y para
Grado Aeroespacial
ples, se utiliza una esfera en vez de un elipsoide8 .
The WGS-84
equivalente ellipsoid
de indicar f es mediante la excentricidad de la
ersal:
Earth eccentricity:

b 2
e2 = 1 − 2 (2.4)
a
Earth atenning:
alente a:
f=(a-b)/a
pocos, elipsoides
WGS-84deparameters:
referencia no son de revolución, sino que definen un
los dos anteriores.
amiento de la Tierra va disminuyendo muy lentamente con el tiempo. En
Parameter
s prácticamente esférica, Symbol
mientras que Júpiter es visiblemente Value
oblongo,
dia, 2006n]. Semi-major axis of the elipse a 6378,137000 km
Semi-minor axis of the elipse b 6356,752314 km
Flattening factor f=(a-b)/a 1/298,257223563 km
Angular rate of Earth we 7292115.10-11 rad/seg
Average Earth radius (a+b)/2 6367,445 km
Approximate Earth perimeter 40007,8 km
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The shape of Earth Grado Aeroespacial

Geoid
Geoid: equipotential surface of Earth's gravity eld which best ts (in the least
squares sense), the global mean sea level.
A consequence of this de nition is that the geoid is always perpendicular to the
local gravity vector at each point.

Ver cal
De ec on
Topography Ellipsoidal
Ver cal

Astronomical
S L Ver cal
de M
Ellipsoi

d
Geoi

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 TNyCA
The del
shape of Earth
potencial gravitatorio de la Tierra (de donde el geoide se d Grado Aeroespacial

un desarrollo en serie en esféricos armónicos 12 (para mayores d

Geoid
[Wikipedia, 2006g] y [Wikipedia, 2006o]).
Relationship between geoid height and ellipsoid:
- h - Geometric height: height of a point with respect to the ellipsoid
Por otro lado, es posible relacionar matemáticamente al geoid
Figura 2.15: Relación entre el Geoide y el Elipsoide
- H - Barometric height: height of the point with respect to the geoid (MSL)
mediante la expresión:
‣ The
oide con el elipsoide baroaltimeter is usually calibrated to measure altitude with respect the sea level at a
WGS-84.
given location.
4 presenta los valores de N (ondulación del geoide) para algunas
l mundo según- N: height
el NGA WGSof 84
theGeoid
geoid over the([NGA,
Calculator ellipsoid (geoid undulation)
2006a]).

Ciudad N (m) h=H +N

Barcelona 48,61
Berlı́n 39,79 Topography
Buenos Aires 14,34
Donde h es la altura de un punto con respecto al elipsoide(altur
Lahore -43,60
es la altura del geoide respecto al elipsoide (ondulación del ge
Londres
Madrid
47,37
53,44 Geoid
altura del punto con respecto al geoide (llamada altura ortomé
Quito 26,13
Seattle -19,38
2.15 muestra esta relación.
Singapur 7,03
Tel Aviv 17,30 Ellipsoide
LEVC 49,27
TablaJ.2.4: Note que tanto h como N son perpendiculares al elipsoide de refe
Ondulación del geoide para algunas ciudades.
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 TNyCA
Reference frames and coordinate systems Grado Aeroespacial

Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
16
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 TNyCA
Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

ECI and ECEF frames LLA coordinate system

X E3
X I3
N

Greenwich
Long.=0

Equatorial
plane Lat.
X E2 W E
Equator
Lat.=0
ΩE · t
Long.
X I1
X I2

X E1
S

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 TNyCA
Reference frames and coordinate systems Grado Aeroespacial

Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
18
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 TNyCA
Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Earth-Centred Iner al (ECI) frame

It is a xed Cartesian system with its origin at the center of the earth.
Its Cartesian axes remain xed relative to the stars:
- Z axis: lies along the earth’s spin axis with its positive end passing through the
earth’s north geographic pole.
- X axis: points to the intersection of the ecliptic and the equatorial plane.
- Y axis: Orthogonal to X and Z.

Also called J2000 Frame

- J2000 Julian time. Epoch starting at Jan 1, 2000 at 12:00 TDB
- Barycentric Dynamic Time (TDB) is the same as as Terrestrial Dynamic Time (TT)
except for relativistic corrections to move the origin to the solar system
barycenter. These corrections amount to as much as about 1.6 milliseconds and
are periodic with an average of zero.

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 IF J2000 Frame
TNyCA
Earth Navigation
centred andframes
Ancillary Information Facility
Grado Aeroespacial

TheThe
J2000*
N IF (aka
J2000 frame EME2000) J2000 frame Framedefinition is based
on the
The earth’s equator
J2000 frame de and
Navigation nitionand equinox,
based
is Information
Ancillary on determined
the earth’s
Facility equator and equinox,
fromdetermined
observations of planetary
from observations of planetary motions,
motions, plus other plusdata. other
data. • The J2000* (aka EME2000) frame definition is based
on the earth’s equator and equinox, determined
Z is normal to the mean equator of date at epoch J2000
ZJ2000 TDB, which is approximately Earth’s spin axis orientation
from observations of planetary
at that epoch. motions,
(J2000 TDB is plus other
2000 JAN 01 12:00:00 TDB, or JD 2451545.0 TDB).
data. Z is normal to the mean equator of date at epoch J2000
Equatorial plane ZJ2000 TDB, which is approximately Earth’s spin axis orientation
Plane normal to the earth’s at that epoch. (J2000 TDB is
2000 JAN 01 12:00:00 TDB, or JD 2451545.0 TDB).
spin axis, Z
Ecliptic plane
Equatorial plane Plane defined by movement
Plane normal to the earth’s
spin axis, Z of the earth around the sun
Ecliptic plane
Plane defined by movement
of the earth around the sun
eg
.4 d
~23 YJ2000
eg
.4 d
~23 YJ2000 Y = Z cross X
Intersection of Y = Z cross X
XJ2000 equatorial and of
Intersection
XJ2000 ecliptic planes,and
equatorial
ecliptic planes,
called vernal
called vernal
equinox equinox

*Caution: The name *Caution:

“J2000”The
is name
also “J2000”
used tois refer
also used to refer to the zero epoch of the ephemeris time system (ET, also known as TDB).
to the zero epoch of the ephemeris time system (ET, also known as TDB).
J. Vila Carbó Concepts
Fundamental 17 20
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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

ECI - Earth Centred Iner al frames

Ecliptic: Because Earth's rotational axis is not perpendicular to its orbital plane,
Earth's equatorial plane is not coplanar with the ecliptic plane, but is inclined to
it by an angle of about 23.4°

Eclip c plane

An equinox is the moment in which the plane

of Earth's equator passes through the center
of the Sun's disk, which occurs twice each
year, around 20 March and 23 September.

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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

ICRF Frame - Interna onal Celes al Reference Frame

De ned by the adopted locations of 600 extragalactic radio sources.
- The origin is located at the solar system barycenter
- The axes correspond closely to what would conventionally be described as "the
equator and equinox of J2000.0”

The realization of ICRF was made to coincide almost exactly with the J2000
frame.
- The di erence is very small: a rotation of less than 0.1 arc second

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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

N ICRF
IFFrame - Interna onal
The ICRF
Celes Frame
al Reference Frame
Navigation and Ancillary Information Facility
The realization of ICRF was made to coincide almost exactly with the J2000
• The ICRF* frame is defined by the adopted
frame.
locations of 295 extragalactic radio sources.
Z

Solar System Barycenter

• Read the next page!

J. Vila Carbó MotionReference
ICRF = International Celestial of the Solar System's barycenter relative to the Sun
Frame 23
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 TNyCA
Reference frames and coordinate systems Grado Aeroespacial

Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
24
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 TNyCA
Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Earth-Centred, Earth-Fixed (ECEF) frame

Similar to the Inertial frame but it rotates united with Earth so the coordinate
axes of the ECEF frame remain xed with respect to the earth.
The ECEF frame rotates counter-clockwise about the Inertial frames axis with
angular velocity which approximately is 2π/24 radians/hour.
- Z axis: earths spin axis.
- X axis: intersection between Greenwich meridian and equatorial plane.
- Y axis: Orthogonal to X and Z.
Used by GPS.

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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

ECEF - Earth Centred Fixed Frame

X E3

X I3

ΩE · t

X E2

X E1

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 TNyCA
Reference frames and coordinate systems Grado Aeroespacial

Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
27
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 TNyCA
Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

LLA coordinate system

Based on dividing the land surface in an imaginary grid formed by the parallels
and meridians.
It uses three parameters to specify the position on the surface:
- Latitude - ϕ: angle (north or south) between the equatorial plane and a line that
passes through that point and is normal to the surface of Earth (ellipsoid or other
model).
‣ Equator → 0 °, range: [90° S, 90° N] (90º -90º S also).
- Longitude - λ: angle (east or west) from a reference meridian to another
meridian that passes through that point.
‣ Greenwich → 0 °. Range: [180° W, 180° E] (180º -180º W also)
- Altitude: height above a reference model of Earth's sea level as an equipotential
gravitational surface (see Geoid).
Closely related to ECEF
- Easy conversions LLA - ECEF

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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

LLA coordinate system

Greenwich
Long.=0

Lat.
W E
Equator
Lat.=0

Long.

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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Conversion LLA to ECEF

WGS-84 differentiates between geodetic latitude φ and geocentric latitude φ’.
Let → latitude, → longitude, y h → altitude over ellipsoid (in meters).
N: radius of curvature at latitude φ:
- O’P’ distance

h: elipsoidal altitude
b
- PP’ distance
a

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𝜙
𝜆
 x = R! cos β → x = R cos ϕ co
y = R! sin β → xTNyCA
Earth centred frames = R cos ϕ sin
Grado Aeroespacial

Conversion LLA to ECEF

Lo anterior
Figura 3.3: Cambiando lo podemos
a coordenadas expresar de manera más comp
rectangulares
donde r es el vector de posición desde el centro de la T

z = R sin ϕ  
! R cos ϕ cos β
R = R cos ϕ
#r =  R cos ϕ sin β 
x = R! cos β → x = R cos ϕ cos β
R sin ϕ
y = R! sin β → x = R cos ϕ sin β
Una vez halladas las coordenadas de un par de puntos
la distancia directa d! entre ellos (es decir, la dista
atravesando
Lo anterior lo podemos expresar el planeta)
de manera más compactaviene dada
en forma de por la expresión 3
vectores,
donde r es el vector de posición desde el centro de la Tierra al punto en estudio:

 d!2 = (x2 − x1 )2 + (y2 − y1 )2 + (z2 −

R cos ϕ cos β
#r =  R cos ϕ sin β  (3.3)
R sin ϕ

Una vez halladas las coordenadas de un par de puntos en un sistema rectangular,

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!
𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜆𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙𝜙
 TNyCA
Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Conversion LLA to ECEF

Iterative process:
1. Calculate the longitude and auxiliary value
2. Make a rst estimate of φ assuming an ellipsoidal altitude of zero meters:

3.Use previous estimation to compute position:

- First, estimate the radius of curvature:

- Get a better estimate of the ellipsoidal altitude (hi+1):

- Improve the estimate of the latitude (φi+1):

4.Repeat this process until a desired convergence level:
- (i.e. | hi+1 − hi| < 0,001m)
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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Matlab library kgbx-lib/geo

function ecef = lla2ecef(lla)
‣ Input : lla = [1x3] [lat, long, height] (rad,rad,user units)
‣ Output: ecef = [1x3] [x,y,z] (user units)

function lla = ecef2lla(ecef)

‣ Input ecef = [1x3] [x,y,z] (user units)
‣ Output: lla = [1x3] [lat, long, height] (rad,rad,user units)

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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Calcula ng la tude in tradi onal naviga on

Polaris is aligned with the spin axis of Earth.
- His position remains unchanged during the night, consisting of a good reference
point on a clear night.
The elevation of Polaris above the horizon is a function of the point latitude.
- Using a sextant, you can determine easily the latitude.

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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Calcula ng la tude in tradi onal naviga on

This method is applicable to any celestial body which is known its declination.
- Declination is similar to latitude. It reports how far a star is from the celestial
equator.

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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Calcula ng longitude in tradi onal

naviga on
The problem of nding the longitude was for
a long time synonymous with the problem of
knowing the precise time aboard a ship.
- While the ship was at the base (Spain →
San Fernando in Cádiz) the ship's clock was
synchronized so that when the sun was at
its highest point, the clock struck 12:00.
- If the ship sailed to the East, at 12:00 (on
ship's time) the sun would have already
passed the meridian of the place, while if
sailed westward, the sun had not yet
reached its peak.
- Since a full day has 24 hours, and a circle
has 360º, a delay of 1 hour of the Sun
means having advanced 15° longitude west.

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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Cartographic projec ons

Different cartographic projections are used to represent LLA systems on a plane

Cylindrical Conical Azimuthal

(Mercator) (Lambert)

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Earth centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Cartographic projec ons

Graticule: network of lines representing meridians and parallels, on which a
map or plan can be represented.
Each cartographic projection introduces different types of distortions.
There are some important properties of projection. Maybe the most important
one is to be conformal:
- It preserves the angles (and thus forms). This makes the shapes of landforms
(deltas, rivers, etc.) easily recognizable since they experience little distortion.
- The scale is the same in all directions around a given point. But this does NOT
mean that the scale is the same throughout the chart.
- The lines of the projected graticule are perpendicular. This does not imply that
these lines are straight.
The Aeronautical Chart ICAO 1:500,000 are based on the so-called Lambert
Conformal Conic projection.

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 TNyCA
Reference frames and coordinate systems Grado Aeroespacial

Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
39
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Great circle and rhumb lines Grado Aeroespacial

Orthodromic routes - great circle lines

Great circle: intersection of the sphere with a plane that passes through the Earth
center and two points on the surface, usually the origin and destination of a route.
- It is the shortest distance between two points in a sphere.
‣ Analogous to “straight lines” in spherical geometry.
- Di cult to navigate: a compass is not enough.
Small circle: intersection of the sphere and a plane which does not pass through
the center.

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Great circle and rhumb lines Grado Aeroespacial

Loxodromic routes - rhumb-lines

rhumb-line: a path obtained by proceeding always with the same initial bearing
in a route.
- By de nition, it is a line crossing all meridians of longitude at the same angle.
- Di erences are large close to the poles and small near the Equator.
- They de ne a spiral toward the North pole
- Easy to navigate with a compass.

great circle

B great circle

A e
rhumb lin

rhumb line rhumb lines are straight lines

in cylindrical (Mercator) projec ons
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Great circle and rhumb lines Grado Aeroespacial

Historical feats
Lindbergh ies the Spirit of St. Louis in May 1927 from NY to Paris in 33 hours.
He approximated the great circle route by rhumb segments making a bearing
correction every 10° of longitude.
WCA: Wind Correc on Angle?
3,610 miles in 33 1/2 hours ⇾ Dri sight

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Great circle and rhumb lines Grado Aeroespacial

Historical feats
Lindbergh's used very simple Navigation Tools for a dif cult crossing. He
navigated the Spirit of St. Louis on his transatlantic ight with:
- An earth inductor compass,
- A drift sight,
- A speed timer (a stopwatch for the drift sight), and
- An eight-day clock.
Despite weather deviations and extreme fatigue, Lindbergh reached the coast of
Ireland within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of his intended great circle course.
- He knew that accuracy was only possible with that simple equipment because
winds during his ight caused no signi cant drift.

The Drift Sight was a device to drop bombs accurately

that uses a simple mechanical device to measure the wind
speed from the air, and used that measurement to
calculate the wind's effects on the trajectory of the bombs.

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Great circle and rhumb lines Grado Aeroespacial

Historical feats
Padre Andrés de Urdaneta - A basque friar. He plotted a path across the Paci c from
the Philippines to Acapulco in the Viceroyalty of New Spain (present day Mexico). He
rst navigated north util reaching parallel 36º and then he found a Paci c stream that
follows an almost great-circle route until it arrives the North America coastline.
- He con rmed the advantages of this route previously navigated by Alonso de Arellano

Flights between Tokyo and Los Angeles

using the jet stream eastbound and a
Almost-orthodromic
great circle route westbound.
Takes advantages of the streams

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Great circle and rhumb lines Grado Aeroespacial

Problem: route Valencia - New York

Wrong approach: What is the initial bearing to NY? -> measure it in a map.
- If you reckon with that constant ortho bearing, you will reach the North pole...
- Loxodromic route in blue
Alternative 1: Compute the bearing of the rhumb-line that goes through
Valencia and New York using the formula.
- You will reach NY but...
- The distance is higher than the orthodromic
- Loxodromic route in green
Alternative 2: Try to approximate the great circle performing continuous or
periodic corrections to your bearing. Just like Lindbergh did it!
- You can use a chart (graphically) or formulas (analytically) to do that.

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Great circle and rhumb lines Grado Aeroespacial

Problem: route Valencia - New York

loxodromic with
orto bearing

orthodromic

loxodromic

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Great circle and rhumb lines Grado Aeroespacial

Cylindrical projec ons of great circle and rhumb lines

rhumb line
rhumb=orto rhumb

great circle
rhumb line
approximating great circle

rhumb line
passing through ORG and DST

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Great circle and rhumb lines formulae Grado Aeroespacial

Direct problem
Given an initial point (lat1, lon1), an initial azimuth, a12, and a distance, s.
Problem: nd the end point (lat2, lon2) and azimuth in nal point, a21.
Assume either a great circle (sphere or ellipsoid) o a rhumb line.

(lat1, lon1)
(lat2, lon2)
s
a21
a12

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Great circle and rhumb lines formulae Grado Aeroespacial

Inverse problem
Given the coordinates of the two points: (lat1, lon1) and (lat2, lon2)
Problem: nd the distance s, the azimuth in the initial point a12, and the
reverse azimuth in the nal point a21.
Assume either a great circle (sphere or ellipsoid) o a rhumb line.

s
(lat1, lon1)
a12
(lat2, lon2)
a21

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Matlab library lib/geo

Direct problem
Spherical orthodromic (great circle)
‣ function [lat2,lon2,a21] = orto_reckon(lat1,lon1,s,a1)
Spherical loxodromic (rhumb lines)
‣ function [lat2,lon2,a21] = loxo_reckon(lat1,lon1,s,a1)
Ellipsoidal orthodromic (great “circle”)
‣ function [lat2,lon2,a21] = vincenty_reckon(lat1,lon1,s,a1)
Inverse problem
Spherical orthodromic (great circle)
‣ function [s,a12,a21] = orto_distazi(lat1,lon1,lat2,lon2)
Spherical loxodromic (rhumb lines)
‣ function [s,a12,a21] = loxo_distazi(lat1,lon1,lat2,lon2)
Ellipsoidal orthodromic (great “circle”)
‣ function [s,a12,a21] = vincenty_distazi(lat1,lon1,lat2,lon2)
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Great circle formulae Grado Aeroespacial

Great-circles
Formulae: http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html
Azimuth / Bearing to a given point:
- θ = atan2( sin(Δλ).cos(φ2), cos(φ1).sin(φ2) − sin(φ1).cos(φ2).cos(Δλ) )
Destination point (lat,lon) given a distance and a bearing from a start point
- φ2 = asin( sin(φ1)*cos(d/R) + cos(φ1)*sin(d/R)*cos(θ) )
- λ2 = λ1 + atan2( sin(θ)*sin(d/R)*cos(φ1), cos(d/R)−sin(φ1)*sin(φ2) )
Distances
- Haversine formula:
‣ a = sin2(Δφ/2) + cos(φ1).cos(φ2).sin2(Δλ/2)
‣ c = 2.atan2(√a, √(1−a))
‣ d = R.c
- Alternative formulae: arc method, cross-product method.

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Rhumb lines formulae Grado Aeroespacial

Rhumb lines
Formulae: http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html
Distance and azimuth / bearing between two points
- Δφ′ = ln( tan(π/4+φ2/2)/tan(π/4+φ1/2) )
- (the ‘stretched’ latitude difference)
- if E:W line, q = cos(φ1) otherwise, q = Δφ/Δφ′
- d = √(Δφ² + q².Δλ²).R
- θ = atan2(Δλ, Δφ′)
Bearing is constant through a rhumb line

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Geodesics formulae Grado Aeroespacial

Formulae for Ellipsoid WGS-84

Vincenty’s method
- Vincenty's goal was to express existing algorithms for geodesics on an ellipsoid
in a form that minimized the program length (see the rst sentence of his paper).
- Solves the direct and inverse problem.
- The method is iterative and requires special handling of (near-)antipodal points
where standard iterations may not converge.
- Accuracy: within 0.5 mm (0.020″) on the Earth ellipsoid.

Andoyer-Lambert-Thomas method
- The method is non-iterative and the speed is more than 7 times faster than the
iterative Vincenty method.
- Only distance calculation
- Accuracy: an average absolute distance error of less than 1 cm for the 48
coterminous states (US).

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Approximated formulae Grado Aeroespacial

Flat-earth approxima on
The at earth hypothesis considers that the earth is at when you consider a
small area.
- It can be assumed when the length of the legs is not very big.
- longitudei= longitudei-1 + α * sin(bearingi)
- latitudei. = latitudei-1 + α * cos(bearingi)
- α = D/Rearth (angular distance between Pi-1 and Pi)

la tude
Pi
N Pi
α
bearing
D

HDG
α
Pi-1
Rearth
longitude
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Approximated formulae Grado Aeroespacial

Rough approxima on for measuring distances

They assume at-earth hypothesis
1º of latitude ≃ 111 kilometers ≃ 69 miles.
- range: 110.567 km at the equator to 111.699 km at the poles.
1º of longitude ≃ 111.321 at the equator and gradually shrinks to zero at the
poles.
- At 40° N or S 1º of longitude ≃ 85 km ≃ 53 miles.

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Reference frames and coordinate systems Grado Aeroespacial

Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
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Motivation Grado Aeroespacial

Need for a frame system to reference a target from a vehicle

Examples:
Targeting a destination from an aircraft
Targeting an aircraft from a missile
Orientating an antenna to a satellite

n
n n
e e e
d
d V d

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Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
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Vehicle centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

NED (North-East-Down) frame

Its origin is any point P whose ECEF/LLA
coordinates are usually know.
- Axis n: points to true North
- Axis e: points to the East
- Axis d: points Down.
‣ It is a right-hand system d=n x e
There exists a variant: ENU (East-North-Up)
Examples of use:
- To specify vectors from a vehicle to a
point on Earth’s surface or to another
ying vehicle and viceversa.
‣ Missile - target vector
‣ Orientation of antennas

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Spherical coordinates
The position of a point is speci ed by three angles with respect the ENU system:
- azimuth: angle with N axis in the NE plane.
- elevation: angle with NE plane
- distance
Relation between azimuth/elevation and ENU:

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Conversion from NED to ECEF

Given by:

Based on rotation matrices

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Reference frames and coordinate systems Grado Aeroespacial

Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
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Vehicle centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

BFF (Body-Fixed Frame)

The Body-Fixed Frame of reference has its origin in the COM of the aircraft and
is xed in the aircraft. It is key for inertial navigation.
- X-axis: is directed towards the nose of the aircraft
- Y-axis: toward the aircrafts right wing.
- Z-axis: down

Y
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BFF (Body-Fixed Frame)

Attitude is given by Euler angles: a set of three angular coordinates (roll, pitch
and yaw angles) which specify the orientation of a reference system of
orthogonal axes, usually BFF, with respect to another reference orthogonal
system, usually NED.

N
Xb N

Yb E
E
D D
Yb
Xb
Zb Zb

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Rota on matrices
They allow converting a position (x,y,z) in a Cartesian system to another
Cartesian system (x’,y’,z’) which is obtained by rotating the previous system
about an axis
Assume a rotation about axis Z

In matrix form:

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Rota on matrices
In general, the rotation of a cartesian coordinate system p to match another
system q can be expressed as:

- Property: rotation matrices are orthogonal

If we perform rotations β1, β2, β3 about the three axes X,Y,Z, the corresponding
rotation matrices and the overall rotation can be expressed as:

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Re ec on matrices
They allow to change the sense of one or more of its axes.
- They are variations of the identity matrix where the sign of the inverted axis is
changed:

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Problem Grado Aeroespacial

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Problem Grado Aeroespacial

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Vehicle centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Conversion from ECEF to NED

It is a matter of determining the rotation matrices to be applied to ensure that
the direction and sense of the ECEF and NED axes match:
- X axis matches N-axis, Y-axis matches E-axis, and Z-axis matches D-axis.
We start by trying Y-axis to match E-axis:

Looking from above

Y matches E → Rotate angle ϴ around Z

:longitude

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Vehicle centred frames Grado Aeroespacial

Conversion from ECEF to NED

Now, X axis matches N-axis, and Z-axis matches D-axis.

Look laterally
X matches N and Z matches D → anticlockwise rotation 90+ about Y

:latitude

So the ECEF to NED conversion is given by:

:longitude
:latitude
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Matlab library lib/geo

function enu = ecef2enu(ecef,orgece,orgllh)
- Inputs: orgece [3x1] - ENU origin in ECEF
- orgllh [3x1] - ENU origin in LLH (radians)
- ecef [3xN] - ECEF coordinates of pts to be converted
- Outputs: enu [3xN] - ENU coordinates

function ecef = enu2ecef(enu,orgece,orgllh)

- Inputs: orgece [3x1] - ENU origin in ECEF
- orgllh [3x1] - ENU origin in LLH (radians)
- enu [3xN] - ENU coordinates of pts to be converted
- Outputs:ecef [3xN] - ECEF coordinates
-

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Problem: orien ng an antenna towards a satellite

Input data:
- Vehicle coordinates (i.e. a satellite) in the ECEF frame.
- Observer coordinates (i.e. an antenna) in LLA.
Output data / results:
- elevation / azimuth of antenna.

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Problem: orien ng an antenna towards a satellite

http://www.n2yo.com

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Vehicle centred frames Grado Aeroespacial
Una forma alternativa de obtener los datos del satélite es a través del fichero con la base de
datos de satélites SatelliteDatabase.kmz.
Problem: orien ng an antenna towards a satellite
Utilice este fichero para obtener los datos del HISPASAT 1E.
SatelliteDatabase.kmz

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Problem: orien ng an antenna towards a satellite

1.Calculate the line of sight vector P⃗ from the observer to the vehicle in ECEF:
- P

- P
"=P
- !

2.Convert the line of sight vector P⃗ from ECEF to NED.

3.Convert from NED to ENU (East-North-Up) which is a system-clockwise, using
re ection matrix S3:

:longitude
ENU :latitude

ENU

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Problem: orien ng an antenna towards a satellite (ii)

4.Convert from ENU (East-North-Up) to azimuth/elevation (see slide 60).

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Reference frames and coordinate systems Grado Aeroespacial

Introduc on

The shape of Earth

Earth centred frames

ECI
ECEF
LLA
Great circles and rhumb lines
Vehicle centred frames

NED
BFF
Appendix: geodesic distance calcula on
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Distances Grado Aeroespacial

Straight-line distance between two points

Given two points on earth's surface whose coordinates are expressed in LLA,
the distance between them can be calculated as follows:

If we consider two points given by vectors r1

and r2, the straight-line distance between is:

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Great circle distance - Arc method

Based on calculating the α angle between both points:

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Distances Grado Aeroespacial

Great circle distance - Dot product method (i)

If we consider two points given by vectors r1 and r2 and we compute the dot
product:

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Distances Grado Aeroespacial

Great circle distance - Dot product method (ii)

On the other hand scalar product can also be calculated as:

Equating the two expressions:

From which we can deduce that:

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Great circle distance - Andoyer’s method (i)

It assumes the WGS-84 ellipsoid with semiaxes a y b.
It requires to calculate previously the following auxiliary values:

1 3

2 4

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Great circle distance - Andoyer’s method (ii)

The distance in km is given by:

where f attening factor is de ned by the WGS-84.

The order of magnitude of this error is:

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Distances Grado Aeroespacial

Problem: calculus of the distance Barcelona - New York

Barcelona:
- 41,30º N / 2,09º E
New York:
- 40,75º N / 73,99º W (-73,99º).
Average Earth radius:
- 6367,44 km

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Distances Grado Aeroespacial

Calculus of distance Barcelona - New York.

Arc method

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Distances Grado Aeroespacial

Calculus of distance Barcelona - New York.

Dot product method

El método del arco tiene mayores errores de redondeo

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Distances Grado Aeroespacial

Calculus of distance Barcelona - New York.

Andoyer’s method

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Distances Grado Aeroespacial

Calculus of distance Barcelona - New York.

Google Earth

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