How many variations on the UTM projection are there?

How many variations on the UTM projection are there?

Fifty-nine variations on this projection are used to minimize distortion in the other 59 UTM zones. In every case, distortion is no greater than 1 part in 1,000. This means that a 1,000 meter distance measured anywhere within a UTM zone will be no worse than + or – 1 meter off.

How is the Transverse Mercator used in the UTM?

The Transverse Mercator projection illustrated above (Figure 2.22.2) minimizes distortion within UTM zone 30. Fifty-nine variations on this projection are used to minimize distortion in the other 59 UTM zones. In every case, distortion is no greater than 1 part in 1,000.

Where are polar areas excluded from the UTM system?

Only polar areas–latitudes higher than 84° North and 80° South–are excluded. (Polar coordinate systems are used to specify positions beyond these latitudes.) The UTM system divides the remainder of the Earth’s surface into 60 zones, each spanning 6° of longitude.

How many standard lines are used in the UTM?

Each of the 60 variations on the Transverse Mercator projection used as the foundations of the 60 UTM zones employ not one, but two, standard lines. These two standard lines are parallel to, and 180,000 meters east and west of, each central meridian.

Can you calculate distance between two UTM zones?

If some points me to extended UTM zones and how it helps, that will also be very helpful. First, let’s confirm what you already seem to know: If there are two different UTM zones, there are effectively two different coordinate reference systems (CRS), and distances between points across the zones cannot be calculated.

Is the UTM grid uniformly wide from the equator?

The illustration above (Figure 2.22.1) depicts UTM zones as if they were uniformly “wide” from the Equator to their northern and southern limits.

Which is not tied to the UTM zones?

Based on the information provided I would be looking at using a different projection which is not tied to the UTM Zones, like GeoScience Australia’s Lambert Conformal Conic Projection. This will have some distortion effects but they will be minimal. The distance unit is metres.

How is the UTM based on the Transverse Mercator projection?

UTM Projection. As the name suggests, the Universal Transverse Mercator projection is based on the cylindrical Transverse Mercator projection. The cylinder in the Transverse Mercator projection is tangent along a meridian (line of longitude) or it is secant, in which case it cuts through the earth at two standard meridians.

What are the 3tm, 10tm and 6TM projections?

There are a series of projections suited to this exact situation, 10TM, 6TM and 3TM. They are essentially Transverse Mercator slices with custom central meridians, spanning 10 degrees, 6 degrees, or 3 degrees of longitude, respectively. I first encountered them working on data within the City of Calgary, which straddles two UTM zones.

Why are Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in different UTM zones?

Because although the cities are both located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, they are situated in two different UTM zones. As it happens, Philadelphia is closer to the origin of its Zone 18 than Pittsburgh is to the origin of its Zone 17. If you were to plot the points representing the two cities on a map,…