Distance Between GPS Coordinates Calculator

Haversine Formula:

\[ \text{distance} = 6371 \times \arccos(\sin(\text{lat1}) \times \sin(\text{lat2}) + \cos(\text{lat1}) \times \cos(\text{lat2}) \times \cos(\text{lon2}-\text{lon1})) \]

Latitude 1:

degrees

Longitude 1:

degrees

Latitude 2:

degrees

Longitude 2:

degrees

Distance Between Coordinates:

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1. What is the Haversine Formula?

The Haversine formula calculates the great-circle distance between two points on a sphere given their longitudes and latitudes. It's particularly accurate for calculating distances between GPS coordinates on Earth.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the Haversine formula:

\[ \text{distance} = 6371 \times \arccos(\sin(\text{lat1}) \times \sin(\text{lat2}) + \cos(\text{lat1}) \times \cos(\text{lat2}) \times \cos(\text{lon2}-\text{lon1})) \]

Where:

\( \text{lat1}, \text{lon1} \) — Latitude and longitude of first point (in radians)
\( \text{lat2}, \text{lon2} \) — Latitude and longitude of second point (in radians)
6371 — Earth's radius in kilometers

Explanation: The formula accounts for the curvature of the Earth to provide accurate distance measurements between any two points on the globe.

3. Importance of GPS Distance Calculation

Details: Accurate distance calculation between GPS coordinates is crucial for navigation systems, logistics planning, geographic analysis, and many location-based applications.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter latitude and longitude in decimal degrees format (e.g., 40.7128 for New York). Valid ranges are -90 to 90 for latitude and -180 to 180 for longitude.

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: How accurate is this calculation?
A: The Haversine formula provides very accurate results (within 0.5%) for most practical purposes on Earth's surface.

Q2: Can I use this for very short distances?
A: Yes, but for distances less than 1km, a simpler planar approximation might be sufficient.

Q3: What's the difference between this and Vincenty's formula?
A: Vincenty's formula is more accurate (accounts for Earth's ellipsoidal shape) but more computationally intensive.

Q4: Why does the calculator use kilometers?
A: The Earth's radius is 6371 km. For miles, multiply result by 0.621371.

Q5: What about altitude differences?
A: This formula ignores altitude, calculating only horizontal distance. For very precise measurements including elevation, additional calculations would be needed.