latitude
Sign in to savethumb|Earth model with circles of latitude in black and indications of the North Pole, [[Equator, and the northern and southern hemispheres.]] thumb|upright=0.9|right|Earth's Graticule (cartography)|graticule. The vertical lines from pole to pole are lines of constant [[longitude, or meridians. The circles parallel to the equator are lines of constant latitude, or parallels. The graticule shows the latitude and longitude of points on the surface. In this example meridians are spaced at 6° intervals and parallels at 4° intervals.]]
AI overview
Latitude is a measurement system that uses imaginary circles running parallel to the Earth's equator to identify locations on the planet's surface. It matters because, when combined with longitude lines, latitude allows us to pinpoint the exact geographic position of any place on Earth.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
32 sectionsContents
- Background
- Determination
- Latitude on the sphere{{anchor|Spherical}}
- The graticule on the sphere
- Named latitudes on the Earth
- Latitude on the ellipsoid
- Ellipsoids
- The geometry of the ellipsoid
- Geodetic and geocentric latitudes
- Meridian distance{{anchor|Length of a degree of latitude}}
- Meridian distance on the sphere
- Meridian distance on the ellipsoid
- Auxiliary latitudes
- Geocentric latitude
- Parametric latitude (or reduced latitude){{anchor|Parametric latitude|Reduced latitude}}
- Rectifying latitude
- Authalic latitude
- Conformal latitude
- Isometric latitude
- Inverse formulae and series
- Numerical comparison of auxiliary latitudes
- Latitude and coordinate systems
- Geodetic coordinates
- Spherical polar coordinates
- Ellipsoidal-harmonic coordinates
- Coordinate conversions
- Astronomical latitude
- See also
- References
- Footnotes
- Citations
- External links
thumb|Earth model with circles of latitude in black and indications of the North Pole, [[Equator, and the northern and southern hemispheres.]] thumb|upright=0.9|right|Earth's Graticule (cartography)|graticule. The vertical lines from pole to pole are lines of constant [[longitude, or meridians. The circles parallel to the equator are lines of constant latitude, or parallels. The graticule shows the latitude and longitude of points on the surface. In this example meridians are spaced at 6° intervals and parallels at 4° intervals.]]
In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pole, with 0° at the Equator. Lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run east-west as circles parallel to the equator. Latitude and longitude are used together as a coordinate pair to specify a location on the surface of the Earth.