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The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) is a map projection system for assigning coordinates to locations on the surface of the Earth.Like the traditional method of latitude and longitude, it is a horizontal position representation, which means it ignores altitude and treats the earth surface as a perfect ellipsoid.
The transverse version is widely used in national and international mapping systems around the world, including the Universal Transverse Mercator. When paired with a suitable geodetic datum, the transverse Mercator delivers high accuracy in zones less than a few degrees in east-west extent.
This transverse, ellipsoidal form of the Mercator is finite, unlike the equatorial Mercator. Forms the basis of the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system. 1922 Roussilhe oblique stereographic: Henri Roussilhe 1903 Hotine oblique Mercator Cylindrical Conformal M. Rosenmund, J. Laborde, Martin Hotine 1855 Gall stereographic: Cylindrical
Near the end of World War II, the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system extended this grid concept around the globe, dividing it into 60 zones of 6 degrees longitude each.
Each projected coordinate system, such as "Universal Transverse Mercator WGS 84 Zone 26N," is defined by a choice of map projection (with specific parameters), a choice of geodetic datum to bind the coordinate system to real locations on the earth, an origin point, and a choice of unit of measure. [2]
This implementation is of great importance since it is widely used in the U.S. State Plane Coordinate System, [5] in national (Great Britain, [6] Ireland [7] and many others) and also international [8] mapping systems, including the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system (UTM).
Coordinate conversion is composed of a number of different types of conversion: format change of geographic coordinates, conversion of coordinate systems, or transformation to different geodetic datums. Geographic coordinate conversion has applications in cartography, surveying, navigation and geographic information systems.
A datum is a formal description of the shape of the Earth along with an "anchor" point for the coordinate system. In surveying , cartography , and land-use planning , two North American Datums are in use for making lateral or "horizontal" measurements: the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD 27) and the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83).