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32-point compass rose. The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography.A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each separated by 90 degrees, and secondarily divided by four ordinal (intercardinal) directions—northeast, southeast, southwest, and ...
The Geographic North Pole around which the Earth rotates is not in exactly the same position as the Magnetic North Pole. From any position on the globe, a direction can be determined to either the Geographic North Pole or to the Magnetic North Pole. These directions are expressed in degrees from 0–360°, and also fractions of a degree.
Direction determination refers to the ways in which a cardinal direction or compass point can be determined in navigation and wayfinding.The most direct method is using a compass (magnetic compass or gyrocompass), but indirect methods exist, based on the Sun path (unaided or by using a watch or sundial), the stars, and satellite navigation.
Compasses often show angles in degrees: north corresponds to 0°, and the angles increase clockwise, so east is 90°, south is 180°, and west is 270°. These numbers allow the compass to show azimuths or bearings which are commonly stated in degrees.
Today, the reference plane for an azimuth is typically true north, measured as a 0° azimuth, though other angular units (grad, mil) can be used. Moving clockwise on a 360 degree circle, east has azimuth 90°, south 180°, and west 270°. There are exceptions: some navigation systems use south as the reference vector.
[1] [3] Course directions are specified in degrees from north, either true or magnetic. In aviation, north is usually expressed as 360°. [4] Navigators used ordinal directions, instead of compass degrees, e.g. "northeast" instead of 45° until the mid-20th century when the use of degrees became prevalent. [5] Heading and track (A to B) 1 ...
The convention is that of analytic geometry: the y-axis at zero degrees is the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. Angles grow larger in the clockwise direction. Thus, directly to port is at 270 degrees. Negative angles are not used. In navigational contexts, the bearing must be stated as 3 digits: 010 (not so in other contexts). [3]
A location's north–south position along a meridian is given by its latitude, which is approximately the angle between the equatorial plane and the normal from the ground at that location. Longitude is generally given using the geodetic normal or the gravity direction .