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The nautical mile (nmi) was originally defined as the arc length of a minute of latitude on a spherical Earth, so the actual Earth's circumference is very near 21 600 nmi. A minute of arc is π / 10 800 of a radian. A second of arc, arcsecond (abbreviated as arcsec), or arc second, denoted by the symbol ″, [2] is a unit of angular ...
Length of one degree (black), minute (blue) and second (red) of latitude and longitude in metric (upper half) and imperial units (lower half) at a given latitude (vertical axis) in WGS84. For example, the green arrows show that Donetsk (green circle) at 48°N has a Δ long of 74.63 km/° (1.244 km/min, 20.73 m/sec etc) and a Δ lat of 111.2 km ...
With this value for R the meridian length of 1 degree of latitude on the sphere is 111.2 km (69.1 statute miles) (60.0 nautical miles). The length of one minute of latitude is 1.853 km (1.151 statute miles) (1.00 nautical miles), while the length of 1 second of latitude is 30.8 m or 101 feet (see nautical mile).
A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. [2] [3] [4] Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( 1 / 60 of a degree) of latitude at the equator, so that Earth's polar circumference is very near to 21,600 nautical miles (that is 60 minutes × 360 degrees).
As the Royal Yachting Association says in its manual for day skippers: "1 (minute) of Latitude = 1 sea mile", followed by "For most practical purposes distance is measured from the latitude scale, assuming that one minute of latitude equals one nautical mile". [32]
As one degree is 1 / 360 of a circle, one minute of arc is 1 / 21600 of a circle – such that the polar circumference of the Earth would be exactly 21,600 miles. Gunter used Snellius's circumference to define a nautical mile as 6,080 feet, the length of one minute of arc at 48 degrees latitude.
Solid angles can also be measured in square degrees (1 sr = (180/ π) 2 square degrees), in square arc-minutes and square arc-seconds, or in fractions of the sphere (1 sr = 1 / 4 π fractional area), also known as spat (1 sp = 4 π sr). In spherical coordinates there is a formula for the differential,
The micrometre (SI symbol: μm) is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 10 −6 metres ( 1 / 1 000 000 m = 0. 000 001 m). To help compare different orders of magnitude , this section lists some items with lengths between 10 −6 and 10 −5 m (between 1 and 10 micrometers , or μm).