Understand the graticule of the earth correctly
As with a simple coordinate system in mathematics, there is something like that for the entire surface of the earth. However, the earth is a three-dimensional structure in the shape of a sphere. Nevertheless, the graticule stretched by humans is easy to understand.
This is how the graticule is created
- In principle, the background idea is very simple: The aim was to capture the surface of the earth, i.e. a surface of revolution, in such a way that every point on the earth receives an exact coordinate.
- The first part of the graticule is made up of the parallels (geographical latitude), which run parallel to the equatorial plane. The equator therefore has zero degrees and divides the earth into two halves: the northern and southern hemispheres. The further north or Goes south, the smaller the circles become - the flattening of the earth is to blame.
- The distance between the total of 90 south-oriented and 90 north-oriented parallels is about 111 km each.
- The second part of the graticule is made up of the longitudes (longitude). These run from the South to the North Pole and have their defined prime meridian in Greenwich.
- In contrast to the parallels, they all have the same length - this time, however, there are 180 degrees in each direction that make up the graticule.
How many parallels are there? - Interesting facts about latitude and longitude
How many parallels are there? What do the longitudes mean? Here it becomes ...
Every point on earth has its own coordinates
- With this system, an exact indication of its position can be made for every point on earth.
- First of all, you need the latitude, i.e. the latitude of the place.
In Munich, for example, that would be 48 ° 09 'N. So the city has a north latitude of 48 degrees and 9 minutes. According to the specification in the sexagesimal system, 60 minutes correspond to one degree, 60 seconds would count as one minute. The N stands for north. So it indicates whether the equator is heading north or south. - Now the longitude is still missing. In Munich this is 11 ° 35 'O. Starting from the prime meridian, Munich is located at the eleventh degree of longitude plus 35 minutes to the east.
The coordinates can also be used to determine the time zone in which a location is located. In this case it is CET - Central European Time.
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