How many feet does .001 represent?

[hoyshnin]

Sorry about the unclear title, I didn't know how to succinctly state this question. Basically what I'm wondering is how many feet are there between two coordinates where the only difference is .001? For example, how many feet are there between N 42 59.458 W 71 27.826 and N 42 59.458 W 71 27.827?

 

After doing some searching, I found this webpage - http://boulter.com/gps/distance/

 

By putting in different coordinates, I found that a .001 difference in latitude (using the format above) seems to be equal to 4 feet, but a .001 difference in longitude seems to be 6 feet. Is this right?

[+StarBrand]

Depending on where you are on the globe it does vary some.

 

For those 2 coordinates - your calc looks right.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Yupper, it depends upon the latitude where you are currently standing, or talking about.

[hoyshnin]

Depending on where you are on the globe it does vary some.

 

For those 2 coordinates - your calc looks right.

 

Hm, I guess it does vary according to where you are located, because if I try

 

N 34° 01.545 W 118° 25.641

and

N 34° 01.545 W 118° 25.642

 

The difference is 5 feet, not 4 feet. Interesting.

 

But I guess a .001 difference will probably always be between 4-6 feet (longitude or latitude), right?

Edited October 18, 2009 by hoyshnin

[PastorJon]

As you near the equator, your .001 longitude is worth much more then near the poles.... since longitude lines are not parallel.

 

It seems to me that .001 worth of latitude should be nearly the same regardless of where you are on the earth.

 

I don't know if that actually plays out in reality, or just in theory. I know that the globe isn't perfectly spherical, so that may not work.

[+Cardinal Red]

Depending on where you are on the globe it does vary some.

 

For those 2 coordinates - your calc looks right.

 

Hm, I guess it does vary according to where you are located, because if I try

 

N 34° 01.545 W 118° 25.641

and

N 34° 01.545 W 118° 25.642

 

The difference is 5 feet, not 4 feet. Interesting.

 

But I guess a .001 difference will probably always be between 4-6 feet (longitude or latitude), right?

 

Wrong.

 

Latitude spacing will always be almost exactly 6 feet per .001'.

 

Longitude spacing per .001' can vary in the range of zero (touching) to six feet.

 

Equator = 0 Degrees Latitude

Cosine of 0 = 1

1 times 6 = 6 feet of Longitude spacing per .001'

 

Pole (North or South) =90 Degrees Latitude

Cosine of 90 = 0

0 times 6 = 0 feet of Longitude spacing per .001'

 

At Latitude 60 Ddegees

Cosine of 60 = .5

.5 times 6 = 3 feet of Longitude spacing per .001'

 

Get the idea?

Edited October 18, 2009 by Cardinal Red

[+OienLabs]

For latitude .001 difference will always be about 6 ft.

For latitude 0 .001 difference will be about 6 ft for longitude.

Guess what it will be at the north pole!

 

Cosinus(latitude) is your friend for longitude width.

 

Edit: Puh this is not easy. Think it is right now.

Edited October 18, 2009 by baø

[hoyshnin]

Depending on where you are on the globe it does vary some.

 

For those 2 coordinates - your calc looks right.

 

Hm, I guess it does vary according to where you are located, because if I try

 

N 34° 01.545 W 118° 25.641

and

N 34° 01.545 W 118° 25.642

 

The difference is 5 feet, not 4 feet. Interesting.

 

But I guess a .001 difference will probably always be between 4-6 feet (longitude or latitude), right?

 

Wrong.

 

Latitude spacing will always be almost exactly 6 feet per .001'.

 

Longitude spacing per .001' can vary in the range of zero (touching) to six feet.

 

Equator = 0 Degrees Latitude

Cosine of 0 = 1

1 times 6 = 6 feet of Longitude spacing per .001'

 

Pole (North or South) =90 Degrees Latitude

Cosine of 90 = 0

0 times 6 = 0 feet of Longitude spacing per .001'

 

At Latitude 60 Ddegees

Cosine of 60 = .5

.5 times 6 = 3 feet of Longitude spacing per .001'

 

Get the idea?

 

Fascinating, thanks!

[John E Cache]

At the equator divide the number of feet in a nautical mile(6,076.12 ft) by 1000.

[+niraD]

See also http://www.markwell.us/geofaq.htm#Feet

[+Moose Mob]

Here's how I describe it for field use (adults).

If you stand and hold both arms straight out, the the distance from fingertip to finger tip is roughly .001 degrees. Adjust appropriately if you are significantly taller/shorter than average height.

[+Winstonsdad]

Depending on where you are on the globe it does vary some.

 

For those 2 coordinates - your calc looks right.

 

Hm, I guess it does vary according to where you are located, because if I try

 

N 34° 01.545 W 118° 25.641

and

N 34° 01.545 W 118° 25.642

 

The difference is 5 feet, not 4 feet. Interesting.

 

But I guess a .001 difference will probably always be between 4-6 feet (longitude or latitude), right?

 

Wrong.

 

Latitude spacing will always be almost exactly 6 feet per .001'.

 

Longitude spacing per .001' can vary in the range of zero (touching) to six feet.

 

Equator = 0 Degrees Latitude

Cosine of 0 = 1

1 times 6 = 6 feet of Longitude spacing per .001'

 

Pole (North or South) =90 Degrees Latitude

Cosine of 90 = 0

0 times 6 = 0 feet of Longitude spacing per .001'

 

At Latitude 60 Ddegees

Cosine of 60 = .5

.5 times 6 = 3 feet of Longitude spacing per .001'

 

Get the idea?

 

I never knew that stuff they tried to teach me 30 something years ago had a practical application! Thanks for the education and reminder.

[knowschad]

If you think of the longitude lines as section of an orange, then it is pretty easy to visualize why the distance between longitude varies with the lattitude. How far apart are the sections of an orange? Depends on where in the section you measure.

[+Markwell]

See also http://www.markwell.us/geofaq.htm#Feet

Yep - I answered this a LONG time ago...

[+StarBrand]

Here's how I describe it for field use (adults).

If you stand and hold both arms straight out, the the distance from fingertip to finger tip is roughly .001 degrees. Adjust appropriately if you are significantly taller/shorter than average height.

- I like this as an answer!!!

[+Sky King 36]

If you think of the longitude lines as section of an orange, then it is pretty easy to visualize why the distance between longitude varies with the lattitude. How far apart are the sections of an orange? Depends on where in the section you measure.

 

Perfectly described. I still find people have trouble understanding why latitude and longitude vary differently.

 

It is worth knowing what the longitude numbers are in your particular area. Latitude will always be one NAUTICAL mile (6,000 feet) per minute, and where I cache, longitude usually works out close enough to 4,500 feet per minute that I use that. So:

 

Latitude (North-South):

• 0.001 = 6 feet
  
• 0.010 = 60 feet
  
• 0.100 = 600 feet
  
• 1.000 = 6,000 feet
  

Longitude (East-West):

• 0.001 = 4.5 feet
  
• 0.010 = 45 feet
  
• 0.100 = 450 feet
  
• 1.000 = 4,500 feet
  

This makes it easy to visualize your relative position on the ground if you don't have a GPS with a compass or moving map. "the cache is 90 feet east and 120 feet north of me" can be visualized pretty easily if you know which way is north.

[+Capt. Bob]

1 Minute of Latitude = 1 Nautical Mile

1 Nautical Mile = 6,076.1 Feet

 

1 Minute of Latitude = 6,076.1 Feet

1 Minute of Longitude = 6,076.1 Feet X Cos(Latitude)

 

Example:

0.001 Minutes at N42°degrees Latitude

 

0.001 Minutes of Latitude = 0.001 X 6,076.1 = 6.076 Feet

0.001 Minutes of Longitude = 0.001 x 6,076.1 x Cos(42°) = 4.515 Feet

[+SKILLET]

Here's how I describe it for field use (adults).

If you stand and hold both arms straight out, the the distance from fingertip to finger tip is roughly .001 degrees. Adjust appropriately if you are significantly taller/shorter than average height.

- I like this as an answer!!!

 

sounds like the answer to me.

 

Then again you could just put down your GPSr and start searching in a 15 foot radius

[+Parknet]

Sounds like there is a puzzle cache in here somewhere!