Introduction to Geographic Coordinates Systems and practical use in Rwanda

I. Coordinate system

Coordinate systems enable geographic datasets to use common locations for integration. A
coordinate system is a reference system used to represent the locations of geographic
features, imagery, and observations such as GPS locations within a common geographic
framework.

Each coordinate system is defined by:

 Its measurement framework which is either geographic (in which spherical coordinates are
measured from the earth's center) or plan metric (in which the earth's coordinates are
projected onto a two-dimensional planar surface).
 Unit of measurement (typically feet or meters for projected coordinate systems or decimal
degrees for latitude–longitude).
 The definition of the map projection for projected coordinate systems.
 Other measurement system properties such as a spheroid of reference, a datum, and projection
parameters like one or more standard parallels, a central meridian, and possible shifts in the x-
and y-directions.

II. Types of coordinate systems

There are two common types of coordinate systems used in GIS:

 A global or spherical coordinate system such as latitude–longitude. These are often referred to
as geographic coordinate systems.
 A projected coordinate system based on a map projection such as transverse Mercator, Albers
equal area, or Robinson, all of which (along with numerous other map projection models)
provide various mechanisms to project maps of the earth's spherical surface onto a two-
dimensional Cartesian coordinate plane. Projected coordinate systems are sometimes referred
to as map projections.

a. Geographic coordinates system

A geographic coordinate system (GCS) uses a three-dimensional spherical surface to define

locations on the earth. A GCS is often incorrectly called a datum, but a datum is only one
part of a GCS. A GCS includes an angular unit of measure, a prime meridian, and a datum
(based on a spheroid).

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A point is referenced by its longitude and latitude values. Longitude and latitude are angles
measured from the earth's center to a point on the earth's surface. The angles often are
measured in degrees (or in grads). Fig.1 shows the world as a globe with longitude and
latitude values.

Fig.1: Illustration of world as a globe with longitude and latitude values.

The position of the spheroid relative to the center of the earth. A datum provides a frame of
reference for measuring locations on the surface of the earth. It defines the origin and orientation of
latitude and longitude lines.

Latitude and longitude values are traditionally measured either in decimal degrees or in degrees,
minutes, and seconds (DMS). Latitude values are measured relative to the equator and range from -
90° at the South Pole to +90° at the North Pole. Longitude values are measured relative to the prime
meridian. They range from -180° when traveling west to 180° when traveling east. If the prime
meridian is at Greenwich, then Australia, which is south of the equator and east of Greenwich, has
positive longitude values and negative latitude values.

Although longitude and latitude can locate exact positions on the surface of the globe, they are not
uniform units of measure. Only along the equator does the distance represented by one degree of
longitude approximate the distance represented by one degree of latitude. This is because the
equator is the only parallel as large as a meridian. (Circles with the same radius as the spherical
earth are called great circles. The equator and all meridians are great circles.)

Above and below the equator, the circles defining the parallels of latitude get gradually smaller
until they become a single point at the North and South Poles where the meridians converge. As the
meridians converge toward the poles, the distance represented by one degree of longitude
decreases to zero. On the Clarke 1866 spheroid, one degree of longitude at the equator equals

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111.321 km, while at 60° latitude it is only 55.802 km. Because degrees of latitude and longitude
don't have a standard length, you can’t measure distances or areas accurately or display the data
easily on a flat map or computer screen.

b. Projected coordinate system

A projected coordinate system is defined on a flat, two-dimensional surface. Unlike a geographic

coordinate system, a projected coordinate system has constant lengths, angles, and areas across the
two dimensions. A projected coordinate system is always based on a geographic coordinate system
that is based on a sphere or spheroid.

In a projected coordinate system, locations are identified by x,y coordinates on a grid, with the
origin at the center of the grid. Each position has two values that reference it to that central
location. One specifies its horizontal position and the other its vertical position. The two values are
called the x-coordinate and y-coordinate. Using this notation, the coordinates at the origin are x = 0
and y = 0.

On a gridded network of equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines, the horizontal line in the
center is called the x-axis and the central vertical line is called the y-axis. Units are consistent and
equally spaced across the full range of x and y. Horizontal lines above the origin and vertical lines to
the right of the origin have positive values; those below or to the left have negative values. The four
quadrants represent the four possible combinations of positive and negative X and Y coordinates.

When working with data in a geographic coordinate system, it is sometimes useful to equate the
longitude values with the X axis and the latitude values with the Y axis

The Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) Arc_1960 in the past have been widely used in Rwanda
although there is a strong trend within the East African Community to move to Geographic
Coordinate System (GCS) ITRF_2005. With the programme of land administration reform, the aerial
photographs, The Orthophotos (rectified Aerial Photographs) were taken in ITRF 2005’s
parameters as support for land demarcation and land use master plans. Since ever many projects in
Rwanda have started to supply data in Transverse Mercator Projection with the Datum parameters
in ITRF_2005.

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 III. GPS data collection using handheld GPS units in the field

In order to n avoid data misfits and a lot of post processing work you determine the Datum or the
Geographic Coordinate System in your GPS receiverbefore going to the field. Depending on your
reference data you have in your GIS system you should set the same reference in your GPS. Not all
GPS devices have the Arc_1960 Datum stored; in this case it is safe to use WGS_1984 which can
easily be converted later on to your reference system on your computer. If you will provide field
data captured with GPS to external parties, it is recommended to capture the data in Geographic
Coordinates and the GCS WGS_1984. It is very easy to convert them later on into any other
Projection and Geographic Coordinate Systems.

Planning for Field Data Collection Using Handheld GPS Units in the Field at each selected location,
you will be recording the latitude and longitude and also collecting several other pieces of
information. The recommended approach is that you manually record this information on a pre-
formatted paper data collection sheet – one sheet for each location where you will be recording a
location with the GPS unit. It is very important to prepare this data collection sheet carefully well in
advance of your field work.

For better field data collection success the following preparation should be taken into
consideration:

1. Carefully think through all the information you will need to collect in the field and create a list of
this information

2. Go through this list and for each item, write down the type of value you will record (e.g.: count,
measurement, description, comment, yes/no, etc.)

3. Again for each item, decide whether the information can be coded to ease data collection (e.g., a
code for vegetation type, classifying tree cover by percentage class, Y/N for yes/no)

If necessary, the GPS unit can be used to help navigate you to a location assuming you have the
latitude and longitude coordinates of that location. But you should not depend on that – if possible,
get other location information (address, building, landmarks, distance/direction from road/stream,
etc.) If possible, prepare a map using Google Earth or GIS Software and have printouts of this with
you in the field at a resolution that helps you navigate to the needed locations.

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 IV. Procedures for use handheld GPS receiver for spatial data collection

1. Point
 During GPS coordinate collection wait for the GPS receiver to detect at least 4 satellites with
accuracy of 3-4 meters(depending of GPS receiver capability)
 Mark and save the point
2. Configuration of the GPS receiver (Garmin )
 Switch on the GPS.
 Menu option >> set up >> navigation >> Position > user grid (enter local projection parameters)
>> map datum > choose Arc 1960,or WGS 84 (WORLD GEODETIC SYSTEM)
>>Units> meters >> then use Option 1, 2, 3

At the most basic level, the GPS receiver user needs to be able to set-up and initialize the unit and
SAVE and GO TO a waypoint. For many users, this is all that they really need to do. For others, it is
important to understand the coordinate grid systems and to be able to plot and read position
coordinates on a map. Being able to plot and read position coordinates, enables the user to make
the optimum use of this technology for more sophisticated applications.

3. Location format
There are several formats for storing your location (Navigation Setup):

User UTM Grid, UTM/UPS,Degree/minutes/seconds, Degree/minutes/ minutes,Decimal degrees

Depending on which format you choose, you will have to enter the numbers accordingly.

1: Spheroid: Transverse Mercator 2: Spheroid: Transverse Mercator

Datum: Arc 1960 Datum: WGS84
False easting: 500,000 False easting: 500,000
False northing: 10,000,000 False northing: 10,000,000 or
or 9999999.9 9999999.9
Longitude origin: E30 Longitude origin: E30
Central latitude: 0 Central latitude: 0
Scale: +0.9999 Scale: +0.9999

3: Spheroid: Transverse Mercator

Datum: WGS84
False easting: 500,000
False northing: 5,000,000
Longitude origin: E30
Central latitude: 0
Scale: +0.9999

Systeme Ruanda 92: GPS campaign

1991-1992

ITRF 2005: New System based on ITRS

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Fig.2: Local projection parameters
 V. Instruction for downloading GPS waypoints and importing into GIS

SET UP Garmin GPS Receiver – Before collecting FIELD DATA (as per the coordinates system
used in Rwanda). In order to download gps point from Garmis GPS, the mapsource is mostly to
send data from GPS to computer. The following are the step used :

 Connect GPS to the computer using GPS PC interface

 Turn on the GPS unit
 Open mapsource
 Select correct coordinate settings in mapsource by:
a) Select edit>Preferences, position tab
b) Position farmat (modify as per the the selected coordinates system parameters )
c) Datum: WGS 84

 Transfer>receive from device>receive make sure the wapoint area checked. If you have
track, I recommend downoading the waypoints and tracks separately.
 Save mapsource file(.gdb or .mps) in case you need to change the datum or projection
for GPS points at alater time. File>save >save “file_name.gdb” in your working folder
 Export to text(tab delimited) file. File>save as >text(tab delimited)>Save”file_name.txt”
in your workinf folder.
VI. Using Excel to prepare the GPS points for import into GIS or other data sharing
purpose

1. Open microsoft office excel

2. Main menu >File>Open >Browse from your working folder>select file_name.txtfile
3. Select delimited text>next>check tab>finish. Save file as .xls in case you need to respect
steps at later time,
4. Delete the first three rows ( Grid row, Datum row, and blank row). Delete the blank row
between the field headers and the waypoints,
5. Delete unnecessary columns
6. Insert #c columns after * position* colum
7. Highlight the *Position* column
8. Separate your latitude and longitude coordinated into individual columns. Data tab.text
to columns>delimited.next>check space>finish
9. Add/changes the field headers for eastings, Northing and Elevation(Z)
10. Save your file in working folder

Readings

http://www.academia.edu/8602476/TOPIC_2_PROJECTION_AND_COORDINATE_SYSTEM

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

http://gps.faa.gov/GPSbasics/gps_basics.htm