Converting coordinates using online conversion utilities

If you don’t need to convert coordinates on a regular basis, you can save some hard drive space by using a Web-based coordinate conversion utility instead of installing GeoTrans. Most conversion sites are pretty straightforward to use; just enter the coordinate values that you want to convert and click a button. These sites are a few of the most popular:

• For simple datum, latitude and longitude, and UTM coordinate conversions: http://jeeep.com/details/coord
• For latitude and longitude, UTM, and Township and Range conversions:nwww.esg.montana.edu/gl
• For advanced online and standalone conversion tools, visit the U.S. National Geodetic Survey: www.ngs.noaa.gov/TOOLS

Understanding Graphical Locator

The Environmental Statistics Group at Montana State University hosts a very powerful online tool called the Graphical Locator. It’s a cross between a gazetteer and a coordinate utility converter. Some of its features are

• A map of the United States that shows coordinate information when you click a location. You can zoom in on regional and state maps. (The maps only show geographic features, not feature names.)
• Coordinate conversion utilities for latitude and longitude, UTM, and township, range, and section.
• Extensive information on selected locations, including latitude and longitude; township, range, and section; UTM; elevation; state and country; nearest named features and distances; and USGS 7.5 minute topographic map name.

The Graphical Locater is designed to work with locations within the United States. It’s fairly easy to use; its author, D.L. Gustafson, has extensive online documentation on the utility. I use the Graphical Locator for quickly getting rough latitude and longitude coordinates of a location. Because there are no place names on the online maps, I consult a paper map with place names to zero in where I want to get location information if I’m unfamiliar with the terrain.
To check out the Graphical Locator, visit www.esg.montana.edu/gl.

Using GeoTrans to Convert Coordinate

GeoTrans is a popular, free Windows program developed by the Department of Defense (DoD). You can convert coordinates from many coordinate systems and datums. GeoTrans is available for download at http://earth-info.nima.mil/GandG/geotrans/geotrans.
htm.
Follow these steps to convert between coordinate systems with GeoTrans:

1. Select the map datum used with the coordinates from the drop-down
Datum list.

2. Select the coordinate system from the drop-down list below the datum.
Use Geodetic if you’re converting from latitude and longitude.

3. Enter the coordinates in the appropriate text boxes.

• If you’ve converting from latitude and longitude, enter the coordinates.
• If you’re converting from UTM, enter the Zone, Hemisphere, Northing, and Easting.

4. In the lower part of the window, select the datum and the coordinate system that you want to convert to.

5. Click the Convert Upper→Lower button.
The converted coordinates appear in the lower part of the window.
GeoTrans’ Help file covers these advanced features if you need them:

• Converting datums used in foreign countries
• Determining distance errors when converting between maps and scales

Advanced GNS Searches

For GNS advanced searches, you can enter an extensive list of feature types as part of your search criteria. These include oil pipelines, refugee camps, and vegetation types. Other options limit searches by the latitude and longitude boundaries of a rectangle, use special character sets from foreign languages, and use government and military codes as part of the search. If you want to run these advanced searches, the GNS Web site has links with explanations. If GNS finds records that match your search criteria, the features appear on a new page. A number of pieces of information are. For the average civilian user, the most useful data includes

• Name of the feature.
• Region of the world where the feature is located. Click the link to get an explanation of the abbreviation.
• Designation: The feature type (such as populated locality, farm, or reservoir). Click the link to get the definition of the abbreviation.
• Latitude and longitude coordinates.
• Area: Country and state or province information for the feature. Click the link for the meaning of the code.

You can also download tab-delimited text files from the GNS Web site for any country that contain features and information. This data can easily be imported into spreadsheets and databases.

Waypoint repositories

A number of Web sites provide waypoints that you can upload to your GPS receiver. (A waypoint is a set of coordinates for a location.) With these waypoint repositories, you can search a region or for a feature name for its waypoints in a database. If a waypoint has been logged in the site database, you can download the waypoint and then upload the coordinates to your GPS receiver. Some of the waypoint sites include

• http://wayhoo.com: This site converts GNIS and GNS feature information into waypoints. There are also coordinates for airports and a database where users can upload waypoints.
• www.travelbygps.com: This site holds a collection of waypoints for interesting places all over the world, including photos and descriptions. The site has an extensive collection of links to Web sites with special interest waypoints.
• www.trailregistry.com: This is a waypoint collection dedicated to hikers and backpackers.
• www.trailwaypoints.com: This is a GPS repository site that collects recreationoriented waypoints from all over the world.

Using the GEOnet Name Server (GNS)

The GEONet Name Server (GNS) searches for features around the world. GNS is located at http://earth-info.nima.mil/gns/html/index.html. The database contains over 3.5 million features and over 5 million place names for locations outside of the United States. The military relies on GNS for its operations, so the database is updated every other week. GNS is primarily designed for military use. Some of the search criteria and information in the database isn’t very useful to the average civilian. At best expect to find these types of information for a given feature:

• Country
• Type
• Latitude and longitude

To perform a basic GNS search for a feature, follow these steps:

1. Go to the GNS Web site at http://earth-info.nima.mil/gns/html.
2. Click the Access GNS link.
3. Click the GNS Search link in the GNS Main Menu at the left of the page. You can enter search criteria by scrolling down the page.
4. In the Name text box, enter the name of the feature you’re looking for. A drop-down list box to the right of the text box lets you narrow your search with these options:• Starts With • Is an Exact Match • Contains • Ends With
5. If you know the country the feature is located in, select the country from the list.
6. Click the Search Database button.

Additional information on GNIS features

After you pick a feature, click its Feature Name link to display more information. A new page displays additional information including:

• Elevation: The elevation of the feature is displayed in feet.
• TopoZone.com link: Clicking this link goes to the TopoZone.com Web site and shows the feature location on a USGS topographic map.
• FIPS55 Place Code: Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 55 contains codes for named populated places, primary county divisions, and other locations in the United States. Click this link to display the FIPS55 code for the location; unless you know that you need this, the code isn’t very relevant for the average user.
• Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) link: Click this link to display the feature location on a digitized version of a USGS topographic map; supplied by www.terraserver-usa.com.
• Digital Orthophoto Quadrangle (DOQ) link: Click this link to display a black-and-white aerial photograph of the feature location, supplied by www.terraserver-usa.com.
• Tiger Map Server: Click this link to display a road map of the feature area prepared from U.S. Census Bureau data.
• Watershed: Click this link to visit U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maps and information about the watershed where the feature is located.

You need an Internet connection to access the GNIS database. In addition to the online search capabilities at the GNIS Web site, you can download text files of all the features and associated information for each state. The files are quote- and comma-delimited and can be opened with your own databases and spreadsheets. The files come in compressed and uncompressed formats; if you have a slow Internet connection, download the Zip files.
Ever wanted to name a mountain or another land feature after yourself or a loved one? The U.S. Board on Geographic Names is responsible for naming and renaming features that appear on USGS maps. If there’s an unnamed geographic feature, you can propose a new name for it (or suggest a name change for an existing feature). The Board even has an online form that you can fill out. Submitting the form doesn’t guarantee you’ll automatically get some peak named after Uncle Harry; this is a rather big deal. For instructions on filling out the online form see http://geonames.usgs.gov/dgnp/dgnp.html.