Ubuntu Manpage: GeoConvert -- convert geographic coordinates

Provided by: geographiclib-tools_1.21-1ubuntu1_amd64

NAME

       GeoConvert -- convert geographic coordinates

SYNOPSIS

       GeoConvert [ -g | -d | -: | -u | -m | -c ] [ -p prec ] [ -z zone | -s | -t ] [ -n ] [ -w ] [
       --comment-delimiter commentdelim ] [ --version | -h | --help ] [ --input-file infile | --input-string
       instring ] [ --line-separator linesep ] [ --output-file outfile ]

DESCRIPTION

GeoConvert reads from standard input interpreting each line as a geographic coordinate and prints the
coordinate in the format specified by the options on standard output. The input is interpreted in one of
three different ways depending on how many space or comma delimited tokens there are on the line. The
options -g, -d, -u, and -m govern the format of output. In all cases, the WGS84 model of the earth is
used (a = 6378137 m, f = 1/298.257223563).

geographic
2 tokens (output options -g, -d, or -:) given as latitude longitude using decimal degrees or degrees
minutes seconds. d, ', and " are used to denote degrees, minutes, and seconds, with the least
significant designator optional. (See QUOTING for how to quote the characters ' and " when entering
coordinates on the command line.) Various unicode characters (encoded with UTF-8) may also be used
to denote degrees, minutes, and seconds, e.g., the degree, prime, and double prime symbols.
Alternatively, : (colon) may be used to separate the various components. Latitude is given first
(unless the -w option is given); however, on input, either may be given first by appending or
prepending N or S to the latitude and E or W to the longitude. For example, the following are all
equivalent

33.3 44.4
E44.4 N33.3
33d18'N 44d24'E
44d24 33d18N
33:18 44:24

UTM/UPS
3 tokens (output option -u) given as zone+hemisphere easting northing or easting northing
zone+hemisphere, where hemisphere is either N or S. The zone is absent for a UPS specification. For
example,

38N 444140.54 3684706.36
444140.54 3684706.36 38N
S 2173854.98 2985980.58
2173854.98 2985980.58 S

MRGS
1 token (output option -m) is used to specify the center of an MGRS grid square. For example,

38SMB4484
38SMB44140847064

OPTIONS

-g output latitude and longitude using decimal degrees. Default output mode.

-d output latitude and longitude using degrees, minutes, and seconds (DMS).

-: like -d, except use : as a separator instead of the d, ', and " delimiters.

-u output UTM or UPS.

-m output MGRS.

-c output meridian convergence and scale for the corresponding UTM or UPS projection. Convergence is
the bearing of grid north given as degrees clockwise from true north.

-p set the output precision to prec (default 0); prec is the precision relative to 1 m. See PRECISION.

-z set the zone to zone for output. Use either 0 < zone <= 60 for a UTM zone or zone = 0 for UPS.
Alternatively use a zone+hemisphere designation (hemisphere is ignored), e.g., 38N. See ZONE.

-s use the standard UPS and UTM zones.

-t similar to -s but forces UPS regions to the closest UTM zone.

-n on input, MGRS coordinates refer to the south-west corner of the MGRS square instead of the center;
see MGRS.

-w on input and output, longitude precedes latitude (except that on input this can be overridden by a
hemisphere designator, N, S,E, W).

--comment-delimiter
set the comment delimiter to commentdelim (e.g., "#" or "//"). If set, the input lines will be
scanned for this delimiter and, if found, the delimiter and the rest of the line will be removed
prior to processing and subsequently appended to the output line (separated by a space).

--version
print version and exit.

-h print usage and exit.

--help
print full documentation and exit.

--input-file
read input from the file infile instead of from standard input; a file name of "-" stands for
standard input.

--input-string
read input from the string instring instead of from standard input. All occurrences of the line
separator character (default is a semicolon) in instring are converted to newlines before the reading
begins.

--line-separator
set the line separator character to linesep. By default this is a semicolon.

--output-file
write output to the file outfile instead of to standard output; a file name of "-" stands for
standard output.

PRECISION

       prec  gives  precision  of the output with prec = 0 giving 1 m precision, prec = 3 giving 1 mm precision,
       etc.  prec is the number of digits after the decimal  point  for  UTM/UPS.   The  number  of  digits  per
       coordinate  for MGRS is 5 + prec.  For decimal degrees, the number of digits after the decimal point is 5
       + prec.  For DMS (degree, minute, seconds) output, the number of digits after the decimal  point  in  the
       seconds  components  is 1 + prec; if this is negative then use minutes (prec = -2 or -3) or degrees (prec
       <= -4) as the least significant component.  Print convergence, resp. scale, with 5  +  prec,  resp.  7  +
       prec,  digits after the decimal point.  The minimum value of prec is -5 and the maximum is 9 for UTM/UPS,
       9 for decimal degrees, 10 for DMS, 6 for MGRS, and 8 for convergence and scale.

MGRS

       MGRS coordinates represent a square patch of the earth, thus "38SMB4488" is in zone "38N" with  444km  <=
       easting  <  445km  and 3688km <= northing < 3689km.  Consistent with this representation, coordinates are
       truncated (instead of rounded) to the requested  precision.   Similarly,  on  input  an  MGRS  coordinate
       represents  the  center  of  the  square ("38N 444500 3688500" in the example above).  However, if the -n
       option is given then the south-west corner of the square is returned instead ("38N 444000 3688000" in the
       example above).

ZONE

       If the input is geographic, GeoConvert uses the standard rules of selecting UTM vs UPS and for  assigning
       the  UTM  zone  (with  the  Norway  and Svalbard exceptions).  If the input is UTM/UPS, or MGRS, then the
       choice between UTM and UPS and the UTM zone mirrors the input.  The -z zone, -s, -t options  allow  these
       rules to be overridden with zone = 0 being used to indicate UPS.  For example, the point

          79.9S 6.1E

       corresponds to possible MGRS coordinates

          32CMS4324728161 (standard UTM zone = 32)
          31CEM6066227959 (neighboring UTM zone = 31)
            BBZ1945517770 (neighboring UPS zone)

       then

          echo 79.9S 6.1E      | GeoConvert -p -3 -m       => 32CMS4328
          echo 31CEM6066227959 | GeoConvert -p -3 -m       => 31CEM6027
          echo 31CEM6066227959 | GeoConvert -p -3 -m -s    => 32CMS4328
          echo 31CEM6066227959 | GeoConvert -p -3 -m -z 0  =>   BBZ1917

       NOTE:  the  letter  in  the  zone specification for UTM is a hemisphere designator N or S and not an MGRS
       latitude band letter.  Convert the MGRS latitude band letter to a hemisphere as follows: replace C thru M
       by S; replace N thru X by N.

QUOTING

       Unfortunately the characters ' and " have special meanings in many shells and have  to  be  entered  with
       care.

       Unix shells (sh, bash, tsch)
           The  special  characters can be quoted by preceding them with a \ (backslash).  Alternatively you can
           quote a ' with a pair of "s.  The two alternatives are illustrated by

              echo 30d30\'30\" "30d30'30" | GeoConvert -d -p -1
              => 30d30'30"N 030d30'30"E

           Alternatively use colon separators, e.g., 30:30:30, which need no quoting.

       Windows command shell (cmd)
           The ' character needs no quoting and the " character can be quoted by a ^.  However this  quoting  is
           usually unnecessary because the trailing designator can be omitted.  Thus

              echo 30d30'30^" 30d30'30 | GeoConvert -d -p -1
              => 30d30'30"N 030d30'30"E

           Alternatively use colon separators, e.g., 30:30:30, which need no quoting.

       Input from a file
           No quoting need be done if the input from a file.  Thus each line of the file "input.txt" should just
           contain the plain coordinates.

             GeoConvert -d -p -1 < input.txt

EXAMPLES

          echo 38SMB4488 | GeoConvert         => 33.33424 44.40363
          echo 38SMB4488 | GeoConvert -: -p 1 => 33:20:03.25N 044:2413.06E
          echo 38SMB4488 | GeoConvert -u      => 38N 444500 3688500
          echo E44d24 N33d20 | GeoConvert -m -p -3 => 38SMB4488

ERRORS

       An  illegal  line  of  input  will  print an error message to standard output beginning with "ERROR:" and
       causes GeoConvert to return an exit code of 1.  However, an error does not cause GeoConvert to terminate;
       following lines will be converted.

ABBREVIATIONS

       UTM Universal                                    Transverse                                     Mercator,
           <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Transverse_Mercator_coordinate_system>.

       UPS Universal Polar Stereographic, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Polar_Stereographic>.

       MGRS
           Military Grid Reference System, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_grid_reference_system>.

       WGS84
           World Geodetic System 1984, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGS84>.

AUTHOR

       GeoConvert was written by Charles Karney.

HISTORY

       GeoConvert was added to GeographicLib, <http://geographiclib.sf.net>, in 2009-01.

GeographicLib 1.21                                 2012-04-24                                      GEOCONVERT(1)