Is there a name for a CRS that uses WGS 84, but the coordinates for lat/long are in metres rather than degrees?
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Why projections exists ? There is no great solution for that. You can't flatten a globe / ellipsoid into a perfect rectangle. WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator gives you what you search but I strongly don't recommend it at all because the distances, even in meters, are false. So, if you search a global coordinate system that gives you meters instead of lat/lon, UTMs are, IMHO, a good start.– J. MonticoloCommented Jul 5, 2022 at 9:31
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1Geographic coordinate systems use degrees as unit while projected coordinate systems use metre (or some other unit like feet in place where these unit are relevant...)– J.RCommented Jul 5, 2022 at 9:42
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4No, latitude and longitude are always in degrees. However, there are plenty of projected coordinate reference systems (CRS) that use the WGS84 datum with metres as the horizontal units. When you are referring to coordinates in a projected CRS, the terminology is eastings (x) and northings (y). Is this what you mean?– user2856Commented Jul 5, 2022 at 9:44
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3@MarkBentley if 10° Latitude could be described as an arc that is 1,111km long (if you approximate the earth as a sphere) a 10° longitude arc will have a very different length at the equator and near a pole.....– J.RCommented Jul 5, 2022 at 9:46
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1You have a choice between a geographic coordinate system (GCS) with angular units (lat/lon) and a projected coordinate system (PCS) with Cartesian units (easting/northing, usually in meters). It is not possible to have an angular coordinate system with Cartesian units. If your mappable area is less than 6-8 degrees wide, then UTM may be your desired projection.– VinceCommented Jul 5, 2022 at 12:29
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1 Answer
Latitude and longitude are angular units so they cannot be expressed in meters.
However, meridian arcs on an ellipsoid of revolution can be expressed in meters, so latitudes could be expressed as meridian arcs.
Regarding longitudes there is a complication: each parallel measures a different length. The closest thing to what you are looking for can be achieved by expressing the longitudes as arcs of the equator.
There is a very famous projection that works this way: its name is Platee Carrée and it is a special case of an Equirectangular projection.
In a way, it is as if you multiply the degrees of latitude and longitude by a constant in meters (in the case of the ellipsoidal application it is not exactly like that, but for what follows that does not matter). It is unusable to perform any planar calculation of distances, angles or areas that involve changes of longitude outside the equator, in the same way as if you assumed longitude and latitude as plane coordinates.
Still the projection exists and can be used if you wanted. It is registered as EPSG:4087.
answered Jul 8, 2022 at 12:04
