How to calculate the area of an ellipse on the earth's surface using Python?

Question

I have a dataset consisting of GPS coordinates. I use a clustering algorithm to generate a two dimensional Gaussian for me. The Gaussian takes the shape of an ellipse if visualized on the map.

However, in order to compute the area covered by the ellipse (the axis could be a slope, not necessarily parallel with latitude or longitude), I need to project this ellipse into a planar surface with equal scale, for ease of calculation. I need the area to be in square kilometers.

Could anyone point me to some keywords (for example, what system I shall project the ellipse to) and libraries I could use in Python?

I just got to know PyProj but am not sure how it could suits my needs (what system to use etc).

Answer 1

This python package (written by me!) allows you to compute the area of a polygon on an ellipsoid. So just compute a set of latitude/longitude points around your ellipse and pass these to the area routine. There's no need to project the points. Brief documentation is available here. An online area calculator is available at this link.