Geographic Information Systems Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for cartographers, geographers and GIS professionals. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
Given a geodesic line (starting point and initial azimuth) is there an algorithm to find the longitude of the [first] crossing of a given parallel?
I have already checked with Clairaut's constant that the geodesic will reach said parallel, so the crossing exists.
Or should I iterate the direct problem with different lengths until I get the endpoint on the parallel?
Yes, this problem is readily solved and I discuss it in Section 10 of Geodesics on an ellipsoid of revolution; it's problem 1 in Table 4. (The problem is solved as part of the solution of the inverse geodesic problem.) You reduce the problem to one on the auxiliary sphere by converting the two latitudes to reduced latitudes (the azimuth doesn't need to be converted), solve for the spherical arc length between the end points as an exercise in spherical trigonometry (you'll have to decide which crossing of the target latitude you're interested in). Then solve the direct problem from the given starting point with the spherical arc length you've just found; GeographicLib lets you solve the direct problem in this way.
If you provide me with a specific problem, I'll give you the solution using MATLAB.
