Great Circles

A great circle is the shortest path between two points along the surface of a sphere.

Rhumb Lines

A rhumb line is a curve that crosses each meridian at the same angle.

Azimuth

Azimuth is the angle a line makes with a meridian, measured clockwise from north.

Elevation

Elevation is the angle above the local horizontal of one point relative to another.

Relationship Between Points on Sphere

There are many ways to define the 2-D spatial relationship between two points on a perfect sphere, including azimuth, heading, spherical distance, linear distance, and range.

Generate Vector Data for Points Along Great Circle or Rhumb Line Tracks

You can generate vector data corresponding to points along great circle or rhumb line tracks by using two points on the track, or a point and an azimuth at that point.

Reckoning

You can determine the new position of an object along a sphere given a starting point, an initial azimuth, and a distance, following either a great circle or a rhumb line. This process is called reckoning.

Calculate Intersection of Rhumb Line Tracks

This example shows how to calculate the intersection of two rhumb lines.

Calculate Intersections of Vector Data

This example shows how to interpolate vector data to find the exact intersection points.

Calculate Distance Between Two Points in Geographic Space

The measured distance between two points in geometric space depends on whether you specify a path along the great circle or the rhumb line.