Coordinate Formats
There are three geographic coordinate formats -- decimal degrees (DD), degrees, minutes (DM) and degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS).
| Coordinate Format | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| DM Format | Degrees, Minutes | N 50° 06.164′ E 014° 19.569′ |
| DMS Format | Degrees, Minutes, Seconds | N 50° 06′ 9.86″ E 014° 19′ 34.14″ |
| DD Format | Decimal Degrees | N 50.102740° E 014.326150° |
All the example coordinates above point to the same place. Most GPS units use the DM Format.
How to Convert Between Various Coordinate Formats?
The formula is very simple. You just need to know this:
1 degree = 60 minutes
1 minute = 60 seconds
Let's say we need to convert N 42° 22.150′ E 11° 45.295′ to decimal degrees. In this case, the calculation will look like this:
Latitude = N 42 + (22.150 / 60) = N 42.369167°
Longitude = E 11 + (45.295 / 60) = E 11.754917°.
We can the same coordinates write also in DMS format:
Latitude = N 42° 22′ + (0.150 * 60) = N 42° 22′ 9″
Longitude = E 11° 45′ + (0.295 * 60) = E 11° 45′ 17.70″
If you need to convert coordinates between various formats, try our coordinate format converter.
Back to the Knowledge Base