If you want to share a precise location with someone, like to geocache, or need GPS coordinates for another device, use Google Maps to find this information. It’s easy to collect this data if you know where to look. When you have a map location in a numeric form, you can use or share it in various ways. Sometimes, you need to convert coordinates to a different format to work with another device and app. Let’s look at how to get coordinates on Google Maps, use this data, and convert it to different formats.
Get coordinates from your phone
Since you carry your phone with you, it’s usually the most convenient way to get Google Maps coordinates. The process is the same on an Android phone and an iPhone. However, Google Maps is pre-installed on most Android phones, making it easier to use.
Get coordinates from a browser
You can also get GPS coordinates when using Google Maps in a browser. That meanstop-rated Chromebookscan help you navigate trips and find locations with coordinates. You can also use a Windows laptop, MacBook, or desktop browser.
How to share your location on Android
Your loved ones won’t have to worry about where you are anymore
What are GPS coordinates?
GPS stands for Global Positioning System, a way of identifying a location anywhere in the world with a set of coordinates, the first for latitude and the second for longitude. Dozens of satellites orbiting the Earth broadcast radio signals that your phone and other devices with GPS antennas can receive to estimate where you are on the planet.
GPS coordinates have different formats. In Google Maps, the coordinates look like a pair of long numbers separated by a comma, with each coordinate containing a decimal point.
The GPS coordinates of the Google Visitor Experience are latitude 37.42279714166181 and longitude -122.07905095228968. This format is probably the most common for the average person, but some apps and devices use other formats.
Known as GPS sentences, they typically include latitude and longitude in hours, minutes, and seconds. Some formats include additional information such as time, date, heading, and speed. This extra data is useful for tracking a moving object.
What are latitude and longitude?
GPS coordinates include latitude and longitude, which are expressed as angles. The coordinates are given in decimal degrees in Google Maps and many other apps.
Latitude measures the north-south angle of a location relative to the equator. The GPS coordinates of Ibarra, Ecuador, are 0.3651606883486461, -78.09574406681214. The latitude shows that it’s less than four-tenths of a degree north of the equator. At the North Pole, the latitude is 90, while at the South Pole, it’s -90. A negative number for the latitude indicates south of the equator.
Longitude measures the east-west angle of a location relative to the Prime Meridian, which passes through Greenwich, England. The GPS coordinates of Greenwich are 51.4825766, 0.0076589. The tiny longitude measurement represents the center is slightly east of the Prime Meridian.
On the opposite side of the globe, Gisborne, New Zealand, has GPS coordinates of -38.65672668611736, 178.00737546532903, two degrees west of the maximum eastern measurement. Longitude is positive for locations east of the Prime Meridian and negative to the west. The range is -180 to 180 degrees.
Since England was the dominant nation when world travel became common, it became the standard for measuring time and space on Earth. The Prime Meridian is at Greenwich, the zero-point for longitude, and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is a standard used around the world that’s equivalent to the Universal Time Code (UTC).
How to convert to other GPS formats
Google Maps gives GPS coordinates in decimal degrees. That means both latitude and longitude are represented by two numbers, which are positive and negative. Some apps and devices might understand sentence formats that use degrees, minutes, and seconds.
When measuring angles, a minute (arcminute) is one-sixtieth of a degree, and a second (arcsecond) is one-sixtieth of a minute. You don’t have to do any calculations to convert coordinates. Free online tools make it easy to switch between GPS formats.
TheUniversity of Minnesota’s Polar Geospatial Centeroffers one of the most complete solutions. It converts between Decimal Degrees, Degrees Decimal Minutes, Degrees Minutes Seconds, WGS84 Antarctic Polar Stereographic, and WGS84 NSIDC Arctic Polar Stereographic North.
Don’t worry if those last two don’t look familiar. Those polar coordinates are useful to scientists but won’t help you navigate roads and trails in other parts of the world. Degrees Decimal Minutes and Degrees Minutes Seconds are common, and you might recognize those formats if you’re a pilot or a sailor.
Coordinates on Google Maps
Google Maps is an amazing resource that can quickly and easily supply GPS coordinates for any location in the world with a few taps on your phone or clicks on your computer. Sharing GPS coordinates is sometimes easier than sending an address. Google Maps coordinates are essential when the location is on a trail or a rural area that might not have an address.
If you’re planning a hike or traveling to some distant location, it’s a good idea todownload areas from Google Maps for offline usein places that might not have a good cellular signal. If Google Maps coordinates on your phone seem incorrect, you might need tocalibrate Google Maps to solve any errors.
