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What is the equivalent of a tenth of a second (WGS 84) in feet? This would be located in northern NM in the US.

GforGIS
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Sherry G
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  • Latitude or longitude? – TomazicM Dec 06 '23 at 00:03
  • both. I know that they should be different. – Sherry G Dec 06 '23 at 00:11
  • I have lat and long in NAD83 for central NM: – Sherry G Dec 06 '23 at 00:30
  • 35° 51' 44.7" Lat; -106° 14' 52.3 Long NAD83 approximately; If this is converted to WGS 84, what would the length of a tenth of a second equal in feet in lat and long? – Sherry G Dec 06 '23 at 00:33
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    Yes, they are different -- For every step further north of south from the equator, the distance between degrees longitude shrinks, until it is zero at the poles. The spheroid of the Earth also shrinks the distance of degrees latitude, though not as significantly, as the impact of reduced rotational velocity decreases the bulge along meridians. TLDR: There is no direct conversion possible between degrees and ground distance, since it varies by where you start and in which direction you measure. – Vince Dec 06 '23 at 02:13
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    Brilliant answer by @whuber https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/8650/measuring-accuracy-of-latitude-and-longitude/8674#8674 – FelixIP Dec 06 '23 at 03:01
  • The answer is a bit hidden in the other post. You can do the calculation yourself based on (1) 1 minute of Latitude = 1 Nautical Mile = 1852M, and 1 minute of Longitude = 1 Nautical Mile * COS (Latitude) – Trams Dec 10 '23 at 22:20

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