Direct Problem
Given an initial point (φ1, L1) and initial azimuth, α1, and a distance, s, along the geodesic the problem is to find the end point (φ2, L2) and azimuth, α2.
Start by calculating the following:
Then, using an initial value, iterate the following equations until there is no significant change in σ:
Once σ is obtained to sufficient accuracy evaluate:
If the initial point is at the North or South pole then the first equation is indeterminate. If the initial azimuth is due East or West then the second equation is indeterminate. If a double valued atan2 type function is used then these values are usually handled correctly.
Read more about this topic: Vincenty's Formulae
Famous quotes containing the words direct and/or problem:
“Forty years after a battle it is easy for a noncombatant to reason about how it ought to have been fought. It is another thing personally and under fire to have to direct the fighting while involved in the obscuring smoke of it.”
—Herman Melville (18191891)
“I dont have any problem with a reporter or a news person who says the President is uninformed on this issue or that issue. I dont think any of us would challenge that. I do have a problem with the singular focus on this, as if thats the only standard by which we ought to judge a president. What we learned in the last administration was how little having an encyclopedic grasp of all the facts has to do with governing.”
—David R. Gergen (b. 1942)