Guide for Converting Latitude/Longitude Coordinates

Fractions of degrees are broken down into minutes and seconds. Each minute represents 1/60th of a degree and each second represents 1/60th of a minute (or 1/3600th of a degree). Below are the steps of converting from an angle in degrees-minutes-seconds to decimal degrees and back to degrees-minutes-seconds.

GPS Coordinate Explanation

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EXAMPLE1:

D = Degrees
M = Minutes
S = Seconds
.m = Decimal Minutes
.s = Decimal Seconds

DM.m = Degrees, Minutes, Decimal Minutes (eg. 45o22.6333)
D.d = Degrees, Decimal Degrees (eg. 45.3772o)
DMS = Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (eg. 45o22'38")

Process for Converting Latitude/Longitude Coordinates:

1) DMS --> DM.m  (45o22'38" --> 45o22.6333)

     - Divide S by 60 to get .m (38/60=.6333)
     - Add .m to M to get M.m (22+.6333=22.6333)

2) DM.m --> D.d  (45o 22.6333 --> 45.3772)

     - Divide M.m by 60 to get .d (22.6333/60=.3772)
     - Add .d to D to get D.d (45+.3772=45.3772)

3) D.d --> DM.m  (45.3772 --> 45o22.6333)

     - Multiply .d by 60 to get M.m (.3772*60=22.6333)

4) DM.m --> DMS  (45o22.6333 --> 45o22'38")

     - Multiply .m by 60 to get S(.6333*60=38)

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EXAMPLE2:

Converting Degrees, Minutes, Seconds to Decimal Format


latitude and longitude in a decimal format: 42.1361

latitude and longitude in degree, minute, second format: 42deg, 08min, 10sec



To convert coordinates from degrees, minutes,
seconds format to decimal format, use this easy formula:


degrees + (minutes/60) +
(seconds/3600)



The example coordinate above would be
calculated as:

42 + (8/60) + (10/3600) = 42.1361

or

42 + (.1333) + (.0028) = 42.1361

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