How is UTM divided?

The UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinate system divides the world into sixty north-south zones, each 6 degrees of longitude wide. UTM zones are numbered consecutively beginning with Zone 1, which includes the westernmost point of Alaska, and progress eastward to Zone 19, which includes Maine.

How big is each UTM zone?

Each UTM zone spans 6° of longitude, from 84° North and 80° South. Zones taper from 666,000 meters in “width” at the Equator (where 1° of longitude is about 111 kilometers in length) to only about 70,000 meters at 84° North and about 116,000 meters at 80° South.

Do UTM zones overlap?

Ideally, the coordinates of each position should be measured on the grid for the zone in which they are located, but because the scale factor is still relatively small near zone boundaries, it is possible to overlap measurements into an adjoining zone for some distance when necessary.

How are UTM coordinates written?

UTM coordinate of a point is stated by writing the zone, easting and then northing values. When finding a position on a map, it is helpful to “read right up”, that is to read west to east to find the easting and then south to north to find the northing of the location.

How do UTM coordinates work?

The map has grid lines spaced every kilometer or 1000 meters. The grid is labeled with UTM coordinate values. The vertical grid lines determine East-West position and the horizontal grid lines determine North-South position. Look along the bottom edge of the map at the labels for the vertical grid lines.

What is UTM scale factor?

The central meridian in each UTM zone has a scale factor of 0.9996, which means that measurements along it fall short of true scale by 4 units in 10,000 (or 1 unit in 2,500). This is the maximum scale error anywhere within the zone and is the accuracy standard that the system was designed to meet.

How do you read UTM coordinates?

Is UTM better than lat long?

One system is no more or less accurate than the other. They are just two different ways of positioning a point. Many experienced users prefer UTM over latitude/longitude when using 7.5′ topographic quadrangle maps.

How do I read my UTM coordinates?