How to use the utm coordinate converter
- Choose degrees to UTM or UTM to degrees.
- For degrees, enter the latitude and longitude in decimal degrees, with south and west negative.
- For UTM, enter the zone number, the hemisphere, the easting and the northing in meters.
- Read the result, along with the grid convergence and the point scale factor at that spot.
Formula
Zone = floor((longitude + 180) / 6) + 1, with the exceptions for southern Norway and Svalbard
Central meridian = 6 x zone - 183 degrees; scale on the central meridian k0 = 0.9996
Easting = 500,000 + k0 x A x eta; northing = k0 x A x xi (+ 10,000,000 m in the south)
xi and eta come from the Kruger series of order 6 on the WGS84 ellipsoid (a = 6,378,137 m, flattening 1 / 298.257223563)
UTM divides the world between 80 degrees south and 84 degrees north into 60 zones of 6 degrees. Each zone is a transverse Mercator map that is nearly true to scale along its central meridian.
Paris, Sydney and a point in New York
A point at 48.8566 N, 3.5 E is in zone 31, band U, at easting 536,676.074 m and northing 5,411,635.397 m, with a grid convergence of 0.376537 degrees and a scale factor of 0.9996165. The point at 0 N, 3 E sits on the central meridian of zone 31 at easting 500,000.000 m and northing 0.000 m, where the scale is exactly 0.9996.
Sydney at 33.8688 S, 151.2093 E is in zone 56, band H, at easting 334,368.634 m and northing 6,250,948.345 m. Going the other way, zone 18 north with easting 583,960 m and northing 4,507,523 m is latitude 40.7143492 and longitude -74.0059695. A round trip through the page returns the starting latitude and longitude to better than a nanodegree.
Reading a UTM position
A UTM position is a zone with a latitude band letter, an easting and a northing, such as 31U 536676 E 5411635 N. The easting is measured from a line 500,000 m west of the central meridian, so values near 500,000 are near the middle of the zone. In the south, the northing counts from a false origin 10,000,000 m south of the equator so the numbers stay positive.
For plain degrees in other formats use the coordinate format converter, and for the distance between two points see the great circle distance calculator or the Vincenty distance calculator. The bearing and azimuth converter converts directions.
Datum and zone notes
The page uses the WGS84 ellipsoid, so a position on another datum can be a few meters different. The special zones cover southern Norway (zone 32V is wider) and Svalbard (zones 32, 34 and 36 are not used in band X). The latitude band letter alone does not tell you the hemisphere in every convention, so the inverse takes the hemisphere from a choice.
Assumptions and limits
- Coordinates are on the WGS84 ellipsoid, and heights are not used.
- UTM covers latitudes from 80 degrees south to 84 degrees north. The polar caps use a different grid.
- Easting must be from 100,000 to 900,000 m in the inverse, and the northing from 0 to 10,000,000 m.
- Grid convergence is positive when grid north points east of true north. Scale is the ratio of grid to ground distance at the point.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert latitude and longitude to UTM?
Find the zone from the longitude, then apply the transverse Mercator projection about the central meridian of that zone. The page does this on the WGS84 ellipsoid and shows the zone, easting and northing.
What does the easting of 500,000 mean?
It is the false easting. A point on the central meridian of its zone has an easting of exactly 500,000 m, and points to the east have more.
What is the UTM scale factor?
It is 0.9996 on the central meridian and grows toward the zone edges. Multiply a ground distance by it to get a grid distance.
Does UTM work near the poles?
No. UTM stops at 80 degrees south and 84 degrees north. The polar areas use the universal polar stereographic grid, which this page does not cover.