how to determine the course and distance using mercator sailing

How to calculate course and distance by Mercator? Course and distance by Mercator sailing Solution: 1. Solving for difference in latitude (DLAT) Lat1 = 18° 54′ N Lat2 =13° 12′ N (same sign, so subtract) DLAT = 5° 42′ S (Sign of DLAT is south because the direction of the ship is going south) x 60 to convert it into miles 342 miles 2.

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When to use Mercator sailing?

Using Mercator Sailing formulae (3), calculate the d.lat. Apply the d.lat. to the initial lat, to find the final lat. Using “Mer.Parts for the Spheroid” tables, calculate the d.long. Apply the d.long. to the initial long. To find the final long. The following examples will illustrate the use of Mercator Sailing: - From Monaco to Elba, Course = 113¼º T., Distance = 127.2 miles

Can Mercator calculate course direction and distance in miles?

Mercator Sailing: Course and Distance: Description: Calculates the course direction and distance in miles given two pairs of latitude (north/south) and longitude (east/west). Conversion to arc minutes will be required during calculation. Filename: mercator.zip: ID: 8894: Author: Eddie W. Shore: http://edspi31415.blogspot.com/ Downloaded file size: 2,103 bytes

How to determine the course and distance of a sailing ship?

Sep 03, 2018 · M = 60·180/pi · ln [tan (45° + lat/2) · ( (1–e·sin (lat))/ (1+e·sin (lat))^ (e/2)] BTW, the constant 7915,7045 in the approximate formula is 60·180/pi · ln10 due to the use of the base 10 logarithm instead of the natural log. Both formulas are more accurate and allow implementing different ellipsoids.

Should a fifth formulae be added to Mercator sailing formulae?

A vessel at LAT 11-22.0 S ,LONG 009-18.0E heads for a destination at LAT 06-52.0 N, LONG 057-23.0 W. Determine the true course and distance by Mercator Sailing. Solution: Step 1 - Solve for DLAT and convert to n.miles LAT 1= 11-22. 0 S LAT 2= 06-52. 0 N Same - Diff + DLAT = 18-14.0 N (Nly direction) X 60 DLAT = 1094.0 NMI. Step 2- Find the

How do you calculate course and distance by Mercator sailing?

1:4510:43Mercator Sailing Calculation - Example 3 - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWhen you add the two values together you get 74 degrees 34. Minutes why 34 because 54 plus 40 is 94.MoreWhen you add the two values together you get 74 degrees 34. Minutes why 34 because 54 plus 40 is 94. You cannot have 94 minutes you cannot have more than 60 minutes. So you will subtract 60.

How do you find the distance in a Mercator chart?

Mercator charts are graduated along the left- and right- hand edges for latitude and distance and along the top and bottom edges for longitude. It is important to note that the longitude scale is only used for laying down or taking off the longitude of a place, never for measuring distance.Oct 15, 2020

How do you find the course and distance in a plane sailing?

0:065:29Navigation _ Plane Sailing Part 1 - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSailing is about 600 mile that is nautical miles or. So well one nautical mile is one point eightMoreSailing is about 600 mile that is nautical miles or. So well one nautical mile is one point eight five two kilometer.

How do you use a sailing Mercator?

4:0211:29Mercator Sailing | Navigation - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThe distance measured from the equator to the parallel of latitude. Using minutes of longitude scaleMoreThe distance measured from the equator to the parallel of latitude. Using minutes of longitude scale of the chart is called meridonial parts for that latitude.

What is the importance of using Mercator sailing in calculating for course and distance?

Charts used on board ships generally are Mercator charts. On these charts bearings, courses and distances can be directly read off or plotted on the charts. For calculating course and distance between two given points on surface of the earth, the Mercator sailing formula is more accurate than plane sailing formula.

How do we measure easily distances on chart?

Distance is measured on the latitude scale, at the sides of the chart. One minute of latitude is one nautical mile-at that latitude. One nautical mile is 1852 metres. One minute is one nautical mile (M) at that latitude because on Mercator Projection charts the latitude scale increases the further north you travel.

How do you calculate true course distance?

0:383:58VFR Nav Log (Video 2) True Course and Distance - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipBetween each of these waypoints. So to do this you need to get out your plotter. And you need toMoreBetween each of these waypoints. So to do this you need to get out your plotter. And you need to line it up with the course line that you drew on the chart.

What is the formula of plane sailing?

PLANE SAILING: DEPARTURE = (D'LONG X COS M LAT DEP)

What is Mercator sailing?

Mercator Sailing is another method of Rhumb Line Sailing. It is used to find the course and distance between two positions that are in different latitudes from the large D. Lat. and distance. It is similar to plane sailing, except that plane sailing is used for small distances.Dec 25, 2019

Why is Mercator projection used for navigation?

This projection is widely used for navigation charts, because any straight line on a Mercator projection map is a line of constant true bearing that enables a navigator to plot a straight-line course.

What length is a nautical mile?

Nautical miles are used to measure the distance traveled through the water. A nautical mile is slightly longer than a mile on land, equaling 1.1508 land-measured (or statute) miles. The nautical mile is based on the Earth's longitude and latitude coordinates, with one nautical mile equaling one minute of latitude.Oct 8, 2021

How do you find the distance in parallel sailing?

0:524:22Navigation Parallel Sailing Problem - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWell the distance from A to B is the east-west distance. So this is a nothing but departure. AndMoreWell the distance from A to B is the east-west distance. So this is a nothing but departure. And which can be found from the formula that departure by D long is equal to cos a latitude.

What is a mercator sailing?

Mercator Sailing is the most modern of the Rhumb-Line Sailings and is derived from the representation of the Plain Sailing triangle on the Mercator chart. Any Plane Sailing triangle would be represented on a Mercator chart by a similar but larger triangle (because the meridians are parallel on the chart and do not converge as on the sphere).

Where is the mercator chart?

Mercator charts are graduated along the top and bottom edge for longitude and on the left and right-hand edges for latitude and distance. The longitude scale should be used only for laying down or reading-off the longitude of a place, never for measuring distance.

What is the longitude scale on a Mercator chart?

This is because the longitude scale on a Mercator chart is constant for all latitudes. The adjacent side X’Y’, however, on the same scale (i.e., in Meridional parts) represents the d.m.p. between the latitudes of X and Y (or X’ and Y’).

Why is the longitude scale fixed?

Since the Equator is shown on the Mercator chart as a straight line of definite length, then the longitude scale is fixed by that length and must be constant in all latitudes because the meridians appear as straight lines perpendicular to the Equator.

Why is the mercator projection so popular?

The reason the Mercator projection became so popular for marine use was because it gives the chart the properties necessary for the navigator, namely that:

What is the latitude scale in a plane sailing triangle?

In the Plane Sailing triangle, all three sides, representing dep., d.lat., and distance are on the same scale, i.e., the latitude scale or nautical miles. In the chart triangle, the scale used is the longitude (or Meridional parts) scale and the side opposite to the course angle is labelled d.long.

What is the scale of latitude and distance at a certain place on the chart?

In other words, one mile on the chart in a particular latitude is represented by y.sec.lat.inches, from which it follows that the scale of latitude and distance at a certain place on the chart is proportional to the secant of the latitude of that place.

Eddie W. Shore

The following program MERCATOR calculates the course direction and distance in miles given two pairs of latitude (north/south) and longitude (east/west). Conversion to arc minutes will be required during calculation.

PedroLeiva

The following program MERCATOR calculates the course direction and distance in miles given two pairs of latitude (north/south) and longitude (east/west). Conversion to arc minutes will be required during calculation.

Dieter

Eddie, I think you confused latitudes and longitudes here. There are no latitudes > 90°.

Gene222

Two weeks and no response. I guess Eddie is not following his own post.

Dieter

In this case, the course and distance equations give division by zero error messages. How do you calculate the course and distance on a parallel?

Gene222

"a bit of calculus"??? Your math skills are far better than mine. It looks like you are calculating the distance directly from the ellipsoid and not from the map projection. I did remember of another way to solve the course and distance on an East-West line for pt 1 and pt 2. This was on a old forum.

Gene222

Regarding the equation for meridional parts, I saw a August 2012 forum on gcaptain.com. Students were discussing how to solve a Mercator Sailing problem with the moderators in preparation for their maritime license exam. What was interesting was that they were calculating the merdional parts using table 6 in Bowditch.

Is plane sailing a sphere?

Plane sailing treats the world like it's a perfect sphere, in reality it's an oblate spheroid, Mercator sailing takes account of this. For practical purposes it has to be quite a large distance to see any difference.

Is Admiralty chartwork more expensive?

Ok, so it's a lot more expensive, but it shows the likes of chartwork symbols in Admiralty standard (which, by extension, is generally accepted by the MCA as the way of doing things). Also available in college libraries.