1.1.2. Coordinate Systems

There are three fundamental types of coordinate systems that are used to define locations on the Earth:

‘Geocentric’ coordinates measuring X, Y, Z from the centre of an ellipsoid, ‘Geographical’ – latitude and longitude and height (below) and ‘Projection’ – easting and northing and elevation. Various subsets of these can also be used as ‘2D’ consisting of only latitude and longitude or easting and northing.