THE DEFINITIONS OF LOCATION

Naftali Kadmon* and Richard Knippers**

*) Department of Geography, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
**) International Institute for Geoinformation and Earth Observation, Enschede, The Netherlands

1. Nominal, ordinal and quantitative are soil types, human occupations or

scales of measurement professions (disregarding income or social
status!) or newspapers. The second is the
It may be assumed that when man first ordinal scale (from Latin ordo, order), in
began not only to relate to particular which items of a set can be arranged or
geographical objects in his environment but graded in a clearly-defined procession or
to convey their location to others of his order, e.g. by size, intensity, value etc. --
species, he used verbal descriptions of the but not measured quantitatively. Military
properties of the object in question, as well ranks, university degrees or the contestants
as physically pointing out their direction in in a beauty contest are examples of items
relation to the speaker. An indication of arranged on an ordinal scale, as are roads
distance must have come at a later stage. graded by arteriality or rivers by their
As was pointed out already in the stream order.
introductory paper to this course (see
Introduction to Toponymy), giving names to Finally there is the quantitative scale, on
objects, whether living or inanimate, must which objects can be measured in a metric"
have been one of the earliest intellectual way, i.e. with a measuring tape,
activities of the human race. However, thermometer, scales, monetary system or
before an object can be named it must be other measuring device: income,
identified. In the case of living things, intelligence quotient (I.Q.), distance, angle,
which are mobile rather than fixed to a etc. Strictly speaking, quantitative scales
particular location, this usually involves can be divided into two types. Interval
relating to the properties of the subject. scales have fixed units but no intrinsically
Identifying immovable objects, and fixed origin; angles, which can be measured
especially different objects belonging to a from any direction, are an example, as is
single category of items, must involve a temperature, which, in the Centigrade,
definition of location - otherwise there Fahrenheit and Kelvin scales has different
would be no possibility of distinguishing zero points. On the other hand ratio scales
between them. This is particularly true of are those which have a "naturally" fixed
topographic features which make up zero or point of origin, three examples
categories or feature classes: mountains, being length, weight and azimuth (angle of
rivers, lakes, islands and many others. In direction, always measured clockwise from
this lecture we shall briefly investigate how North).
the location of geographical features -
which are the objects of toponymy can be In this text we shall refer to both interval
defined. scales and ratio scales under the single
heading of quantitative scales.
All measuring activities, in the widest
sense, can be conducted on three main
scales". The first is the nominal scale: here, 2. Defining locations on different scales
each item is distinguished from all others in
the set by its nature, and therefore it can be A place on Earth - or, for that matter, on a
named (hence the term nominal, from Latin celestial body such as the moon or a planet -
nomen, name) -- but not graded. Examples can be defined in a number of ways.
Coordinates such as geographical latitude 19,2), and one in Galilee (Joshua 19,15).
and longitude, or plane topographic But in South Africa there is also a
coordinates such as the UTM grid, Bethlehem, namely in the Orange Free
constitute a quantitative definition, as will State, and we find cities and towns named
be shown in more detail in the next Bethlehem (or its derivatives, i.e. its
paragraph. A named or numbered grid conversions and exonyms) in at least 1 5
square such as B-5 in a town plan forms an other countries. So the place name itself
ordinal definition, because only an orderly does not supply a complete definition of the
progression of map squares is provided as location, and we may have to add the name
reference frame for the geographical of the country and perhaps even the district.
objects, not precise measurements. Last - Secondly, a specific geographical feature
but earliest in historical development - is may have more than one name. A
the verbal description of location, i.e. by a Dutchman may refer to his country’s capital
name. Each method has its advantages and as Den Haag; a foreigner will look up the
disadvantages. As we shall demonstrate, place in his atlas and find the Hague or ’s-
coordinates are precise to a point (and Gravenhage, and will be unaware that he
define an error square, the size of which has, indeed hit upon the correct place.
depends on the smallest unit used in the Thirdly, in this age of computers and
coordinates); an ordinal grid rectangle is information technology a quantitative
more comprehensive and is better definition of location is indispensable for
understood by many readers, but includes geographical processing, especially in
on the average many dozens or even maps.
hundreds of names.
Incidentally, the first disadvantage
What, then, are the advantages of mentioned above in connection with names
designating a geographical feature by its as locators applies also to the ordinal
name? Primarily, a name is more easily definition of location by map squares: a
remembered by most person than a set of single square may include more than one
numbers. Secondly, in many cases some appearance of a specific toponym. This is
mental connotation can be attributed to the certainly true of names such as
name. Thirdly, a single name can indicate Nooitgedacht, which appears dozens and
not only a small object such as a spring or a perhaps hundreds of times in South Africa.
cave, but also a larger area such as a city or
even an entire continent or an ocean. 3. The geographical graticule and the
Fourthly and chiefly, a name can often topographic grid
supply an appreciable amount of
information about the location referred to, From the above it becomes clear that for a
such as the type of place it is, and in many precise and unambiguous definition of
cases about its cultural, political and location a quantitative method is
historical background. mandatory. This is supplied by the various
,coordinate systems, with which we shall
Are there any drawbacks to designating a deal in this paragraph. No proper gazetteer
place only with the aid of its name, besides of geographical names is complete without
the lack of precision for a point object? reference to the quantitative coordinates of
Yes, there are three. Firstly, one name each name.
often refers to several geographical features.
Let us take the name Bethlehem. In Israel Geographical coordinates seem to be the
alone there are two Bethlehems: one in most ancient quantitative method of
Judea, South of Jerusalem, also called defining location, at least in western
Bethlehem-Judah in the Bible (Judges culture. The earliest list of geographical
names complete with quantitative locators coordinates. Such a grid is always based on
is Ptolemy's Geographia of the 2nd cent. a particular cartographic projection and it
AD, which records some 8000 places by has a point of origin from which the
their names and their geographical coordinate values are measured.
coordinates. The net of lines of latitude on
the globe, also called parallels (because
their planes are parallel to that of the 4. Plane rectangular coordinate systems
equator), and of lines of longitude or
meridians (which are half "great circles" As mentioned, geographical (ϕ, λ) or
extending from pole to pole), is called the rectangular coordinates (x, y) can be used to
geographical graticule. Latitude of a place locate geographic features. Each feature with
on the globe (and one should never forget geographical coordinates on the reference
that all toponyms refer to places on a surface of the Earth may be transformed to
spherical body) is measured north or south rectangular coordinates (x,y) representing
from the equator as angles, in degrees, positions on the map plane (see figure 1).
minutes and seconds. Longitude is
similarly measured as an angle east or west
from the prime meridian of Greenwich, Map plane
Y
England.
pole
• •P'(x,y)

These measurements thus constitute a

precise quantitative system, and its degree
Greenwich
• •
P (λ,ϕ)
X

of precision is limited only by the number

of figures after the decimal point. ϕ
λ
In spite of what has been said above
equator
concerning the sphericity of the Earth. it is
Reference surface
sometimes convenient to deal with only a ( ellipsoid )

limited portion of the Earth's surface and Figure 1. Plane rectangular coordinate
regard this not as curved but as a plane. systems
This is what every conventional In other words, each feature may be
topographic map enables one to do, and the transferred from the curved surface of the
method of transferring places from the earth, approximated by a reference surface, to
spherical surface of the Earth to the plane the flat plane of the map by means of a map
map sheet is called a cartographic projection.
projection. Since the representations of the
lines of the graticule in a plane map are
curved (except in the so-called cylindrical
normal projections), and therefore 5. Projection systems
inconvenient for measuring coordinate
values from them, it is common practice to The table below gives an overview of some
superimpose a plane rectangular net of commonly used projection systems, with an
squares on the map, of the well-known type annotation that discusses their properties, as
called cartesian coordinates or plane relevant for specific uses of these maps. The
rectangular coordinates, and this is called projections are categorized according to
a topographic or local grid, or, if it covers a projection plane..
national territory, a national grid, the
coordinates then being called national
 Projection Remarks
Cylindrical
Central cylindrical Map is perspective but not conformal nor equal area. Projected perspectively from the center of
the earth onto a cylinder tangent to the equator. Only used for teaching purposes.

Equidistant cylindrical Also called Simple Cylindrical or Plate Carree. Used for raster maps which store information
of the whole world: Each pixel represents a square block of LatLon coordinates, i.e.
information is stored per degree, per minute, etc. Used for mapping the earth taken as a sphere.

EquiRectangular Also called Plate Rectangle. Variant of Plate Carree. Used for raster maps which store
information of the whole world: Each pixel represents a rectangular block of LatLong
coordinates.
Mercator Conformal. Designed for navigational use; standard for marine charts. Recommended use for
conformal mapping of regions predominantly bordering the equator. Often inappropriately
used as a world map.
Trasverse Mercator Also called Gauss Conformal, or Gauss Krüger. Transverse form of the Mercator Projection
(conformal). Used for many topographic maps at scales from 1: 20000 to 1: 250000.
Recommended for mapping regions that are predominantly north-south in extent.

UTM Universal Transverse Mercator. Map is conformal. Widely used for topographic maps and
military maps.
Lambert Cylindrical Equal Area Lambert Cylindrical Equal Area. Mainly used for educational purposes.

Mollweide Pseudo-cylindrical projection. Map is equal area. Occasionally used in thematic world maps.

Azimuthal
Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area. Used for maps of continents and hemispheres. Also suited for
regions extending equally in all directions from a center point, such as Asia and the Pacific
Ocean.
Azimuthal Equidistant Azimuthal Equidistant. Commonly used in the polar aspect for maps of polar regions and the
Northern and Southern hemispheres. The oblique aspect is frequently used for world maps
centered on important cities and occasionally for maps of continents.
Orthographic Known by Egyptians and Greeks 2000 years ago. Map is perspective and neither conformal nor
equal area. Only one hemisphere can be shown. The earth appears as it would on a photograph
from space.
Stereographic Apparently invented by Hipparchus (2nd century BC). Used in combination with UTM projection
as Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS) for mapping poles and in navigation charts for
latitudes above 80°. Recommended for conformal mapping of regions that are approximately
circular in shape. For example, used for topographic maps of the Netherlands.

Gnomonic Map is perspective and neither conformal nor equal area. It is used to show great circle paths as
straight lines and thus to assist navigators and aviators.
Conical
Albers Equal Area Conic If the pole is one of the standard parallels, it is equal to Lambert's Equal Area Conic. Frequently
used for maps of the United States, for thematic maps and for world atlases. Recommended for
equal area maps of regions that are mainly east-west in extent.
Lambert Conformal Conical Lambert Conformal Conic/Conical Orthomorphic (Lambert, 1972) (conformal). Extensively used
for large-scale mapping of regions predominantly east-west in extent. Further widely used for
topographic maps.
Equidistant Conic Also called Simple Conic. The most common projection in atlases for small countries.
Polyconic or American Polyconic (Hassler, ± 1820). Map is neither conformal nor equal area.
The sole projection used for large scale mapping of the United States by the USGS until the
1950's.

6. Plane rectangular coordinate systems enough to define a national grid system.

for national use One has to define e.g. the ellipsoid and
geodetic datum, the center of the projection,
Rectangular coordinate systems for national the scale factor, the origin of the rectangular
use, also called national grid systems, are coordinate system. The most widely used
always based on a particular map grid system is the so-called UTM system.
projection. A map projection by itself isn’t
6.1 Universal Transverse Mercator The UTM system is designed to cover the
(UTM) whole world (excluding the Arctic and
Antarctic regions). To keep scale distortions
UTM stands for Universal Transverse in acceptable limits 60 narrow longitudinal
Mercator. It is a version of the Transverse zones of 6 degrees longitude in width are
Mercator projection, but one with a defined and numbered from 1 to 60. The
transverse secant cylinder (see figure 2). figure below shows the UTM zone
numbering system. Shaded in figure 3 is
UTM grid zone 3 N which covers the area
1680 - 1620 W (zone number 3), and 00 - 80 N
(letter N of the latitudinal belt).

Figure 2: transverse secant cylinder

Figure 3 – Representation of the earth on the UTM projection

 the Equator, the Equator is given a Northing
value of 0 m. For mapping south of the
Equator, the Equator is given a Northing
value of 10.000.000 m.

Unfortunately, not all countries adopted the

UTM grid system. Parameters of the grid
systems applied in the Netherlands,
Germany and France are given below. In
addition to the projection parameters, datum
parameters are specified. A geodetic (or
horizontal) datum is defined by the size and
Figure 4 – two adjacent UTM-zones of 6 shape of an ellopsoid as well as several
degrees longitude known positions on the physical surface at
which latitude and longitude measured on
The central meridian has been given an that ellipsoid are known to fix the position
Easting value of 500.000 m (to avoid of the ellipsoid.
negative coordinates). For mapping north of
Country: The Netherlands
Projection system
Projection: Double stereographic (or Schreiber) (Rijksdriehoeksstelsel)
Zone(s) (if applicable): N/a
Limits of zone(s) (if applicable): N/a
Latitude of projection origin (ϕ0): 52:09:22.178 d:m:s
Longitude of projection origin (λ0): 5:23:15.500 d:m:s
Scale factor at projection origin: 0.9999079
False easting (m): 155 000m
False northing (m): 463 000m
Geodetic datum
Datum name: Rijksdriehoeksmeting
Ellipsoid name: Bessel 1841
Semi-major axis of ellipsoid (a): 637739.155000m
Semi-minor axis of ellipsoid (b): -
Flattening of ellipsoid: 1/299.152813
Fundamental point: Amersfoort ϕ?= 520 09’ 22”. 178 λ = 50 23’ 15”. 500
Orientation: Not known
Datum shift in X (m): 565.04m
Datum shift in Y (m): 49.91m
Datum shift in Z (m): 465.84m
Rotation in X (α): 0.4094”
Rotation in Y (β): 0.3597”
Rotation in Z (γ): 1.8685”
Scale (s): 4.0772 ppm
Vertical datum
Datum name: Normaal Amsterdam Peil (NAP) , Mean Sea Level at Amsterdam

Country: Germany
Projection system
Projection name: Transverse Mercator (or Gauss-Krüger)
Zone(s) (if applicable): 3 zones with central meridians at 60, 90 and 120
Limits of zone(s) (if applicable): Width of the zones 30
Central meridian (λ0): 60, 90 and 120
Scale factor at Central Meridian 1.00000
Latitude of origin (ϕ0): 00 (equator)
Scale factor at latitude of origin N/a
(k0):
False easting (m): 500.000m
False northing (m): 0m
Geodetic datum
Datum name: Potsdam
Ellipsoid name: Bessel
Semi-major axis of ellipsoid (a): 6377397.155m
Semi-minor axis of ellipsoid (b): 6356078.963m
 Flattening of ellipsoid: -
Fundamental point: Rauenberg ϕ?= 520 27’ 12”. 021 λ??= 130 22’ 04”. 924
Orientation: Azimuth to Berlin, Marienkirche = 190 46’ 04”. 87
Datum shift in X (m): 586m
Datum shift in Y (m): 87m
Datum shift in Z (m): 409m
Rotation in X (α): 0.52”
Rotation in Y (β): 0.15”
Rotation in Z (γ): 2.82”
Scale (s): 9 ppm
Vertical datum
Datum name: DHHN
Remarks
DHHN: Normal orthometric heights based on NN (Normal Null), the mean sea level at Amsterdam.
For the five eastern German states heights are also based on the mean sea level at Kronstadt (difference between DHHN
and eastern German normal heights up to 8-15 cm.

Country: France Region: Provence

Projection system
Projection name: Lambert Conformal Conic
Zone (if applicable): Lambert zone III
Limits of zone (if applicable): 47gr - 50.5gr
1st standard parallel (ϕ1): 430 11’ 57.44859”
2nd standard parallel (ϕ2): 440 59’ 45.93773”
Scale factor at standard parallel(s): Unknown
Central meridian (λ0): 20 20’ 14.02500” (6gr)
Latitude of origin (ϕ0): 440 06’ (49gr)
Scale factor at latitude of origin 0.99987750
(k0):
False easting (m): Lambert III Sud: 600000m Lambert III Carto: 600000m
False northing (m): Lambert III Sud: 200000m Lambert III Carto: 3200000m
Geodetic datum
Datum name: Nouvelle Triangulation de la France (NTF)
Ellipsoid name: Clarke 1880 IGN
Semi-major axis of ellipsoid (a): 6378249.2000m
Semi-minor axis of ellipsoid (b): 6356515.0000m
Flattening of ellipsoid: 1/293.466021
Datum shift in X (m): -168m
Datum shift in Y (m): -60m
Datum shift in Z (m): +320m
Rotation in X (α): 0”
Rotation in Y (β): 0”
Rotation in Z (γ): 0”
Scale (s): 1 ppm
Vertical datum
Datum name: MEAN SEA LEVEL AT MARSEILLE
 Remarks
MEAN SEA LEVEL HEIGHTS ARE APPROXIMATE +8M ABOVE THE CLARKE 1880 IGN
ELLIPSOID IN GOULT AREA

For more information on coordinate systems refer to: http://kartoweb.itc.nl/geometrics