distance: Distance Between Coordinates

In swfscMisc: Miscellaneous Functions for Southwest Fisheries Science Center

Distance Between Coordinates

Description

Calculates the distance between two coordinates using the Law of Cosines, Haversine, or Vincenty methods.

Usage

distance(
  lat1,
  lon1,
  lat2,
  lon2,
  radius = convert.distance(6371, "km", "nm"),
  units = c("nm", "km", "mi"),
  ellipsoid = datum(),
  iter.limit = 20,
  method = c("lawofcosines", "haversine", "vincenty")
)

Arguments

lat1, lon1, lat2, lon2	The latitude and longitude of the first and second points in decimal degrees.
radius	radius of sphere.
units	units of distance. Can be "km" (kilometers), "nm" (nautical miles), or "mi" (statute miles), or any partial match thereof (case sensitive).
ellipsoid	ellipsoid model parameters as returned from a call to datum.
iter.limit	An integer value defining the limit of iterations for Vincenty method.
method	Character defining the distance method to use. Can be "lawofcosines", "haversine", "vincenty", or any partial match thereof (case sensitive).

Author(s)

Eric Archer [e-mail]

References

Code adapted from JavaScript by Chris Veness
Vincenty, T. 1975. Direct and inverse solutions of geodesics on the ellipsoid with application of nested equations. Survey Review 22(176):88-93.

Examples

# What is the distance from San Diego, CA to Honolulu, HI?
distance(32.87, -117.25, 21.35, -157.98, method = "lawofcosines")
distance(32.87, -117.25, 21.35, -157.98, method = "haversine")
distance(32.87, -117.25, 21.35, -157.98, method = "vincenty")

swfscMisc documentation built on Sept. 8, 2023, 5:55 p.m.