Coordinate Converter

How to use it

1. Type a position in Position: two numbers for decimal degrees, or a DMS, DDM, UTM or MGRS reference.
2. Choose the MGRS precision: five digits for one metre, two digits for one kilometre.
3. Read Decimal degrees, Degrees, minutes, seconds and UTM from the results, and copy the one your map or device needs.
4. Open Working to see the zone, the latitude band and the square letters for the position.

Which forms are read

The first number is the latitude (north positive) and the second the longitude (east positive), unless a compass letter says otherwise: 28.9784 E, 41.0082 N is read the same way. Turkish letters K, G, D and B are read as N, S, E and W. A comma can be a decimal mark, as in 41,0082, 28,9784.

• Decimal degrees: 41.0082, 28.9784 or 41.0082N 28.9784E.
• Degrees, minutes and seconds: 40°26′46″N 79°58′56″W, or 40 26 46 N 79 58 56 W.
• Degrees and decimal minutes: 40° 26.767′ N 79° 58.933′ W.
• UTM: zone, then the letter N or S for the hemisphere (or a latitude band letter), then easting and northing in metres: 35 N 500000 4500000.
• MGRS: zone, band letter, two square letters, then the digits: 35T LF 00000 00000 or 4QFJ 1234 6789.

How UTM is calculated

UTM divides the Earth into 60 zones six degrees wide. Each zone is a transverse Mercator projection with a scale of 0.9996 on its central meridian and a false easting of 500 000 m. In the southern hemisphere the northing starts at 10 000 000 m. The coordinates come from Krüger's series, with terms to the third power of n, as the Wikipedia article on UTM gives them. That series is accurate to about a millimetre within 3 000 km of the central meridian.

n = f ÷ (2 − f), with the WGS 84 flattening f = 1/298.257223563
A = a ÷ (1 + n) × (1 + n²/4 + n⁴/64), with a = 6 378 137 m
E = 500 000 + 0.9996 × A × (η′ + Σ αⱼ cos(2jξ′) sinh(2jη′))
N = 0.9996 × A × (ξ′ + Σ αⱼ sin(2jξ′) cosh(2jη′)) (+ 10 000 000 m in the south)

• The zone of a position is the six-degree strip it lies in, with two exceptions: between 56° and 64° N zone 32 is widened to the west, so that it starts at 3° E instead of 6° E (southwest Norway), and between 72° and 84° N Svalbard uses zones 31, 33, 35 and 37.
• The latitude band letter is not part of UTM. MGRS adds it, so that the grid zone (zone plus band) names a block 6 degrees wide and 8 degrees high.

What MGRS adds, and what this page does not show

MGRS names the 100 km square first, with two letters: the column letter repeats every three zones, and the row letter every 2 000 km north. The row letters follow the AA scheme of WGS 84, which starts at A on the equator in odd zones and at F in even zones. The digits that follow give the easting and northing inside the square.

• The digits are truncated, not rounded, so a shorter reference always names a square that contains the point.
• The UPS (polar) grid used beyond 80° S and 84° N is not shown; the UTM and MGRS results are empty there.
• A map on a local datum, such as an older national grid, is not converted: the positions are WGS 84 values.

Frequently asked questions