Read any coordinate
Reads a coordinate in almost any notation (decimal, , DDM, packed aviation, labeled, MGRS, or UTM) and reports what it assumed.
That is 40.4461111°, -79.9822222° (DMS).
- Longitude
- Notation
- DMS
Provenance
- Computed by
- geodesy.parse.coordinates 1.1.0, core 0.1.0
- Model
- geoprims coordinate grammar (ISO 6709 notations, NGA MGRS)
- Accuracy
- Exact: every notation converts by exact arithmetic
- Notes
- None
- Cites
- International Organization for Standardization, Geographic Point Location, ISO 6709; National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Military Grid Reference System, NGA.STND.0037
Something look off?
How we got thisFormula, worked example, sources, and proof
Model: geoprims coordinate grammar (ISO 6709 notations, NGA MGRS)
Show your work
Notation
which way the position was written40°26'46"N 79°58'56"W= DMSLongitude
read from that notation, east positive40°26'46"N 79°58'56"W= -79.9822222°Latitude
read from that notation, north positive40°26'46"N 79°58'56"W= 40.4461111°
The same steps an agent gets from the MCP server with explain: true.
Accuracy: Exact: every notation converts by exact arithmetic
When to use this: Use this when a coordinate arrives as text and you do not want to hand-convert it: decimal degrees, degrees and minutes, degrees, minutes and seconds, packed aviation form, labeled pairs, MGRS, or UTM. It reports what it read, in your chosen output form, and says which assumptions it had to make.
Limitations: Text can be genuinely ambiguous — which number is the latitude, which hemisphere an unsigned pair means, whether a comma is a decimal mark — and this tool reports the ambiguity and its alternatives instead of guessing. It cannot know the datum of a bare pair: coordinates are treated as WGS 84 unless the notation itself carries one.
Worked example: Pittsburgh in degrees, minutes, and seconds. Source: add-geodesy-suite parsing scenario: 40.446111…, -79.982222…. It is golden test vector v001, and every build checks the tool still gives its answer within its tolerance.
You enter
- Coordinate
- 40°26'46"N 79°58'56"W
You get
- Latitude
- 40.4461111°
- Longitude
- -79.9822222°
- Notation
- DMS
- DMS
- 40°26'46.000"N 79°58'56.000"W
Review: Not yet independently reviewed by a geodesist.
Last verified: 2026-09-18, when a maintainer last confirmed this tool's sources at the issuer. See the sources ledger.
Status: version 1.1.0, core 0.1.0. See this tool in the verification report.
Changes
- 2026-09-19, fixed: The coordinate reader had three defects, found by 1,500 independently written strings in ten notations and now fixed: spaced DMS with a one- or two-digit longitude (like 30 34 14.3 N 1 25 23.9 E) was misread as packed aviation notation, so 1°25′ became 125°; signed DMS with degree signs and no hemisphere letters crashed; and one-digit decimal degrees with a hemisphere letter could fail. Tool version 1.1.0. It is now stable. Changelog
Checked against: 22 golden test vectors (download the test vectors, each with its source and tolerance). See how results are checked and every source.
Sources
- Geographic Point Location, ISO 6709, International Organization for Standardization, ISO 6709:2022. Annex D (degrees, minutes, and seconds notation). Paid only.
- Military Grid Reference System, NGA.STND.0037, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, NGA.STND.0037_2.0.0_GRIDS. MGRS lettering (AA scheme) and truncation. Read free.
Terms
- DMS: degrees, minutes, seconds
- An angle written as whole degrees, minutes (1/60 degree), and seconds (1/3600 degree), like 40°26'46". Source: ISO 6709 Geographic point location
DMS — degrees, minutes, seconds
An angle written as whole degrees, minutes (1/60 degree), and seconds (1/3600 degree), like 40°26'46".
Source: ISO 6709 Geographic point location