UTM zone and band lookup
The zone and MGRS latitude band for a point, including the Norway and Svalbard exceptions, and the zone's central meridian.
The grid zone is 32V.
- Grid zone designator
- Central meridian
Provenance
- Computed by
- geodesy.utm.zone 1.0.0, core 0.1.0
- Model
- NGA UTM zone rules with the Norway and Svalbard exceptions
- Accuracy
- Exact
- Notes
- None
- Cites
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, The Universal Grids and the Transverse Mercator and Polar Stereographic Map Projections, NGA.SIG.0012
Something look off?
How we got thisFormula, worked example, sources, and proof
Model: NGA UTM zone rules with the Norway and Svalbard exceptions
Accuracy: Exact
When to use this: Use this before projecting anything to UTM, or when reading a grid reference someone else produced: it gives the zone, the MGRS latitude band and the zone's central meridian for a point, with the Norway and Svalbard exceptions applied rather than left for you to remember.
Limitations: Two exceptions break the plain six-degree rule, and both are included: zone 32 is widened over southern Norway, and the even zones vanish over Svalbard. A point near any zone boundary is a point where two people using different software may disagree, so check the boundary rather than the answer. At exactly 84 degrees north this keeps the point in UTM, symmetric with the 80 degrees south edge; GeographicLib switches to UPS there instead, and both are defensible readings of the published range. Beyond those limits the zone is 0 and the band is a polar one, which means UPS is the projection, not UTM.
Worked example: Bergen, Norway (the 32V exception). Source: add-geodesy-suite scenario: zone 32, not 31. It is golden test vector v001, and every build checks the tool still gives its answer within its tolerance.
You enter
- Latitude
- 60 deg
- Longitude
- 5 deg
You get
- Zone
- 32
- Grid zone designator
- 32V
- Central meridian
- 9°
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 1.0.0, core 0.1.0. See this tool in the verification report.
Checked against: 39 golden test vectors (download the test vectors, each with its source and tolerance). See how results are checked and every source.
Sources
- The Universal Grids and the Transverse Mercator and Polar Stereographic Map Projections, NGA.SIG.0012, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, NGA.SIG.0012_2.0.0_UTMUPS. Sections 3 (UTM zones, Norway and Svalbard exceptions) and 4 (UPS).
Terms
- UTM: Universal Transverse Mercator
- A grid of 60 zones, each 6° of longitude wide, that turns latitude and longitude into eastings and northings in meters. Source: NGA.SIG.0012 UTM and UPS
UTM — Universal Transverse Mercator
A grid of 60 zones, each 6° of longitude wide, that turns latitude and longitude into eastings and northings in meters.
Source: NGA.SIG.0012 UTM and UPS
Learn the concept: UTM coordinates explained