pymap3d 1.7.10.1

pure Python coordinate conversions, following convention of several popular Matlab routines.

[](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.213676)
[](https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.00580)
[](http://www.astropy.org/)
[](https://travis-ci.org/scivision/pymap3d)
[](https://coveralls.io/github/scivision/pymap3d?branch=master)
[](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/scivision/pymap3d)
[](https://lgtm.com/projects/g/scivision/pymap3d/context:python)
[](https://codeclimate.com/github/scivision/pymap3d/maintainability)
[](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pymap3d)
[](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pymap3d)
[](http://pepy.tech/project/pymap3d)

# Python 3-D coordinate conversions

3-D geographic coordinate conversions, with API similar to popular $1000 Matlab Mapping Toolbox routines for:

* Python
* [Matlab, GNU Octave](https://github.com/scivision/matmap3d)
* [modern Fortran](https://github.com/scivision/maptran)

PyMap3D is intended for non-interactive use on massively parallel (HPC) and embedded systems.
Includes some relevant
[Vallado algorithms](http://www.smad.com/vallado/fortran/fortran.html).

[API docs](https://www.scivision.co/pymap3d)

## Prerequisites

* Python ≥ 3.5 or PyPy3

References to AstroPy are optional, algorithms from Vallado and Meeus are used if AstroPy is not present.


## Install

```sh
pip install pymap3d
```

or for the latest development code:
```sh
git clone https://github.com/scivision/pymap3d
cd pymap3d
pip install -e .
```

One can verify Python functionality after installation by:
```sh
pip install -e .[tests]
pytest -rsv
```

## Usage

Where consistent with the definition of the functions, all arguments may
be arbitrarily shaped (scalar, N-D array).

```python
import pymap3d as pm

x,y,z = pm.geodetic2ecef(lat,lon,alt)

az,el,range = pm.geodetic2aer(lat, lon, alt, observer_lat, observer_lon, 0)
```

[Python](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0448/)
[argument unpacking](https://docs.python.org/3.6/tutorial/controlflow.html#unpacking-argument-lists)
can be used for compact function arguments with scalars or arbitrarily
shaped N-D arrays:

```python
aer = (az,el,slantrange)
obslla = (obs_lat,obs_lon,obs_alt)

lla = pm.aer2geodetic(*aer,*obslla)
```

where tuple `lla` is comprised of scalar or N-D arrays `(lat,lon,alt)`.


### Functions

Popular mapping toolbox functions ported to Python include the
following, where the source coordinate system (before the "2") is
converted to the desired coordinate system:

aer2ecef aer2enu aer2geodetic aer2ned
ecef2aer ecef2enu ecef2enuv ecef2geodetic ecef2ned ecef2nedv
ecef2eci eci2ecef eci2aer aer2eci
enu2aer enu2ecef enu2geodetic
geodetic2aer geodetic2ecef geodetic2enu geodetic2ned
ned2aer ned2ecef ned2geodetic
azel2radec radec2azel
vreckon vdist
lookAtSpheroid
track2


Additional functions:

`loxodrome_inverse`: rhumb line distance and azimuth between ellipsoid points (lat,lon) akin to Matlab `distance('rh', ...)` and `azimuth('rh', ...)`


Abbreviations:

- [AER: Azimuth, Elevation, Range](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_coordinate_system)
- [ECEF: Earth-centered, Earth-fixed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECEF)
- [ECI: Earth-centered Inertial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth-centered_inertial)
- [ENU: East North Up](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axes_conventions#Ground_reference_frames:_ENU_and_NED)
- [NED: North East Down](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_east_down)
- [radec: right ascension, declination](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_ascension)

### Caveats

* Atmospheric effects neglected in all functions not invoking AstroPy.
Would need to update code to add these input parameters (just start a GitHub Issue to request).
* Planetary perturbations and nutation etc. not fully considered.

## Notes

As compared to [PyProj](https://github.com/jswhit/pyproj):

- PyMap3D does not require anything beyond pure Python + Numpy.
- PyMap3D API is similar to Matlab Mapping Toolbox, while PyProj's interface is quite distinct
- PyMap3D intrinsically handles local coordinate systems such as ENU,
while for PyProj ENU requires some [additional
effort](https://github.com/jswhit/pyproj/issues/105).
- PyProj is oriented towards points on the planet surface, while
PyMap3D handles points on or above the planet surface equally well,
particularly important for airborne vehicles and remote sensing.