wgs84Ellipsoid

Reference ellipsoid for World Geodetic System of 1984

Syntax

E = wgs84Ellipsoid

E = wgs84Ellipsoid(lengthUnit)

Description

E = wgs84Ellipsoid creates a referenceEllipsoid object for the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS84) reference ellipsoid. By default, the lengths of the semimajor axis and semiminor axis are in meters.

E = wgs84Ellipsoid(lengthUnit) creates a WGS84 reference ellipsoid with the length unit specified by lengthUnit.

Examples

Create WGS84 Reference Ellipsoid

Create a WGS84 reference ellipsoid. By default, the semimajor and semiminor axes are in meters.

wgs84 = wgs84Ellipsoid

wgs84 = 
referenceEllipsoid with defining properties:

                 Code: 7030
                 Name: 'WGS 84'
           LengthUnit: 'meter'
        SemimajorAxis: 6378137
        SemiminorAxis: 6356752.31424518
    InverseFlattening: 298.257223563
         Eccentricity: 0.0818191908426215

  and additional properties:

    Flattening
    ThirdFlattening
    MeanRadius
    SurfaceArea
    Volume

Display the surface area in square meters.

wgs84.SurfaceArea

ans = 
5.1007e+14

Create WGS84 Reference Ellipsoid with Specified Units

Create a WGS84 reference ellipsoid with a length unit of kilometers.

wgs84km = wgs84Ellipsoid("kilometer")

wgs84km = 
referenceEllipsoid with defining properties:

                 Code: 7030
                 Name: 'WGS 84'
           LengthUnit: 'kilometer'
        SemimajorAxis: 6378.137
        SemiminorAxis: 6356.75231424518
    InverseFlattening: 298.257223563
         Eccentricity: 0.0818191908426215

  and additional properties:

    Flattening
    ThirdFlattening
    MeanRadius
    SurfaceArea
    Volume

Display the surface area in square kilometers.

wgs84km.SurfaceArea

ans = 
5.1007e+08

Input Arguments

lengthUnit — Length unit of measure

'meter' (default) | string scalar | character vector

Length unit of measure, specified as a string scalar or character vector. You can specify any length unit accepted by the validateLengthUnit function.

Value	Unit Name
"m", "meter", "meters", "metre", "metres"	Meters
"cm", "centimeter", "centimeters", "centimetre", "centimetres"	Centimeters
"mm", "millimeter", "millimeters", "millimetre", "millimetres"	Millimeters
"micron", "microns"	Microns
"km", "kilometer", "kilometers", "kilometre", "kilometers"	Kilometers
"nm", "naut mi", "nautical mile", "nautical miles"	Nautical miles
"ft", "international ft", "foot", "international foot", "feet", "international feet"	Feet
"in", "inch", "inches"	Inches
"yd", "yds", "yard", "yards"	Yards
"mi", "mile", "miles", "international mile", "international miles"	Miles
"sf", "survey ft", "US survey ft", "U.S. survey ft", "survey foot", "US survey foot", "U.S. survey foot", "survey feet", "US survey feet", "U.S. survey feet"	U.S. survey feet
"sm", "survey mile", "survey miles", "statute mile", "statute miles", "US survey mile", "US survey miles", "U.S. survey mile(s)", "U.S. survey miles"	U.S. survey miles (statute miles)
"Clarke's foot", "Clarkes foot"	Clarke's feet
"German legal metre", "German legal meter"	German legal metres
"Indian foot"	Indian feet

Data Types: char | string

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation

Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Usage notes and limitations:

• Setting the length unit of measure is not supported.

Version History

Introduced in R2012a

R2021a: Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB Coder

The wgs84Ellipsoid function supports code generation.