https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/142326/calculating-longitude-length-in-miles

It doesn’t matter at what longitude you are. What matters is what latitude you are.

Length of 1 degree of Longitude = cosine (latitude in decimal degrees) * length of degree (miles) at equator.

Convert your latitude into decimal degrees ~ 37.26383

Convert your decimal degrees into radians ~ 0.79863

1 degree of Longitude = ~0.79863 * 69.172 = ~ 55.2428 miles

More useful information from the about.com website:

Degrees of latitude are parallel so the distance between each degree remains almost constant but since degrees of longitude are farthest apart at the equator and converge at the poles, their distance varies greatly.

Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 kilometers) apart. The range varies (due to the earth’s slightly ellipsoid shape) from 68.703 miles (110.567 km) at the equator to 69.407 (111.699 km) at the poles. This is convenient because each minute (1/60th of a degree) is approximately one [nautical] mile.

A degree of longitude is widest at the equator at 69.172 miles (111.321) and gradually shrinks to zero at the poles. At 40° north or south the distance between a degree of longitude is 53 miles (85 km)

Note that the original site (about.com) erroneously omitted the “nautical” qualifier.

By admin

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.