3
Release 2.0.2 - November 1999
5
1. The datum parameter file 3_param.dat was changed to correct an error in the
6
latitude bounds for the NAD 27 Canada datum.
8
2. The MGRS module was changed to make the final latitude check on MGRS to UTM
9
conversions sensitive to the precision of the input MGRS coordinate string. The
10
lower the input precision, the more "slop" is allowed in the final check on the
11
latitude zone letter. This is to handle an issue raised by some F-16 pilots,
12
who truncate MGRS strings that they receive from the Army. This truncation can
13
put them on the wrong side of a latitude zone boundary, causing the truncated
14
MGRS string to be considered invalid. The correction causes truncated strings
15
to be considered valid if any part of the square which they denote lies within
16
the latitude zone specified by the third letter of the string.
18
Release 2.0.3 - April 2000
20
1. Problems with the GEOTRANS file processing capability, including problems
21
reading coordinate system/projection parameters, and problems with some
22
coordinates being skipped. Note that spaces must separate individual coordinate
25
2. The Bonne projection module has been changed to return an error when the
26
Origin Latitude parameter is set to zero. In the next release, the Sinusoidal
27
projection will be used in this situation.
29
3. Reported errors in certain cases of conversions between geodetic and MGRS
30
have been corrected. The error actually occurred in the formatting of the
33
4. The Equidistant Cylindrical projection parameter that was previously called
34
Origin Latitude has been renamed to Standard Parallel, which more correctly
35
reflects its role in the projection. The Origin Latitude for the Equidistant
36
Cylindrical projection is always zero (i.e., the Equator). Error messages and
37
documentation were updated accordingly. Note that the renaming of this
38
parameter is the only change to the external interface of the GEOTRANS Engine in
41
5. An error in the method selection logic for datum transformations, in the
42
Datum module, has been corrected. This error caused the Molodensky method to be
43
used when transforming between the two 7-parameter datums (EUR-7 and OGB-7) and
46
6. The datum parameter file 3_param.dat was changed to correct the names of
47
several South American (S-42) datums.
49
7. A leftover debug printf statement in the Geoid module was removed.
51
8. Several multiple declaration errors that prevented the Motif GUI source code
52
from being compiled successfully using the Gnu g++ compiler were corrected.
53
Additional comments were added to the make file for the GEOTRANS application to
54
facilitate switching between Sun and Gnu compilers.
56
9. Comments were also added to the make file for the GEOTRANS application
57
concerning locating the libXpm shared object library. This library, which
58
supports the use of X Window pixmaps, was moved to /usr/local/opt/xpm/lib under
61
10. Documentation for the Local Cartesian module was corrected so that this
62
coordinate system is no longer referred to as a projection.
64
11. The usage example in the GEOTRANS Engine Reuse Manual was corrected so that
65
it now compiles successfully.
67
Release 2.1 - June 2000
69
1. The geoid separation file has been converted from text to binary form and
70
renamed to egm96.grd to better reflect its implementation of the Earth Gravity
71
Model 1996. The new binary file is less than half the size of the text file
72
(~4MB vs ~10MB), and is loaded much more quickly when GEOTRANS is started.
74
2. Inverse flattening is now used as a primary ellipsoid parameter, along with
75
the semi-major axis, instead of the semi-minor axis. Previously, the inverse
76
flattening was computed from the semi-major and semi-minor axes. This is a more
77
correct approach and improves overall accuracy slightly.
79
3. User-defined datums and ellipsoids can now be deleted. A user-defined
80
ellipsoid can only be deleted if it is not used by any user-defined datum.
82
4. Additional datum and ellipsoid parameter functions have been added to the
83
external interface of the GEOTRANS Engine, for use by applications.
85
5. For Windows, a GEOTRANS dynamically linked library (DLL) is now provided
86
which includes the GEOTRANS Engine and all of the DT&CC modules. A version of
87
the GEOTRANS application, geotrans2d.exe, which uses the DLL is also provided.
88
Similarly, for UNIX, a GEOTRANS shared object (.so) library is provided, along
89
with a version of the GEOTRANS application, geotrans2d, which uses the shared
92
6. The Bonne projection now defaults to the Sinusoidal projection when the origin
95
7. A "No Height" option has been added for Geodetic coordinates, as an alternative
96
to "Ellipsoid Height" and "Geoid/MSL Height". When "No Height" is selected on
97
input, the contents of the Height field is ignored. When "No Height" is selected
98
on output, no Height value is output.
100
8. Three new projections have been added: Azimuthal Equidistant, (Oblique) Gnomonic,
101
and Oblique Mercator. The only difference between Gnomonic and Oblique Gnomonic
102
is the value of the original latitude parameter.
104
9. The Windows and Motif GUIs have been updated to make the screen layouts more
105
consistent. Bidirectional conversion between the upper and lower panels is now
106
supported, using two Convert buttons (Upper-to-Lower and Lower-to-Upper). Error
107
values are shown separately for each panel.
109
10. A bug in the MGRS module that occasionally caused 100km errors was corrected.
110
Easting and northing values greater than 99999.5 (i.e., less then 1/2m from the
111
eastern or northern boundary of a 100km square) were being set to zero, but not
112
moved into the adjacent 100km square. These values are now rounded to 99999.
114
11. Documentation and on-line help has been updated to reflect all of the above
117
Release 2.2 - September 2000
119
1. The datum code for WGS 72 has been corrected from "WGD" to "WGC".
121
2. The default initial output coordinate system type has been changed from
124
3. A bug in the Windows GUI that prevented degrees/minutes and decimal degrees
125
formats from being selected has been corrected.
127
4. In the Windows GUI, the initial default value for inverse flattening and the
128
associated label in the Create Ellipsoid dialog box have been corrected.
130
5. A bug in the Windows GUI that allowed multiple Geodetic Height type radio
131
buttons to be selected in the File Processing dialog box has been corrected.
133
6. Diagrams showing MGRS grid zone, band, and 100,000m square layouts have been
134
added to the Users' Guide and the on-line help.
136
7. An error in the implementation of Oblique Mercator has been corrected.
138
8. Four new projections have been added: Ney's (Modified Lambert Conformal Conic),
139
Stereographic, British National Grid, and New Zealand Map Grid.
141
9. A prototype Java GUI has been added which runs on both Windows and UNIX
142
platforms. It requires a Java run-time environment. To run it on a Windows
143
platform, go to the /geotrans2/win95 directory and double click on the file
144
geo_22.jar. To run it on a Solaris platform, cd to the /geotrans2/unix directory
145
and enter the command: make -f javamake. It may be necessary to edit the
146
javamake file to point to the location of the Java run-time environment on your
149
Release 2.2.1 - June 2001
151
1. Fixed problem(s) in Local Cartesian conversions.
153
2. Corrected a rounding problem in MGRS coordinates when the output precision was
154
set coarser than 1m (10m, 100m, etc.), and the point being converted rounded to
155
the eastern or northern edge of a 100,000m square. An illegal MGRS string could
156
be produced, with an odd number of digits including a "1" followed by one or more
157
zeros. This was corrected by rounding the UTM easting or northing BEFORE
158
determining the correct 100,000m square.
160
3. Corrected a very old error in the determination of the 100,000m square from a
161
UPS easting in the easternmost part of the south polar zone.
163
4. Added more flexible support for delimiters in input files (commas, tabs, spaces)
165
5. Corrected a problem in reporting invalid northing errors in UTM.
167
6. Correct an example in the Polar Stereo reuse manual with Latitude of True Scale
168
erroneously set to 0.0.
170
7. Removed an invalid Central Meridian line from the header of the Mollweide
173
8. Added a special F-16 Grid Reference System, a special version of MGRS.
175
9. Allowed 90% CE, 90% LE, and 90% SE accuracy values for input coordinates to be
176
specified. These are used, along with datum transformation accuracy information,
177
in deriving the output coordinate accuracy values.
179
10. Added a pull-down menu of coordinate sources, including GPS, maps, and digital
180
geospatial data which can be selected to automatically set input accuracy values.
182
11. Improved the Java GUI to be fully functional, including support for file
183
processsing and improvements in its appearance.
185
Release 2.2.2 - February 2002
187
1. Added two new datums from Amendment 1 to NIMA TR8350.2 (Jan 2001) to 3_param.dat file:
188
- Korean Geodetic Datum 1995 (KGS)
189
- SIRGAS, South America (SIR)
190
Corrected ellipsoid code errors in 3_param.dat file:
191
- Ellipsoid used with TIL datum changed from EA to EB,
192
- Ellipsoid used with IND-P datum changed from EA to EF.
194
2. Corrected an "off-by-one" error in the datum index validity check function in
195
the GEOTRANS engine, which prevented the last datum in the pull-down list from being
196
used. The Java GUI reported this error, but the Windows and Motif GUIs did not.
198
3. Processing of input coordinate files was made more flexible and forgiving:
199
- Case sensitivity of keywords and name strings was eliminated.
200
- Height values with geodetic coordinates were made optional, defaulting
202
- Coordinate reference system names were made consistent with the GUI
204
- File processing error messages were improved.
206
4. A warnings count was added to the file processing GUI.
209
5. Geodetic height fields are grayed out and the No Height selection is forced
210
whenever 3D conversion is not feasible. For 3D conversion to be feasible, Geodetic,
211
Geocentric, or Local Cartesian must be selected on both panels. For file processing,
212
the output Geodetic height field is grayed out and the No Height selection is forced
213
whenever the input coordinate reference system is not a 3D system.
215
6. File header generation, using a modified version of the File Processing GUI, was
216
added. (Java GUI Only)
218
7. Some results of the review of GEOTRANS by NIMA G&G were implemented:
219
- In the User�s Guide (and on-line help), the description of the use of 3-step
220
method, rather than Molodenski, in polar regions was reworded.
221
- In the User's Guide (and on-line help), the description of how to specify
222
Lambert Conformal Conic projection with one standard parallel was clarified.
223
- UTM zone fields were enabled independent of the state of the Override buttons,
224
with default values of zero, and the valid range of zone numbers (1-60) was
225
added to the zone field labels.
226
- In the Sources pull-down menus, the values for GPS PPS and GPS SPS were corrected
227
to be the same, reflecting the shutting off of GPS selective availability (SA).
228
- The words �Warning:� or �Error:�, as appropriate, were explicitly included in
229
all messages output by the GUIs.
231
Release 2.2.3 - February 2003
233
There were no changes made to the external interfaces of the GEOTRANS libraries.
235
1. The ellipsoid (ellipse.dat) and datum (3_param.dat) files were updated to correct
236
several typos. Dates were added to all ellipsoid names.
238
2. A problem in the MGRS module (mgrs.c) was corrected. This problem occurred only
239
when converting from geodetic to MGRS coordinates that round to the centerline of zone
240
31V. This zone is �cut in half�, such that its centerline is also its eastern boundary.
241
Points that are rounded up (eastward) to this boundary are considered to lie in zone 32V.
243
3. An error in the Local Cartesian module (loccart.c) was corrected to properly take
244
into account the longitude of the local Cartesian coordinate system origin in converting
245
between geocentric and local Cartesian coordinates.
247
4. A possible problem in the Transverse Mercator module (tranmerc.c) concerning
248
projections at the poles was investigated. Points at the poles are projected when the
249
Transverse Mercator module is initialized in order to determine the range of valid inputs
250
for the inverse projection. The tangent of the latitude is calculated, which should be
251
infinite at the poles. Investigation determined that the tangent functions for both
252
Windows and Solaris actually return very large values in this case, which result in the
253
expected behavior. However, to avoid this problem on other platforms, the maximum valid
254
latitude for the Transverse Mercator projection was reduced from 90 to 89.99 degrees.
256
5. A reported incompatibility between GEOTRANS 2.2.2 and version 4 of the Boeing
257
Autometric EDGE Viewer on Windows platforms was investigated. This version of the EDGE
258
Viewer includes the GEOTRANS 2.0.3 libraries. When the EDGE Viewer is installed, it
259
sets the GEOTRANS environment variables to reference the directory C:/Program Files/Autometric/EDGEViewer/Data/GeoTrans. This overrides the default setting in the
260
GEOTRANS application, causing it to look for its required data files in the EDGE Viewer
261
directory. The incompatibility arises from the fact that the Earth Gravity Model 1996
262
geoid separation file was renamed and changed from text to binary form in GEOTRANS 2.1,
263
which reduced its size from 10MB to 4MB. When the newer binary file is not found in
264
the EDGE data directory, the GEOTRANS application fails to initialize successfully.
265
Placing a copy of the binary geoid separation file (egm96.grd) into the EDGE Viewer
266
data directory eliminates the problem. A recent update to the EDGE Viewer eliminates
267
the problem by using a more recent version of the GEOTRANS libraries. Therefore no
268
changes to the GEOTRANS software were necessary.
270
6. The source data accuracy values for GPS PPS and SPS modes were updated from 10m
273
7. The Linear (i.e., vertical) Error (LE) and Spherical Error (SE) fields are now
274
grayed out whenever a conversion is not three-dimensional.
276
Release 2.2.4 - August 2003
278
There were no changes made to the external interfaces of the GEOTRANS libraries.
280
1. Minor changes were made to source code to eliminate all compilation warnings.
281
These changes involved the Ellisoid module, the GEOTRANS engine, GEOTRANS application
282
Windows GUI, and GEOTRANS application support source code file.
284
2. A bug in the MGRS module was corrected. This bug caused MGRS coordinates located
285
in small triangular areas north of 64S latitude, and south of the 2,900,000 northing
286
line, to fail to convert correctly to UTM.
288
3. The MGRS module was corrected so that the MGRS "AL" 100,000m square pattern is used
289
with the Bessel 1841 Namibia (BN) ellipsoid. On-line help was corrected to be consistent
292
4. The MGRS module was updated to eliminate inconsistencies in the conversion of points
293
located on UTM zone and MGRS latitude band boundaries.
295
5. The MGRS module was reorganized internally to improve the clarity and efficiency of
296
the source code. The external interface of the MGRS module was not changed.
298
Release 2.2.4 - August 2003
300
There were no changes made to the external interfaces of the GEOTRANS libraries.
302
1. Minor changes were made to source code to eliminate all compilation warnings.
303
These changes involved the Ellisoid module, the GEOTRANS engine, GEOTRANS application
304
Windows GUI, and GEOTRANS application support source code file.
306
2. A bug in the MGRS module was corrected. This bug caused MGRS coordinates located
307
in small triangular areas north of 64S latitude, and south of the 2,900,000 northing
308
line, to fail to convert correctly to UTM.
310
3. The MGRS module was corrected so that the MGRS "AL" 100,000m square pattern is used
311
with the Bessel 1841 Namibia (BN) ellipsoid. On-line help was corrected to be consistent
314
4. The MGRS module was updated to eliminate inconsistencies in the conversion of points
315
located on UTM zone and MGRS latitude band boundaries.
317
5. The MGRS module was reorganized internally to improve the clarity and efficiency of
318
the source code. The external interface of the MGRS module was not changed.
319
Release 2.2.4 - August 2003
321
There were no changes made to the external interfaces of the GEOTRANS libraries.
323
1. Minor changes were made to source code to eliminate all compilation warnings.
324
These changes involved the Ellisoid module, the GEOTRANS engine, GEOTRANS application
325
Windows GUI, and GEOTRANS application support source code file.
327
2. A bug in the MGRS module was corrected. This bug caused MGRS coordinates located
328
in small triangular areas north of 64S latitude, and south of the 2,900,000 northing
329
line, to fail to convert correctly to UTM.
331
3. The MGRS module was corrected so that the MGRS "AL" 100,000m square pattern is used
332
with the Bessel 1841 Namibia (BN) ellipsoid. On-line help was corrected to be consistent
335
4. The MGRS module was updated to eliminate inconsistencies in the conversion of points
336
located on UTM zone and MGRS latitude band boundaries.
338
5. The MGRS module was reorganized internally to improve the clarity and efficiency of
339
the source code. The external interface of the MGRS module was not changed.
341
Release 2.2.5 - June 2004
343
There were no changes made to the external interfaces of the GEOTRANS libraries.
345
1. A minor correction was made in the Datum module, to correct an "off-by-one" error in the Valid_Datum function, which caused it to return a warning when the last 3-parameter datum was accessed.
347
2. A minor correction was made in the Round_DMS function, in the common application GUI support software, which caused incorrect geodetic coordinate values to be displayed when converting to degrees with a precision of .0001.
349
3 The 3-parameter datum file, 3_param.dat, was updated to reflect new parameter values for the MID (MIDWAY ASTRO 1961, Midway Is.) datum, which went into effect in June 2003. The longitude limits for the NAS-U (North American 1927, Greenland), the DAL (Dabola, Guinea) and the TRN (Astro Tern Island (Frig) 1961 datums were also corrected.
351
Release 2.2.6 - June 2005
353
1. A minor correction was made in the Get_Geoid_Height function in the GEOID module, which does bilinear interpolation of EGM96 geoid separation values. The error caused the specified point to be shifted in longitude, mirrored around the east-west midline of the 15-minute grid cell that contains it.
355
2. The 3-parameter datum file, 3_param.dat, was updated to correct the latitude and longitude limits for the DID (Deception Island), EUR-S (European 1950, Israel and Iraq), and KEG (Kerguelen Island) datums.
357
3. A minor correction was made in the Convert_Orthographic_to_Geodetic function in the ORTHOGR module to use the two-argument arctangent function (atan2) rather than the single-argument arctangent function (atan). This avoids sign errors in results near the poles.
359
4. A minor correction was made in the Convert_Albers_to_Geodetic function in the ALBERS module to avoid infinite loops when the iterative solution for latitude fails to converge. After 30 iterations, the function now returns an error status.
361
5. Support was added for the Lambert Conformal Conic projection with one standard parallel. A new LAMBERT_1 module was added, and the LAMBERT_2 module was renamed (from LAMBERT) and reengineered to use the new LAMBERT_1 module. Backward compatibility was maintained at the DT&CC and GEOTRANS Engine levels. However, all existing functions that include "Lambert", rather than "Lambert1" or "Lambert2", in their names are now considered to be deprecated, and will be removed in a future update.
363
6. The GEOTRANS application GUI was enhanced to help users avoid incompatible combinations of coordinate systems and datums by color coding the conversion buttons. Red indicates that the selected coordinate systems and datums are not compatible with one another, and that an error message will result from any attempted conversion operation. Yellow indicates that the selected datums have disjoint areas of validity, adn that a warning message will result from any attempted conversion operation.
365
7. A correction was made to the Geodetic_Shift_WGS72_To_WGS84 and Geodetic_Shift_WGS72_To_WGS84 functions in the DATUM module to wrap longitude values across the 180 degree line and wrap latitude values over the poles.
367
8. File processing examples in the online help, and in the /examples subdirectory, were improved to use more realistic coordinates, and additional examples were added.
369
9. The GEOTRANS application GUI was enhanced to provide an option to display leading zeroes on output geodetic coordinate values, including degrees (three digits for longitude, two digits for latitude), minutes (two digits), and seconds (two digits).
371
Release 2.3 - March 2006
373
1. The 3-parameter datum file, 3_param.dat, was updated to correct the latitude and longitude limits for DID (Deception Island), switching longitude order, and JOH (Johnston Island) datums.
375
2. An �off-by-one� error in datum indexing in the JNI interface was corrected.
377
3. Support for Red Hat Linux (Red Hat Professional 9.3 and later) and for SuSE Linux (SuSE Linux 9 and later) was added.
379
4. A reported potential error in file name string underflow/overflow in the Ellipsoid, Datum, and Geoid modules was corrected.
381
5. Support for multithreading was improved by adding mutual exclusion zones around code that opens and reads data files in the Ellipsoid, Datum, and Geoid modules.
383
6. Support for three additional gravity-related height models was added, based on requirements from the US military services:
384
a. EGM96 with variable grid spacing and natural spline interpolation
385
b. EGM84 with 10 degree by 10 degree grid spacing and bilinear interpolation
386
c. EGM84 with 10 degree by 10 degree grid spacing and natural spline interpolation
387
These are in addition to EGM96 with 15-minute grid spacing and bilinear interpolation, which was previously supported.
389
Release 2.4 - September 2006
391
1. The 3-parameter datum file, 3_param.dat, was updated to correct two spelling errors (Columbia -> Colombia, Phillipines -> Philippines).
393
2. The 3-parameter datum file, 3_param.dat, was updated to adjust the limits for several local datums in the 3-parameter datum file (ADI-E, CAC, CAI, COA, HJO, ING-A, KEG, LCF, NDS, SAE, SAN-A, SAN-C, VOI, and VOR).
395
3. All required ellipsoid, datum, and geoid data files to a /data subdirectory to eliminate the need for duplicate copies.
397
4. Error reporting was improved when required ellipsoid, datum, and/or geoid data files cannot be located at initialization.
399
5. In the Geoid module, problems were corrected in the interpolation of geoid separation values using a variable-resolution grid when converting to or from MSL-EGM96-VG-NS Height.
401
6. In the MGRS module, a problem was corrected in rounding up to the equator when converting to MGRS.
403
7. Support was added for the U.S. National Grid (USNG).
405
8. Support was added for the Global Area Reference System (USNG).
407
Release 2.4.1 - March 2007
409
1. Corrected two minor errors (6cm and 1cm) in the values contained in the EGM84 geoid
412
2. Improved error handling and reporting in the Transverse Mercator, UTM, and MGRS
413
modules at extreme northern and southern latitudes, for points that are more than 9
414
degrees, but less than 400km, from the central meridian.
416
3. Modified the US National Grid (USNG) module to truncate, rather than round, USNG
417
coordinates as required by the USNG specification.
419
4. Corrected an error in the calculation of valid ranges for input easting and northing
420
coordinates in the Mercator module, and several other map projection modules. This
421
caused valid inputs to be rejected when extremely large (e.g., 20,000,000m) false easting
422
or false northing values were specified for those map projections.
424
5. Improved error handling and reporting in the Lambert Conformal Conic modules in cases
425
of extremely small scale factor values.
427
6. Corrected an error in the MGRS module that occurred when a point rounded up to the
428
eastern boundary of the non-standard zone 31V in the northern Atlantic, which is
429
considered to be part of zone 32V.
431
Release 2.4.2 - August 2008
433
1. Corrected an error in the MGRS and USNG modules that incorrectly mapped 100,000m square
434
row letters to northing values in the northern portion of the X latitude band (northings > 9,000,000m).
436
2. Revised the handling of warnings reported by the Transverse Mercator (TM) module for points
437
located more than 9 degrees from the central meridian, when the TM module is invoked by the UTM and
438
MGRS modules, so that UTM or MGRS error checking takes precedence.
440
3. Added datum domain checks for those cases where no datum transformations are performed.
441
Previously, coordinates were not checked against the valid domain of the datum when the input datum
442
and output datum were identical.
444
4. The default accuracy estimate values for DTED Level 1 and DTED Level 2 were updated to be consistent
445
with MIL-PRF-89020B, Performance Specification, Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED), 23 May 2000, replacing
446
the values from MIL-PRF-89020A, 19 Apr 1996. Default spherical accuracy estimate values for all relevant data
447
sources were updated to reflect a more accurate relationship to the corresponding circular (horizontal)
450
5. In the GEOTRANS application, added commands to save the current selections and options settings as
451
the defaults, and to reset the current selections and options settings from the defaults.
453
6. In the GEOTRANS application, added capabilities to create and delete user-defined 7-parameter datums.
455
7. Corrected a problem with the checking of input coordinates against the valid region for a local datum
456
when a longitude value greater than +180 degrees was entered.
458
8. Corrected the valid regions for the PUK and NAR-E datums to use a range of longitudes that span the
459
+180/-180 degree line.