February 23, 2006–GeometricalGeodesy, a new Mathematica application package for solving fundamental geodesy and analytical cartography problems, is now available from Wolfram Research. Primarily intended for computing coordinates in a variety of datums and coordinate systems, the package is the only one that combines the core elements of geometrical geodesy into a single, comprehensive framework. Complete integration with Mathematica offers significant advantages for accurate numerical computation, exact symbolic analysis, and visual interpretation of results.
GeometricalGeodesy is for those needing high-precision computations of distances and directions about the Earth or those wanting to explore the consequences of the shape of the Earth on coordinates and the information derived from them. It is ideal for users from a wide range of spatial and earth-science disciplines, such as cartography, photogrammetry, navigation, geology, geophysics, astrophysics, geography, and geographic information science.
Expert professionals, “especially those doing research or teaching in geodesy or related areas–for example, GPS surveying–may find the package to be exactly what they need,” said William Haneberg, principal of Haneberg Geoscience and author of Computational Geosciences with Mathematica. Specialized functions also enable students and educators to focus on concepts rather than on code implementations.
Features of GeometricalGeodesy include:
- Object-oriented implementation for positions, including type-checking and vector algebra for Cartesian objects
- Linear and angular units of measure, with system conversions
- Access to a collection of 24 reference ellipsoids and 18 geodetic datums, which can be user-supplemented
- Use of geodetic curvilinear (latitude, longitude, ellipsoid height); Earth-centered, Earth-fixed, Cartesian (XYZ); and local geodetic Cartesian (ENU) coordinate systems
- Transformations among coordinate systems and datums
- Common geodesy computations, such as forward and inverse problems and coordinate manipulations
- Cartographic projections, such as Mercator, Transverse Mercator, Oblique Mercator, Lambert conformal conic, orthographic, and stereographic, for both ellipsoid and spherical implementations
The extensive functionality in GeometricalGeodesy far outstrips that of existing coordinate calculators and toolkits, while saving users from the countless hours of custom coding, debugging, and research that would be required to perform the same calculations from scratch or as ad hoc functions. Detailed examples enable users to quickly familiarize themselves with the package’s capabilities, and online documentation is integrated into the Mathematica Help Browser for easy reference.
GeometricalGeodesy can be immediately downloaded from the Wolfram Research web store. Developed and supported by Dr. Thomas H. Meyer and designed for use with Mathematica 5.1 or higher, it is available for Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux platforms.
Through April 30, 2006, all customers can take advantage of a special 25% discount on the price of GeometricalGeodesy.
More information is available on the GeometricalGeodesy website.