Robert Solomon <rob@drrob1.com> wrote in
news:MPG.19b1a3a0c08d292f9896aa@news-server.optonline.net:
> I don't know if this is the proper place to ask this, but I was
> wondering how big a degree is, on the surface that is. Or where should
> I look?
I'd suggest looking on the Degree Confluence Project website ;-)
Specifically, try this:
http://www.confluence.org/infoconf.php#poles
From that page:
If the Earth were a perfect sphere, the north-south distance between
adjacent pairs of degrees of latitude (parallels; lines that run
east-west) would be the same from the equator to the poles. However,
the east-west distance between adjacent pairs of degrees of longitude
(meridians; lines that run north-south) varies depending on the latitude,
with the maximum distance being at the equator, and the minimum distance
being at the poles, where the lines of longitude meet.
The Earth is not a perfect sphere, and the WGS84 system that we use for
degree confluences includes a mathematical model (GRS80) of the Earth as
an ellipsoid. Using established GRS80 constants, and the Vicenty Algorithm,
the distance between degrees of latitude (lines that run east-west) varies
from 110.57km (68.71mi) at the equator (0 degrees latitude) to 111.69km
(69.40mi) between 89 degrees latitude and the poles.
Using the same calculation methods, the distance between degrees of
longitude (lines that run north-south) varies between 111.32km (69.17mi)
at the equator (0 degrees latitude) to 1.95km (1.21mi) at 89 degrees
latitude, one degree from the north or south pole. Because the lines of
longitude meet at the poles, the distance between degrees of longitude
at the poles is zero.
--
Dave Patton
Canadian Coordinator, the Degree Confluence Project
http://www.confluence.org dpatton at confluence dot org
My website:
http://members.shaw.ca/davepatton/
Vancouver/Whistler - host of the 2010 Winter Olympics