egm96geoid

Geoid height from Earth Gravitational Model 1996 (EGM96)

Syntaxes of the egm96geoid function that return referencing vectors will be removed in a future release. Use a syntax that returns a reference object instead (requires R2020a or later). For more information, see Compatibility Considerations.

Syntax

N = egm96geoid(lat,lon)

N = egm96geoid(R)

[N,globalR] = egm96geoid

[N,refvec] = egm96geoid(samplefactor)

[N,refvec] = egm96geoid(samplefactor,latlim,lonlim)

Description

example

N = egm96geoid(lat,lon) returns the height in meters of the geoid at the specified latitude and longitude from the Earth Gravitational Model of 1996 (EGM96). Specify latitude and longitude in degrees. (since R2019b)

example

N = egm96geoid(R) returns geoid heights at the cell center or posting locations specified by the geographic postings reference or geographic cells reference object R. (since R2020a)

example

[N,globalR] = egm96geoid returns geoid heights for the entire globe as a 721-by-1441 matrix spaced at 15-minute intervals with latitude limits [-90 90] and longitude limits [0 360]. The function also returns a geographic postings reference object that contains spatial referencing information for the geoid heights. (since R2020a)

[N,refvec] = egm96geoid(samplefactor) returns a grid N of geoid heights from EGM96, sampled horizontally and vertically at samplefactor intervals. The output argument refvec is a referencing vector used to associate each geoid height with a latitude and longitude.

[N,refvec] = egm96geoid(samplefactor,latlim,lonlim) returns geoid heights within specified latitude and longitude limits.

Examples

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Geoid Height from Latitude and Longitude

Open Live Script

Find geoid heights from EGM96 by specifying latitude and longitude values in degrees. The result is returned in meters.

lat = 27.988056;
lon = 86.925278;
N = egm96geoid(lat,lon)

N = -28.7444

Geoid Heights within Limits

Open Live Script

View geoid heights from EGM96 for an area including Europe.

First, create a GeographicPostingsReference object. Specify the latitude and longitude limits of the area in degrees. Specify the raster size as the number of rows and columns for the grid of geoid heights. Then, return the grid of geoid heights for the area by calling egm96geoid on the reference object.

latlim = [35 72];
lonlim = [-12 51];
rasterSize = [100 100];
R = georefpostings(latlim,lonlim,rasterSize);
N = egm96geoid(R);

Note that the size of N matches the raster size of R.

size(N)

ans = 1×2

   100   100

Load coastline latitude and longitude data into the workspace. Then, plot the geoid height and coastline data on a set of map axes.

load coastlines

worldmap(latlim,lonlim)
geoshow(N,R,'DisplayType','surface')
geoshow(coastlat,coastlon,'Color','k')

Geoid Heights for Entire Globe

Open Live Script

View geoid heights from EGM96 for the entire globe.

First, return the geoid heights and a referencing object for the globe. The geoid heights are spaced at 15-minute intervals. Load coastline latitude and longitude data into the workspace. Then, plot the geoid heights and coastline data on a set of map axes.

[N,R] = egm96geoid;
load coastlines

worldmap('World')
geoshow(N,R,'DisplayType','surface')
geoshow(coastlat,coastlon,'Color','k')

Input Arguments

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`lat` — Latitude
scalar | vector | matrix

Latitude in degrees, specified as a scalar, vector, or matrix. The dimension of lat depends on the dimension of the geoid heights you want to find.

To find a single geoid height, specify lat and lon as scalars.
To find several geoid heights, specify lat and lon as vectors of the same length.
To find a p-by-q grid of geoid heights, specify lat and lon as p-by-q matrices.

Data Types: single | double

`lon` — Longitude
scalar | vector | matrix

Longitude in degrees, specified as a scalar, vector, or matrix. The dimension of lon depends on the dimension of the geoid heights you want to find.

To find a single geoid height, specify lat and lon as scalars.
To find several geoid heights, specify lat and lon as vectors of the same length.
To find a p-by-q grid of geoid heights, specify lat and lon as p-by-q matrices.

Data Types: single | double

`R` — Geographic reference
`GeographicPostingsReference` object | `GeographicCellsReference` object

Geographic reference, specified as a GeographicPostingsReference object or a GeographicCellsReference object that contains geospatial referencing information for N. The RasterSize property of the geographic reference object determines the size of the data grid, size(N).

`samplefactor` — Sample factor
positive integer

Sample factor, specified as a positive integer.

Example: egm96geoid(2) returns a grid of geoid heights spaced at 30 minute intervals.

Data Types: double

`latlim` — Latitude limits
two-element vector

Latitude limits, specified as a two-element vector of the form [southernLimit northernLimit]. Specify latitude limits in the range [-90 90].

Example: [50 65]

Data Types: double

`lonlim` — Longitude limits
two-element vector

Longitude limits, specified as a two-element vector of the form [westernLimit easternLimit]. Specify longitude limits in the range [-180 180] or [0 360].

Example: [170 190] returns data centered on the 180-degree meridian.

Example: [-10 10] returns data centered on the Prime Meridian.

Data Types: double

Output Arguments

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`N` — Geoid height
scalar | vector | matrix

Geoid height in meters, returned as a scalar, vector, or matrix.

The size of N depends on the syntax:

Syntax	Size of `N`
`N = egm96geoid(lat,lon)`	Size of `lat` and `lon`
`N = egm96geoid(R)`	`R.RasterSize`
`[N,globalR] = egm96geoid`	721-by-1441 matrix

Data Types: double

`globalR` — Geographic reference
`GeographicPostingsReference` object

Geographic reference, returned as a GeographicPostingsReference object of size 721-by-1441 with latitude limits [-90 90] and longitude limits [0 360].

`refvec` — Referencing vector
three-element vector

Referencing vector, returned as a three-element vector of the form [s nlat wlon] with these values:

s – Number of geoid height samples per degree
nlat – Northernmost latitude in degrees, plus 1/(2*s)
wlon – Westernmost longitude in degrees, minus 1/(2*s)

MATLAB^® uses refvec to associate each geoid height with a latitude and longitude. Geoid height samples are located along latitude–longitude grid lines, as opposed to between the grid lines. For more information, see Geographic Interpretations of Geolocated Grids.

Data Types: double

More About

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Earth Gravitational Model of 1996 (EGM96)

The geoid is an equipotential surface of the Earth's gravity field that approximates global mean sea level. You can visualize the geoid as the surface of the ocean without effects such as weather, waves, and land. The Earth Gravitational Model of 1996 (EGM96) is based on the ellipsoid specified by the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS84), so the egm96geoid function returns heights above or below the surface of the WGS84 ellipsoid.

Compatibility Considerations

expand all

`egm96geoid` syntaxes that return referencing vectors will be removed

Not recommended starting in R2020b

Syntaxes of the egm96geoid function that return referencing vectors will be removed. Use a syntax that returns a geographic raster reference object instead. Reference objects have several advantages over referencing vectors.

Unlike referencing vectors, reference objects have properties that document the size of the associated raster, its geographic limits, and the direction of its rows and columns. For more information about reference object properties, see the GeographicCellsReference and GeographicPostingsReference objects.
You can manipulate the limits of rasters associated with reference objects using the geocrop function.
You can manipulate the size and resolution of rasters associated with reference objects using the georesize function.
Most functions that accept referencing vectors as inputs also accept reference objects.

This table shows the syntaxes of the egm96geoid function that return referencing vectors and how to update your code to use syntaxes that return reference objects instead.

Will Be Removed	Recommended
[N,refvec] = egm96geoid(samplefactor);	[~,globalR] = egm96geoid; latlim = globalR.LatitudeLimits; lonlim = globalR.LongitudeLimits; globalSize = globalR.RasterSize; rasterSize = 1 + ceil((globalSize - 1) / samplefactor); R = georefpostings(latlim,lonlim,rasterSize); N = egm96geoid(R);
[N,refvec] = egm96geoid(samplefactor,latlim,lonlim);	[~, globalR] = egm96geoid; spacing = samplefactor ... * globalR.SampleSpacingInLatitude; R = georefpostings(latlim,lonlim,spacing,spacing); N = egm96geoid(R);

Will Be Removed

Recommended

[N,refvec] = egm96geoid(samplefactor);

[~,globalR] = egm96geoid;
latlim = globalR.LatitudeLimits;
lonlim = globalR.LongitudeLimits;
globalSize = globalR.RasterSize;
rasterSize = 1 + ceil((globalSize - 1) / samplefactor);
R = georefpostings(latlim,lonlim,rasterSize);
N = egm96geoid(R);

[N,refvec] = egm96geoid(samplefactor,latlim,lonlim);

[~, globalR] = egm96geoid;
spacing = samplefactor ...
    * globalR.SampleSpacingInLatitude;
R = georefpostings(latlim,lonlim,spacing,spacing);
N = egm96geoid(R);

Documentation

egm96geoid

Syntax

Description

Examples

Geoid Height from Latitude and Longitude

Geoid Heights within Limits

Geoid Heights for Entire Globe

Input Arguments

`lat` — Latitude
scalar | vector | matrix

`lon` — Longitude
scalar | vector | matrix

`R` — Geographic reference
`GeographicPostingsReference` object | `GeographicCellsReference` object

`samplefactor` — Sample factor
positive integer

`latlim` — Latitude limits
two-element vector

`lonlim` — Longitude limits
two-element vector

Output Arguments

`N` — Geoid height
scalar | vector | matrix

`globalR` — Geographic reference
`GeographicPostingsReference` object

`refvec` — Referencing vector
three-element vector

More About

Earth Gravitational Model of 1996 (EGM96)

Compatibility Considerations

`egm96geoid` syntaxes that return referencing vectors will be removed

See Also

Functions

Topics

Mapping Toolbox Documentation

Support

Documentation

egm96geoid

Syntax

Description

Examples

Geoid Height from Latitude and Longitude

Geoid Heights within Limits

Geoid Heights for Entire Globe

Input Arguments

lat — Latitude scalar | vector | matrix

lon — Longitude scalar | vector | matrix

R — Geographic reference GeographicPostingsReference object | GeographicCellsReference object

samplefactor — Sample factor positive integer

latlim — Latitude limits two-element vector

lonlim — Longitude limits two-element vector

Output Arguments

N — Geoid height scalar | vector | matrix

globalR — Geographic reference GeographicPostingsReference object

refvec — Referencing vector three-element vector

More About

Earth Gravitational Model of 1996 (EGM96)

Compatibility Considerations

egm96geoid syntaxes that return referencing vectors will be removed

See Also

Functions

Topics

Mapping Toolbox Documentation

Support

`lat` — Latitude
scalar | vector | matrix

`lon` — Longitude
scalar | vector | matrix

`R` — Geographic reference
`GeographicPostingsReference` object | `GeographicCellsReference` object

`samplefactor` — Sample factor
positive integer

`latlim` — Latitude limits
two-element vector

`lonlim` — Longitude limits
two-element vector

`N` — Geoid height
scalar | vector | matrix

`globalR` — Geographic reference
`GeographicPostingsReference` object

`refvec` — Referencing vector
three-element vector

`egm96geoid` syntaxes that return referencing vectors will be removed