Bearing from one coordinate to another

Ivan T picture Ivan T · Feb 26, 2012 · Viewed 20k times · Source

I implemented the "bearing" formula from http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html. But it seems highly inaccurate - I suspect some mistakes in my implementation. Could you help me with finding it? My code is below:

protected static double bearing(double lat1, double lon1, double lat2, double lon2){

double longDiff= lon2-lon1;
double y = Math.sin(longDiff)*Math.cos(lat2);
double x = Math.cos(lat1)*Math.sin(lat2)-Math.sin(lat1)*Math.cos(lat2)*Math.cos(longDiff);

return Math.toDegrees((Math.atan2(y, x))+360)%360;
}

Answer

Ivan T picture Ivan T · Feb 27, 2012

Here is the final code:

protected static double bearing(double lat1, double lon1, double lat2, double lon2){
  double longitude1 = lon1;
  double longitude2 = lon2;
  double latitude1 = Math.toRadians(lat1);
  double latitude2 = Math.toRadians(lat2);
  double longDiff= Math.toRadians(longitude2-longitude1);
  double y= Math.sin(longDiff)*Math.cos(latitude2);
  double x=Math.cos(latitude1)*Math.sin(latitude2)-Math.sin(latitude1)*Math.cos(latitude2)*Math.cos(longDiff);

  return (Math.toDegrees(Math.atan2(y, x))+360)%360;
}