Given a set of latitude and longitude points, how can I calculate the latitude and longitude of the center point of that set (aka a point that would center a view on all points)?
EDIT: Python solution I've used:
Convert lat/lon (must be in radians) to Cartesian coordinates for each location.
X = cos(lat) * cos(lon)
Y = cos(lat) * sin(lon)
Z = sin(lat)
Compute average x, y and z coordinates.
x = (x1 + x2 + ... + xn) / n
y = (y1 + y2 + ... + yn) / n
z = (z1 + z2 + ... + zn) / n
Convert average x, y, z coordinate to latitude and longitude.
Lon = atan2(y, x)
Hyp = sqrt(x * x + y * y)
Lat = atan2(z, hyp)
Thanks! Here is a C# version of OP's solutions using degrees. It utilises the System.Device.Location.GeoCoordinate class
public static GeoCoordinate GetCentralGeoCoordinate(
IList<GeoCoordinate> geoCoordinates)
{
if (geoCoordinates.Count == 1)
{
return geoCoordinates.Single();
}
double x = 0;
double y = 0;
double z = 0;
foreach (var geoCoordinate in geoCoordinates)
{
var latitude = geoCoordinate.Latitude * Math.PI / 180;
var longitude = geoCoordinate.Longitude * Math.PI / 180;
x += Math.Cos(latitude) * Math.Cos(longitude);
y += Math.Cos(latitude) * Math.Sin(longitude);
z += Math.Sin(latitude);
}
var total = geoCoordinates.Count;
x = x / total;
y = y / total;
z = z / total;
var centralLongitude = Math.Atan2(y, x);
var centralSquareRoot = Math.Sqrt(x * x + y * y);
var centralLatitude = Math.Atan2(z, centralSquareRoot);
return new GeoCoordinate(centralLatitude * 180 / Math.PI, centralLongitude * 180 / Math.PI);
}