# Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)¶

The Universal Transverse Mercator is a system of map projections divided into sixty zones across the globe, with each zone corresponding to 6 degrees of longigude.

 Classification Transverse cylindrical, conformal Available forms Forward and inverse, Spherical and Elliptical Defined area Within the used zone, but transformations of coordinates in adjacent zones can be expected to be accurate as well Alias utm Domain 2D Input type Geodetic coordinates Output type Projected coordinates

UTM zones.

UTM projections are really the Transverse Mercator to which specific parameters, such as central meridians, have been applied. The Earth is divided into 60 zones each generally 6° wide in longitude. Bounding meridians are evenly divisible by 6°, and zones are numbered from 1 to 60 proceeding east from the 180th meridian from Greenwich with minor exceptions [Snyder1987].

## Usage¶

Convert geodetic coordinate to UTM Zone 32 on the northern hemisphere:

$echo 12 56 | proj +proj=utm +zone=32 687071.44 6210141.33  Convert geodetic coordinate to UTM Zone 59 on the souther hemisphere: $ echo 174 -44 | proj +proj=utm +zone=59 +south
740526.32       5123750.87


## Parameters¶

### Required¶

+zone=<value>

Select which UTM zone to use. Can be a value between 1-60.

+south

Add this flag when using the UTM on the southern hemisphere.

+approx

New in version 6.0.0.

Use faster, less accurate algorithm for the Transverse Mercator.

### Optional¶

+ellps=<value>

See proj -le for a list of available ellipsoids.

Defaults to “GRS80”.