Have you ever experienced this? Looking at a string of numbers and symbols on a map and your mind goes blank. Especially when you're playing with geographic data, planning a trip, or developing LBS applications, seeing two completely different latitude and longitude formats like "34.0522, -118.2437" and "34°3′8″N, 118°14′37″W" makes you feel like someone hit the pause button? Don't panic, today I'll talk to you about these two common formats—Decimal Degrees (DD) and Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS). I've also prepared a super practical tool to help you handle them effortlessly!
How Many Latitude and Longitude Formats Are There? Let's Talk About DD and DMS
1. Decimal Degrees (DD)
DD format, simply put, uses decimals directly to represent latitude and longitude. For example, 34.0522 degrees North latitude and 118.2437 degrees West longitude is written directly as 34.0522, -118.2437. Here's a quick tip: positive numbers generally represent North latitude and East longitude, while negative numbers represent South latitude and West longitude