UTM Coordinate Converter
Convert latitude and longitude to UTM zone, easting and northing, or back, on WGS 84. Sub-millimetre accuracy, with grid convergence and scale factor.
How it's calculated
UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) divides the world into 60 zones, each 6° of longitude wide, and gives positions in metres: an easting from a line 500,000 m west of the zone's central meridian, and a northing from the equator (plus 10,000,000 m in the southern hemisphere).
The converter uses the WGS 84 ellipsoid (the one GPS uses) and the Transverse Mercator formulas of Krüger, as published by Karney (2011). They are accurate to well under a millimetre inside a zone.
- Zone: from the longitude, with the standard exceptions for south-west Norway (zone 32V) and Svalbard (zones 31X to 37X).
- Band letter (C to X): the 8° latitude band, shown for reference; the hemisphere (N or S) is what the conversion needs.
- Grid convergence and scale factor: the angle between grid north and true north, and how much the map stretches at that point.
UTM is defined from 80°S to 84°N. Polar areas use a different system (UPS).
Frequently asked questions
Which UTM zone is the UAE in?
Most of the UAE, including Dubai, Sharjah and the northern emirates, is in zone 40 (longitudes 54° to 60° E). The western part of Abu Dhabi, west of 54° E, is in zone 39.
Which datum does it use?
WGS 84, the datum used by GPS and most web maps. Coordinates in a local datum (such as the old Nahrwan datum) differ by tens to hundreds of metres and need a datum transformation first.
Why do I need the hemisphere for UTM to latitude/longitude?
Northings repeat in each hemisphere: the southern hemisphere adds a false northing of 10,000,000 m. N or S tells the converter which one you mean.