How much precision do decimal places in latitude & longitude coordinates represent?
The below charts show LATITUDE distances only, as they remain relatively the same anywhere on Earth.
LONGITUDE, on the other hand, are the same distances only at the Equator; the LONGITUDE distances become less the further away from the Equator, becoming 0 at the North and South poles.
Now, if the Earth was a perfect circle (sphere), the distances between latitudes would remain the same, no matter how far north or south.
However, the Earth is actually ellipsoid, as it's shaped like an M&M candy, squashed so it's larger around the equator; that makes the distance of 1° degree of latitude at a pole nearly 1 mile longer than at the equator.
The latitude distances in THIS chart are APPROXIMATE, in order to easily show how the number of decimal places affects precision.
Decimal
places
Latitude
example
Precision
in
kilometers
Precision
in
meters
Precision
in
centimeters
Precision
in
millimeters
Precision
in
microns
Precision
in
nanometers
Precision
in
picometers
Precision
in
statute miles
Precision
in
statute fractions
0
69°
100
km
62.1
mi
62
1/8
mi
Approximate altitude where Earth's atmosphere ends and outer space begins.
1
69.1°
10
km
6.2
mi
6
1/4
mi
2
69.12°
1
km
1,000
m
.6
mi
5/8
mi
3
69.123°
100
m
328.1
ft
328
1/16
ft
The length of a sprint track?
4
69.1234°
10
m
1,000
cm
32.8
ft
32
13/16
ft
The length of a bus?
5
69.12345°
1
m
100
cm
1,000
mm
3.3
ft
3
1/4
ft
The length of your arm?
6
69.123456°
10
cm
100
mm
3.9
in
3
15/16
in
Your footprint, if you were standing on the toes of one foot.
7
69.1234567°
1
cm
10
mm
.4
in
3937/10000
in
A watermelon seed.
8
69.12345678°
1
mm
1,000
µm
.04
in
394/10000
in
The width of paperclip wire.
9
69.123456789°
100
µm
.004
in
39/10000
in
The width of a strand of hair.
10
69.1234567890°
10
µm
.0004
in
39/10000
in
A speck of pollen.
11
69.12345678901°
1
µm
1,000
nm
.00004
in
39/10000
in
A piece of cigarette smoke.
12
69.123456789012°
100
nm
.000004
in
39/10000
in
You're doing virus-level mapping at this point.
13
69.1234567890123°
10
nm
.0000004
in
39/10000
in
Does it matter how big this is?
14
69.12345678901234°
1
nm
1,000
pm
.00000004
in
39/10000
in
Your fingernail grows about this far in one second.
