1. What is Azimuth Calculation?

Azimuth is the angle between a reference direction (typically north) and a point of interest, measured clockwise in degrees or radians. It's commonly used in navigation, surveying, and astronomy.

2. How Does the Calculator Work?

The calculator uses the atan2 function:

Where:

• \( \text{east\_diff} \) — Easting difference between coordinates
• \( \text{north\_diff} \) — Northing difference between coordinates
• \( \text{atan2} \) — Two-argument arctangent function that preserves quadrant information

Explanation: The function calculates the angle in the Cartesian plane from the positive x-axis (north) to the point (east_diff, north_diff).

3. Importance of Azimuth Calculation

Details: Azimuth is fundamental in navigation systems, geographic information systems (GIS), antenna alignment, and military targeting systems.

4. Using the Calculator

Tips: Enter the easting and northing differences between two points. The calculator will provide the azimuth in both radians and degrees (0° to 360°).

5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What's the difference between azimuth and bearing?
A: Azimuth is measured clockwise from north (0° to 360°), while bearing uses north or south as reference (e.g., N45°E).

Q2: How do I convert azimuth to compass direction?
A: 0°=North, 90°=East, 180°=South, 270°=West, with intermediate directions between these cardinal points.

Q3: Why does atan2 give negative values?
A: atan2 returns values from -π to π (-180° to 180°). The calculator normalizes this to 0-360° for standard azimuth representation.

Q4: What coordinate system should I use?
A: This works with any Cartesian coordinate system where east_diff represents the x-axis and north_diff the y-axis.

Q5: How accurate is this calculation?
A: The calculation is mathematically precise, limited only by floating-point precision and input accuracy.