UTM interface to Google maps (and others)

lat/lon, UTM or MTM to Google maps (and others) interface

Select ellipsoid:
Traverse Mercator:	UTM MTM Canada MTM ref meridian: (see notes)
Latitude (dms)
Longitude (dms)
xTM Easting (x)
xTM Northing (y)
xTM Zone
Display with:	Google map GPS visualizer Bing maps GeoHack
Display window:	here separate

Computed values (for cut&paste):
lat dec:
lon dec:
xTM:
lat/lon:

This is a simple tool to convert between UTM or MTM and lat/lon, and bring up the associated Google map from either. The Google map and satellite images presented are reasonably well positioned as far as I can tell (to within 10 meters or so -- more below).
Note: mapping to Google only works with the WGS-84 ellipsoid!

Select the desired ellipsoid and traverse Mercator parms (orange area), fill in the appropriate fields of either first (pink area) or second (yellow area) group (xTM is UTM or MTM, as appropriate, zone letter not relevant for MTM), and click on the adjacent Calculate or Display button to convert and, optionally, display in selected system specified below (you can also select same or separate window).

More details below.

Aug 2006: added MTM for Québec.
Sep 2006: added the topo maps (via GPS Visualizer).
Jan 2008: extended MTM to the whole of Canada (based on set of rules defining MTM zones in GSRUG.FOR, from the online geodetic tools of the Canadian Spatial Reference System). All caveats apply!
Jan 2010: added interface to Bing maps. May 2011: added interface to GeoHack (used by Wiki), which allows access to all sorts of other tools.
Apr 2014: revisited the GPS visualizer interface.

These programs have been tested with a variety of browsers. They are written in Javascript, and should work on most modern browsers released since 2000. If you have any problem, please let me know exactly which browser and OS you are using. The Javascript code is all bog standard so should not have any undesired effects on your computer.

If you can see the interface and enter data, but nothing happens, then it's possible that you have disabled Javascript on your computer. My programs might even tell you this! You can save the programs to your PC easily - just right-click in the window and select "Save Source" in most cases. Save as html code.

Back to home page. If there are any problems or suggestions, please contact me: (français, English, Deutsch). If you wish to support this work, you can make donations via PayPal.

Version 3.8 Apr 2014.

More usage notes

When entering latitude and longitude, you can enter just decimal degrees, or degrees and decimal minutes, or degrees, minutes and decimal seconds. If no north-vs-south or east-vs-west info is provided, values default to N and W (ie. North America). This info can be provided in the fields themselves (as letters anywhere or as sign at the beginning) or using the selectors at the right. The latitude/longitude fields can contain other chars, such as °, quote or double-quote which will be ignored (only order is important).

At the bottom of the form, there is an area (white) which provides decimal degrees, and the more usual notations (xTM and lat/lon) in a single field for cut&paste. When converting to lat/lon, the common "ddd mm.mmm" notation is used. When converting to UTM or MTM, the results are presented in the usual order: easting first. Data entered here is ignored.

I have added radio buttons to choose between UTM and MTM; latter is useful in Canada only. MTM stands for "Modified Traverse Mercator" and uses a three-degree zone (UTM uses six-degree zones), and different parameters for scale (.9999 -- UTM uses .9996) and easting origin (usually 304800m -- UTM uses 500000m). I don't fully understand zone number values in MTM (yet), but I think the tool works correctly within Canada, for MTM zones from 1 to 32, as per NRCan's map of MTM zones). When using MTM, no need for a zone letter, you will be forced into the northern hemisphere anyway (unless someone tells me MTM is useful south of the equator). Note also: SCOPQ (Système de coordonnées planes du Québec) uses MTM.
MTM zones in this web page reflect the definitions used by the official NRCan tool (GSRUG.FOR), as it stands early 2008, some extra notes available here. However, MTM rules are defined by the provinces. To add some flexibility here, you can explicitly specify a reference meridian (zone will then be displayed as 'x').

On accuracy of positioning: the low-res sat images seem worse. I did find one example where the positioning error was about 40 meters. So you may want to have some reference points in your area (eg. benchmarks) to check against.

Note: this tool cannot be used to convert between different ellipsoids. But it can be used to convert between MTM and UTM, via lat/lon.

Display systems below all use WGS-84, a warning is issued if you click on Display with an other ellipsoid. A few display systems are proposed:

The standard Google maps (map, satellite, hybrid)
A nice selection of maps via GPS Visualizer: I have put their standard aliases (details here), but once you are on the page, many other choices are available.
Bing maps
GeoHack: this is the system used by Wiki for geographic coordinates, and it provides access to all sorts of display options.

Once there, you are free to zoom in or out, change to another type of display, &c.

GPS Visualizer is a great site to display GPS waypoints or tracks against the background of Google or other maps. Input form is here.

A more "official" conversion site to convert between lat/lon and UTM or MTM: Natural Resources Canada

Lat/lon notation puts the y coordinate (lat) first. xTM notation puts the x coordinate (easting) first.

Zone numbers (the UTM or MTM number) are more correctly called "gores". But it seems the former is the more common term. The strict definition of "zone" is what is called here zone letters. MTM is local in scope (northern hemisphere), so zone letters don't bring additional information.

Test data is just a test convenience; the first time used, it points to the Tour de l'horloge in Montreal, a nice place to visit and get some exercise. Then it points to a set of test points for debugging.

lat/lon, UTM or MTM to Google maps (and others) interface

Bulk conversion form