What is a Coordinate Reference System in GIS?

Which Projection to use.

Coordinate system Vs Coordinate Reference System

We can represent each location on earth by a set of coordinates using coordinate reference systems (CRS). We have to project the data between different coordinate systems for effective mapping. What is the need for this projection? For instance, a GPS, or global positioning system, uses its global navigation satellite system to provide location details. It is a 2-dimensional (X, Y) value which occasionally includes a height (Z) component. But since the Earth is an ellipsoid with an irregular shape, we need a coordinate system that can account for this shape to pinpoint where objects are on the planet. We shift from the 3D space of the earth to the 2D space of a paper/monitor when making a map. Data in a 3-D earth space is planed as per the components of the Coordinate. It is therefore essential to use a suitable projection to represent the earth’s curved surface on a flat surface. Latitude and longitude are mathematically transformed from spherical to an XY plane in this case (planar). It enables us to create a map with accurate distance measurements, and we can determine the area and direction from it.

These

• X,Y and Z values (Coordinate System)