Geodesy Wgs84 Knowledge Patch

Geodesy / WGS 84 Knowledge Patch

Use this patch

Before transforming or comparing coordinates, identify all of the following:

• Reference frame or datum realization, not only the label “WGS 84”, “ITRF”, or “ETRS89”.
• Coordinate epoch and parameter reference epoch for dynamic frames.
• Coordinate type, axis order, units, and dimensionality.
• Ellipsoidal, orthometric, dynamic, normal-orthometric, or tidal height semantics.
• Required accuracy, area of use, grid availability, and acceptable fallback behavior.

Then load the relevant reference below. Preserve explicit directions, signs, epochs, and units when transcribing transformation parameters.

Reference index

Breaking changes and deprecations

Respect PROJ compatibility boundaries

• PROJ 7 requires C99 and rejects NTv2 grids whose GS_TYPE is not SECONDS.
• PROJ 8 removes proj_api.h.
• PROJ 9 removes Autotools; use CMake. PROJ 9.4 requires CMake 3.16 or newer, and PROJ 9.6 requires C++17 to build.
• Use PROJ_DATA, introduced in 9.1, instead of deprecated PROJ_LIB.
• Do not use the Helmert transpose switch; it has been forbidden since PROJ 5.2. State coordinate_frame or position_vector explicitly whenever rotations are present.
• Do not use removed deformation +t_obs; use +dt and supply coordinate time when appropriate.

Pin behavior-sensitive PROJ versions

• PROJ 9.8.1 deliberately rolls its EPSG database back from 12.049 to 12.029, removing national ETRS89-XXX records introduced in 9.8.0. Do not assume the newer patch contains every record from 9.8.0.
• Require at least 9.3.1 for corrected ITRF2008 dry values for EURA and EURA_T, 9.6.0 for the corrected ITRF97 parameter in the ITRF2014 file, and 9.6.1 to prevent NAD83(CSRS) realizations from routing through generic NAD83.
• Expect exact auxiliary-latitude changes in PROJ 9.7.0 to alter results from aea, cea, laea, eqearth, healpix, and rhealpix relative to 9.6 and earlier.
• Treat a WKT2 DEFININGTRANSFORMATION node as parsed but ignored by PROJ 9.7; it does not instantiate the transformation.

Make operation fallback intentional

By default, proj_trans() may retry a lower-ranked candidate when the preferred operation fails for a coordinate. Use ONLY_BEST=YES, cs2cs --only-best, allow_ballpark=False, explicit authority and accuracy constraints, and error checking when silent fallback is unacceptable. Verify the operation actually used rather than trusting only the initial candidate description.

When a target CRS is 2D, PROJ 9.1 and newer do not perform a vertical transformation merely because the source is compound. Keep the workflow 3D, or use cs2cs --3d, when height must participate.

Frame and epoch discipline

Name the WGS 84 realization

WGS 84 (G2296) became current on 7 January 2024, superseding G2139. It is aligned to ITRF2020 and IGS20. For precision work, record G2296 explicitly instead of treating “WGS 84” as timeless.

The aligned operational WGS 84 and ITRF frames have a zero seven-parameter transformation by design. Do not insert another Helmert step solely because the frame names differ.

Treat ITRF2020-u2024 as updated station data

ITRF2020-u2024 preserves the ITRF2020 origin, scale, and orientation; all transformation parameters between them are zero. Use its updated positions, velocities, discontinuities, post-seismic deformation, and seasonal station-motion products for propagation. Keep an actual observation epoch with every dynamic-frame coordinate.

Keep broadcast GNSS frames distinct

• GPS broadcast positions are WGS 84.
• GLONASS broadcasts PZ-90.11.
• Galileo broadcasts GTRF.
• BeiDou broadcasts BDC.

Apply realization-appropriate transformations; do not relabel every GNSS result as WGS 84.

Transformation quick reference

Use Cartesian coordinates for Helmert operations

For a 3D geographic workflow, convert longitude, latitude, and ellipsoidal height to geocentric coordinates, apply +proj=helmert, then convert back. PROJ uses metres for x/y/z, arcseconds for rx/ry/rz, ppm for s, and corresponding per-year units for rates.

P(t) = P(t_epoch) + dP * (t - t_epoch)

Supply observation time as the coordinate’s fourth component in decimal years. Negating rotations converts between coordinate-frame and position-vector conventions; it does not invert source and target.

Keep local frames fixed

For ECEF odometry in a stable ENU frame, choose one origin and reuse its basis for position, velocity, and orientation:

p_enu0 = R_ecef_to_enu0 * (p_ecef - p0_ecef)
v_enu0 = R_ecef_to_enu0 * v_ecef
R_body_to_enu0 = R_ecef_to_enu0 * R_body_to_ecef

Do not rebuild the ENU basis at each current position unless a moving local frame is intended.

Build valid PROJ pipelines

Use at least one +step; keep adjacent step units compatible. Use +inv to reverse one step and +omit_fwd or +omit_inv to skip it by whole-pipeline direction. Convert geographic coordinates through +proj=cart before +proj=topocentric.

+proj=pipeline +ellps=WGS84
+step +proj=cart
+step +proj=topocentric +lon_0=5 +lat_0=55 +h_0=200

For grid lists, the first grid covering the point wins. Prefix an optional missing grid with @; use a final null only when a worldwide zero-shift fallback is intentional.

Height quick reference

Distinguish ellipsoidal and gravity-related height

For EGM2008 (EPSG:3855):

H_EGM2008 = h_WGS84 - N
h_WGS84 = H_EGM2008 + N

CRS.to_3d() adds ellipsoidal height; it does not add EGM2008, another geoid model, or an orthometric datum. A vertical CRS identifier alone also does not provide a correction grid.

Do not substitute constant offsets between NAVD 88 and NGVD 29, between tidal and geodetic datums, or between different EGM releases. These are distinct surfaces and, in some cases, distinct height types and epochs.

Geodesic quick reference

Prefer globally robust ellipsoidal solvers

Spherical calculations can err by roughly 0.3%, and about 0.55% on some equator-crossing routes. Vincenty normally gives high accuracy but its inverse iteration can be slow or fail near antipodes. Bound the iteration, test convergence, handle coincident/equatorial/antipodal degeneracies, and fall back to a globally convergent solver such as GeographicLib.

Do not use spherical Mercator isometric latitude for an ellipsoidal rhumb calculation:

psi = asinh(tan(phi)) - e * atanh(e * sin(phi))

Projection quick reference

Configure UTM explicitly

+proj=utm requires +zone=1..60; use +south for southern false northing and state +ellps=WGS84 when needed because a bare projection string defaults to GRS80. The default sixth-order poder_engsager algorithm is the safe general choice; +algo=auto may select the faster approximation within its error threshold, while +approx can diverge beyond about 3° from the central meridian.

Carry zone and hemisphere with every UTM coordinate. Easting/northing alone does not reliably determine the hemisphere. Account for both meridian convergence and point scale in ground-to-grid work, plus elevation reduction for ground distances.

MGRS denotes a cell, not its centre. Conversion routines documented here return the south-west corner, and MGRS text formatting truncates while UTM formatting rounds.

Python API quick reference

Preserve CRS structure

Use WKT2:2019 or PROJJSON when lossless structure matters; PROJ strings and parameter dictionaries can discard CRS information. Treat bound and compound CRSs recursively, and do not replace a bound CRS with the authority code of only its source CRS.

Make transformer behavior explicit

transformer = Transformer.from_crs(
    source_crs,
    target_crs,
    authority="EPSG",
    allow_ballpark=False,
)
x2, y2 = transformer.transform(x, y, errcheck=True)
used = transformer.get_last_used_operation()

Omitting authority applies configured authority-to-authority preferences; authority="any" removes those restrictions. Transformation errors otherwise return inf by default. For streamed three-component time coordinates, set time_3rd=True; otherwise the third ordinate is height.

Do not share TransformerGroup-returned operations or transformers concurrently. For inplace=True, provide C-contiguous double-precision arrays.