Constructing a triangle based on Coordinates on a map - google-maps

I'm constructing a geolocation based application and I'm trying to figure out a way to make my application realise when a user is facing the direction of the given location (a particular long / lat co-ord). I've got the math figured, I just have the triangle to construct.
//UPDATE
So I've figured out a good bit of this...
Below is a method which takes in a long / lat value and attempts to compute a triangle finding a point 700 meters away and one to its left + right. It'd then use these to construct the triangle. It computes the correct longitude but the latitude ends up somewhere off the coast of east Africa. (I'm in Ireland!).
public void drawtri(double currlng,double currlat, double bearing){
bearing = (bearing < 0 ? -bearing : bearing);
System.out.println("RUNNING THE DRAW TRIANGLE METHOD!!!!!");
System.out.println("CURRENT LNG" + currlng);
System.out.println("CURRENT LAT" + currlat);
System.out.println("CURRENT BEARING" + bearing);
//Find point X(x,y)
double distance = 0.7; //700 meters.
double R = 6371.0; //The radius of the earth.
//Finding X's y value.
Math.toRadians(currlng);
Math.toRadians(currlat);
Math.toRadians(bearing);
distance = distance/R;
Global.Alat = Math.asin(Math.sin(currlat)*Math.cos(distance)+
Math.cos(currlat)*Math.sin(distance)*Math.cos(bearing));
System.out.println("CURRENT ALAT!!: " + Global.Alat);
//Finding X's x value.
Global.Alng = currlng + Math.atan2(Math.sin(bearing)*Math.sin(distance)
*Math.cos(currlat), Math.cos(distance)-Math.sin(currlat)*Math.sin(Global.Alat));
Math.toDegrees(Global.Alat);
Math.toDegrees(Global.Alng);
//Co-ord of Point B(x,y)
// Note: Lng = X axis, Lat = Y axis.
Global.Blat = Global.Alat+ 00.007931;
Global.Blng = Global.Alng;
//Co-ord of Point C(x,y)
Global.Clat = Global.Alat - 00.007931;
Global.Clng = Global.Alng;
}
From debugging I've determined the problem lies with the computation of the latitude done here..
Global.Alat = Math.asin(Math.sin(currlat)*Math.cos(distance)+
Math.cos(currlat)*Math.sin(distance)*Math.cos(bearing));
I have no idea why though and don't know how to fix it. I got the formula from this site..
http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html
It appears correct and I've tested multiple things...
I've tried converting to Radians then post computations back to degrees, etc. etc.
Anyone got any ideas how to fix this method so that it will map the triangle ONLY 700 meters in from my current location in the direction that I am facing?
Thanks,

for long distance: http://www.dtcenter.org/met/users/docs/write_ups/gc_simple.pdf
but for short distance You can try simple 2d math to simulate "classic" compass using: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass#Using_a_compass. For example you can get pixel coordinates from points A and B and find angle between line connecting those points and vertical line.
also You probably should consider magnetic declination: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomagmodels/Declination.jsp
//edit:
I was trying to give intuitive solution. However calculating screen coordinates from long/lat wouldn't be easy so You probably should use formulas provided in links.

Maybe its because I don't know javascript, but don't you have to do something like
currlat = Math.toRadians(currlat);
to actually change the currlat value to be radians.

Problem was no matter what I piped in java would output in Radians, Trick was to change everything to Radians and then output came in radians, convert to degrees.

Related

Maps into Forge Viewer

Trying to follow the steps https://forge.autodesk.com/blog/add-mapbox-google-maps-forge-viewer but i can't place the model correctly on the map.
I am running the functions listed here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/bingmaps/articles/bing-maps-tile-system:
LatLongToPixelXY(latitude, longitude, 7, out pixelX, out pixelY);
PixelXYToTileXY(pixelX, pixelY, out tileX, out tileY);
The result pixelX = 16225, pixelY = 12249, tileX = 63, tileY = 47.
I substitute the previous values:
map.position.set(16225,12249,-45);
class MapPlaneNode extends MapNode {
constructor(parentNode = null, mapView = null, location = MapNode.ROOT, level = 7, x = 63, y = 47)
The result is that the model comes out small and not positioned correctly. In the image, the red arrow is where the model is inserted, and the green arrow is where it should be.
image of result
What am I doing wrong?
Thank you very much
Positioning the model is a little tricky.
In the demo I created, I originally used world coordinates, where I set the root tile as level 0, and used the correct lat/long coordinate utils function to position the revit model in the correct location.
Unfortunately, the precision caused a rendering problem with the post-renderer (line edges were missing, and some strange z-fighting precision issues)...
so, I decided to hack the level, and move the map into the position I wanted and center the revit model at origin 0,0,0.
This made things a lot more manual and rather tricky, but it got around the rendering issue and also limited the user into a small area in the world, which I preferred.
I suggest changing the root tile back to zero, and adjusting the model position globaloffset to the value of the lat/long W84 utils. See the blog post and also the coordinates section of the geo-three repo, for more details here: https://github.com/tentone/geo-three#coordinates
Found a trick to adjust the map. It is still manual but it's fairly quick:
Calculate Tile X and Y (you did that step already, it's just for reference):
Copy the TileSystem class from the the link bing-maps-tile-system you posted into https://dotnetfiddle.net/
(you'll also need to add: using System.Text)
Change the main as follows
public static void Main()
{
int pixelX, pixelY, tileX, tileY;
TileSystem.LatLongToPixelXY(YOUR LAT HERE, YOUR LONG HERE, 7, out pixelX, out pixelY);
Console.WriteLine("LatLongToPixelXY: " + pixelX.ToString() + ", " + pixelY.ToString());
TileSystem.PixelXYToTileXY(pixelX, pixelY, out tileX, out tileY);
Console.WriteLine("PixelXYToTileXY: " + tileX.ToString() + ", " + tileY.ToString());
}
This will give you the TileX and Tile Y that you'll need to replace in the Extension.
Calculate Position
In the Extension set the X, Y position to 0,0, and the adjust the Z so that the map is below your model
map.position.set(0, 0, z);
Run the Extension and see where your project lands on the map. Now locate this landing point in Google maps (I found it useful at this stage to search the map using a corner between two streets by entering for example: Parker St & Wilson Rd). When you've found it, click on the landing point in Google map to place a Marker, then right-click on the marker and select Measure Distance. You will have to measure the distance to your destination both vertically, and horizontally (not directly to it). For example you'll get dH = 43.5km and dV = 17.8km
And this is were the magic happens: Multiply both numbers by 3400 if your distance is in km (or by 2113 if you distance is in miles) and set the position with those values:
dH * 3400 = 147900
dV * 3400 = 60520
If your destination is to the E or S use positive values.
If your destination is to the W or N use negative values
map.position.set(147900, -60520, z);
Now it won't be perfect, but it'll be close enough to finish adjusting the value manually.

Create a function to generate random points in a parallelogram

I hope someone can help me here, I have been asked to write some code for an Lua script for a game. Firstly i am not an Lua Scripter and I am defiantly no mathematician.
What i need to do is generate random points within a parallelogram, so over time the entire parallelogram becomes filled. I have played with the scripting and had some success with the parallelogram (rectangle) positioned on a straight up and down or at 90 degrees. My problem comes when the parallelogram is rotated.
As you can see in the image, things are made even worse by the coordinates originating at the centre of the map area, and the parallelogram can be positioned anywhere within the map area. The parallelogram itself is defined by 3 pairs of coordinates, start_X and Start_Y, Height_X and Height_Y and finally Width_X and Width_Y. The random points generated need to be within the bounds of these coordinates regardless of position or orientation.
Map coordinates and example parallelogram
An example of coordinates are...
Start_X = 122.226
Start_Y = -523.541
Height_X = 144.113
Height_Y = -536.169
Width_X = 128.089
Width_Y = -513.825
In my script testing i have eliminated the decimals down to .5 as any smaller seems to have no effect on the final outcome. Also in real terms the start width and height could be in any orientation when in final use.
Is there anyone out there with the patients to explain what i need to do to get this working, my maths is pretty basic, so please be gentle.
Thanks for reading and in anticipation of a reply.
Ian
In Pseudocode
a= random number with 0<=a<=1
b= random number with 0<=b<=1
x= Start_X + a*(Width_X-Start_X) + b*(Height_X-Start_X)
y= Start_Y + a*(Width_Y-Start_Y) + b*(Height_Y-Start_Y)
this should make a random point at coordinates x,y within the parallelogram
The idea is that each point inside the parallelogram can be specified by saying how far you go from Start in the direction of the first edge (a) and how far you go in the direction of the second edge (b).
For example, if you have a=0, and b=0, then you do not move at all and are still at Start.
If you have a=1, and b=0, then you move to Width.
If you have a=1, and b=1, then you move to the opposite corner.
You can use something like "texture coordinates", which are in the range [0,1], to generate X,Y for a point inside your parallelogram. Then, you could generate random numbers (u,v) from range [0,1] and get a random point you want.
To explain this better, here is a picture:
The base is formed by vectors v1 and v2. The four points A,B,C,D represent the corners of the parallelogram. You can see the "texture coordinates" (which I will call u,v) of the points in parentheses, for example A is (0,0), D is (1,1). Every point inside the parallelogram will have coordinates within (0,0) and (1,1), for example the center of the parallelogram has coordinates (0.5,0.5).
To get the vectors v1,v2, you need to do vector subtraction: v1 = B - A, v2 = C - A. When you generate random coordinates u,v for a random point r, you can get back the X,Y using this vector formula: r = A + u*v1 + v*v2.
In Lua, you can do this as follows:
-- let's say that you have A,B,C,D defined as the four corners as {x=...,y=...}
-- (actually, you do not need D, as it is D=v1+v2)
-- returns the vector a+b
function add(a,b)
return {x = a.x + b.x, y = a.y + b.y} end
end
-- returns the vector a-b
function sub(a,b)
return {x = a.x - b.x, y = a.y - b.y} end
end
-- returns the vector v1*u + v2*v
function combine(v1,u,v2,v)
return {x = v1.x*u + v2.x*v, y = v1.y*u + v2.y*v}
end
-- returns a random point in parallelogram defined by 2 vectors and start
function randomPoint(s,v1,v2)
local u,v = math.random(), math.random() -- these are in range [0,1]
return add(s, combine(v1,u,v2,v))
end
v1 = sub(B,A) -- your basis vectors v1, v2
v2 = sub(C,A)
r = randomPoint(A,v1,v2) -- this will be in your parallelogram defined by A,B,C
Note that this will not work with your current layout - start, width, height. How do you want to handle rotation with these parameters?

How do I know if a Lat,Lng point is contained within a circle?

Ok pretty self explanatory. I'm using google maps and I'm trying to find out if a lat,long point is within a circle of radius say x (x is chosen by the user).
Bounding box will not work for this. I have already tried using the following code:
distlatLng = new google.maps.LatLng(dist.latlng[0],dist.latlng[1]);
var latLngBounds = circle.getBounds();
if(latLngBounds.contains(distlatLng)){
dropPins(distlatLng,dist.f_addr);
}
This still results in markers being places outside the circle.
I'm guess this is some simple maths requiring the calculation of the curvature or an area but I'm not sure where to begin. Any suggestions?
Unfortunately Pythagoras is no help on a sphere. Thus Stuart Beard's answer is incorrect; longitude differences don't have a fixed ratio to metres but depend on the latitude.
The correct way is to use the formula for great circle distances. A good approximation, assuming a spherical earth, is this (in C++):
/** Find the great-circle distance in metres, assuming a spherical earth, between two lat-long points in degrees. */
inline double GreatCircleDistanceInMeters(double aLong1,double aLat1,double aLong2,double aLat2)
{
aLong1 *= KDegreesToRadiansDouble;
aLat1 *= KDegreesToRadiansDouble;
aLong2 *= KDegreesToRadiansDouble;
aLat2 *= KDegreesToRadiansDouble;
double cos_angle = sin(aLat1) * sin(aLat2) + cos(aLat1) * cos(aLat2) * cos(aLong2 - aLong1);
/*
Inaccurate trig functions can cause cos_angle to be a tiny amount
greater than 1 if the two positions are very close. That in turn causes
acos to give a domain error and return the special floating point value
-1.#IND000000000000, meaning 'indefinite'. Observed on VS2008 on 64-bit Windows.
*/
if (cos_angle >= 1)
return 0;
double angle = acos(cos_angle);
return angle * KEquatorialRadiusInMetres;
}
where
const double KPiDouble = 3.141592654;
const double KDegreesToRadiansDouble = KPiDouble / 180.0;
and
/**
A constant to convert radians to metres for the Mercator and other projections.
It is the semi-major axis (equatorial radius) used by the WGS 84 datum (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGS84).
*/
const int32 KEquatorialRadiusInMetres = 6378137;
Use Google Maps API geometry library to calculate distance between circle's center and your marker, and then compare it with your radius.
var pointIsInsideCircle = google.maps.geometry.spherical.computeDistanceBetween(circle.getCenter(), point) <= circle.getRadius();
It's very simple. You just have to calculate distance between centre and given point and compare it to radius. You can Get Help to calculate distance between two lat lang from here
The following code works for me: my marker cannot be dragged outside the circle, instead it just hangs at its edge (in any direction) and the last valid position is preserved.
The function is the eventhandler for the markers 'drag' event.
_markerDragged : function() {
var latLng = this.marker.getPosition();
var center = this.circle.getCenter();
var radius = this.circle.getRadius();
if (this.circleBounds.contains(latLng) &&
(google.maps.geometry.spherical.computeDistanceBetween(latLng, center) <= radius)) {
this.lastMarkerPos = latLng;
this._geocodePosition(latLng);
} else {
// Prevent dragging marker outside circle
// see (comments of) http://unserkaiser.com/code/google-maps-marker-check-if-in-circle/
// see http://www.mvjantzen.com/blog/?p=3190 and source code of http://mvjantzen.com/cabi/trips4q2012.html
this.marker.setPosition(this.lastMarkerPos);
}
},
Thanks to http://unserkaiser.com/code/google-maps-marker-check-if-in-circle/
and http://www.mvjantzen.com/blog/?p=3190 .
I've been a bit silly really. Thinking about it we can use Pythagorus' theorem.
We have a maximum distance away from a point (X miles), and two latitudes and two longitudes. If we form a triangle using these then we can solve for the distance from the point.
So say we know point1 with coordinates lat1,lng1 is the center of the circle and point2 with coordinates lat2,lng2 is the point we are trying to decide is in the circle or not.
We form a right angled triangle using a point determined by point1 and point2. This, point3 would have coordinates lat1,lng2 or lat2,lng1 (it doesn't matter which). We then calculate the differences (or if you prefer) distances - latDiff = lat2-lat1 and lngDiff = lng2-lng1
we then calculate the distance from the center using Pythagorus - dist=sqrt(lngDiff^2+latDiff^2).
We have to translate everything into meters so that it works correctly with google maps so miles are multiplied by 1609 (approx) and degrees of latitude/longitude by 111000 (approx). This isn't exactly accurate but it does an adequate job.
Hope that all makes sense.

Function for line between 2 GPS coordinates

I'm trying to find a function lng = f(lat) that would help me draw a line between 2 given GPS coordinates, (lat1, lng1) and (lat2, lng2).
I've tried the traditional Cartesian formula y=mx+b where m=(y2-y1)/(x2-x1), but GPS coordinates don't seem to behave that way.
What would be a formula/algorithm that could help me achieve my goal.
PS: I'm using Google Maps API but let's keep this implementation agnostic if possible.
UPDATE: My implementation was wrong and it seems the algorithm is actually working as stated by some of the answers. My bad :(
What you want to do should actually work. Keep in mind however that if north is on top, the horizontal (x) axis is the LONGITUDE and the vertical (y) axis is the LATITUDE (I think you might have confused this).
If you parametrize the line as lat = func(long) you will run into trouble with vertical lines (i.e. those going exactly north south) as the latitude varies while the longitude is fixed.
Therefore I'd rather use another parametrization:
long(alpha) = long_1 + alpha * (long_2 - long_1)
lat(alpha) = lat_1 + alpha * (lat_2 - lat_1)
and vary alpha from 0 to 1.
This will not exactly coincide with a great circle (shortest path on a sphere) but the smaller the region you are looking at, the less noticeable the difference will be (as others posters here pointed out).
Here is a distance formula I use that may help. This is using javascript.
function Distance(lat1, lat2, lon1, lon2) {
var R = 6371; // km
var dLat = toRad(lat2 - lat1);
var dLon = toRad(lon2 - lon1);
var a = Math.sin(dLat / 2) * Math.sin(dLat / 2) + Math.cos(toRad(lat1)) * Math.cos(toRad(lat2)) * Math.sin(dLon / 2) * Math.sin(dLon / 2);
var c = 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1 - a));
var d = R * c * 0.621371;
var r = Math.round(d * 100) / 100;
return r;
}
For short distances, where the earth curvature doesn't make a significant difference, it works fine to draw a line using regular two-dimensional geometry.
For longer distances the shortest way between two lines does not project as a straight line on a map, but as a curve. (For example, the shortest way from Sweden to Alaska would be straight over the noth pole, not past Canada and Iceland.) You would have to use three-dimensional geometry to draw a line on a surface of a sphere, then project that onto the map in the same way the earth surface is projected on the map.
Is your goal to find this equation or to actually draw a line?
If the latter, since you're using the Maps API, specify geodesic: true and draw it with a Polyline:
http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/javascript/reference.html#Polyline

Determining if a lat-long rect and a circle on a sphere overlap

Suppose I have the following:
A region defined by minimum and maximum latitude and longitude (commonly a 'lat-long rect', though it's not actually rectangular except in certain projections).
A circle, defined by a center lat/long and a radius
How can I determine:
Whether the two shapes overlap?
Whether the circle is entirely contained within the rect?
I'm looking for a complete formula/algorithm, rather than a lesson in the math, per-se.
warning: this can be tricky if the circles / "rectangles" span large portions of the sphere, e.g.:
"rectangle": min long = -90deg, max long = +90deg, min lat = +70deg, max lat = +80deg
circle: center = lat = +85deg, long = +160deg, radius = 20deg (e.g. if point A is on the circle and point C is the circle's center, and point O is the sphere's center, then angle AOC = 40deg).
These intersect but the math is likely to have several cases to check intersection/containment. The following points lie on the circle described above: P1=(+65deg lat,+160deg long), P2=(+75deg lat, -20deg long). P1 is outside the "rectangle" and P2 is inside the "rectangle" so the circle/"rectangle" intersect in at least 2 points.
OK, here's my shot at an outline of the solution:
Let C = circle center with radius R (expressed as a spherical angle as above). C has latitude LATC and longitude LONGC. Since the word "rectangle" is kind of misleading here (lines of constant latitude are not segments of great circles), I'll use the term "bounding box".
function InsideCircle(P) returns +1,0,or -1: +1 if point P is inside the circle, 0 if point P is on the circle, and -1 if point P is outside the circle: calculation of great-circle distance D (expressed as spherical angle) between C and any point P will tell you whether or not P is inside the circle: InsideCircle(P) = sign(R-D) (As user #Die in Sente mentioned, great circle distances have been asked on this forum elsewhere)
Define PANG(x) = the principal angle of x = MOD(x+180deg, 360deg)-180deg. PANG(x) is always between -180deg and +180deg, inclusive (+180deg should map to -180deg).
To define the bounding box, you need to know 4 numbers, but there's a slight issue with longitude. LAT1 and LAT2 represent the bounding latitudes (assuming LAT1 < LAT2); there's no ambiguity there. LONG1 and LONG2 represent the bounding longitudes of a longitude interval, but this gets tricky, and it's easier to rewrite this interval as a center and width, with LONGM = the center of that interval and LONGW = width. NOTE that there are always 2 possibilities for longitude intervals. You have to specify which of these cases it is, whether you are including or excluding the 180deg meridian, e.g. the shortest interval from -179deg to +177deg has LONGM = +179deg and LONGW = 4deg, but the other interval from -179deg to +177deg has LONGM = -1deg and LONGW = 356deg. If you naively try to do "regular" comparisons with the interval [-179,177] you will end up using the larger interval and that's probably not what you want. As an aside, point P, with latitude LATP and longitude LONGP, is inside the bounding box if both of the following are true:
LAT1 <= LATP and LATP <= LAT2 (that part is obvious)
abs(PANG(LONGP-LONGM)) < LONGW/2
The circle intersects the bounding box if ANY of the following points P in PTEST = union(PCORNER,PLAT,PLONG) as described below, do not all return the same result for InsideCircle():
PCORNER = the bounding box's 4 corners
the points PLAT on the bounding box's sides (there are either none or 2) which share the same latitude as the circle's center, if LATC is between LAT1 and LAT2, in which case these points have the latitude LATC and longitude LONG1 and LONG2.
the points PLONG on the bounding box's sides (there are either none or 2 or 4!) which share the same longitude as the circle's center. These points have EITHER longitude = LONGC OR longitude PANG(LONGC-180). If abs(PANG(LONGC-LONGM)) < LONGW/2 then LONGC is a valid longitude. If abs(PANG(LONGC-180-LONGM)) < LONGW/2 then PANG(LONGC-180) is a valid longitude. Either or both or none of these longitudes may be within the longitude interval of the bounding box. Choose points PLONG with valid longitudes, and latitudes LAT1 and LAT2.
These points PLAT and PLONG as listed above are the points on the bounding box that are "closest" to the circle (if the corners are not; I use "closest" in quotes, in the sense of lat/long distance and not great-circle distance), and cover the cases where the circle's center lies on one side of the bounding box's boundary but points on the circle "sneak across" the bounding box boundary.
If all points P in PTEST return InsideCircle(P) == +1 (all inside the circle) then the circle contains the bounding box in its entirety.
If all points P in PTEST return InsideCircle(P) == -1 (all outside the circle) then the circle is contained entirely within the bounding box.
Otherwise there is at least one point of intersection between the circle and the bounding box. Note that this does not calculate where those points are, although if you take any 2 points P1 and P2 in PTEST where InsideCircle(P1) = -InsideCircle(P2), then you could find a point of intersection (inefficiently) by bisection. (If InsideCircle(P) returns 0 then you have a point of intersection, though equality in floating-point math is generally not to be trusted.)
There's probably a more efficient way to do this but the above should work.
Use the Stereographic projection. All circles (specifically latitudes, longitudes and your circle) map to circles (or lines) in the plane. Now it's just a question about circles and lines in plane geometry (even better, all the longitues are lines through 0, and all the latitudes are circles around 0)
Yes, if the box corners contain the circle-center.
Yes, if any of the box corners are within radius of circle-center.
Yes, if the box contains the longitude of circle-center and the longitude intersection of the box-latitude closest to circle-center-latitude is within radius of circle-center.
Yes, if the box contains the latitude of circle-center and the point at radius distance from circle-center on shortest-intersection-bearing is "beyond" the closest box-longitude; where shortest-intersection-bearing is determined by finding the initial bearing from circle-center to a point at latitude zero and a longitude that is pi/2 "beyond" the closest box-longitude.
No, otherwise.
Assumptions:
You can find the initial-bearing of a minimum course from point A to point B.
You can find the distance between two points.
The first check is trivial. The second check just requires finding the four distances. The third check just requires finding the distance from circle-center to (closest-box-latitude, circle-center-longitude).
The fourth check requires finding the longitude line of the bounding box that is closest to the circle-center. Then find the center of the great circle on which that longitude line rests that is furthest from circle-center. Find the initial-bearing from circle-center to the great-circle-center. Find the point circle-radius from circle-center on that bearing. If that point is on the other side of the closest-longitude-line from circle-center, then the circle and bounding box intersect on that side.
It seems to me that there should be a flaw in this, but I haven't been able to find it.
The real problem that I can't seem to solve is to find the bounding-box that perfectly contains the circle (for circles that don't contain a pole). The bearing to the latitude min/max appears to be a function of the latitude of circle-center and circle-radius/(sphere circumference/4). Near the equator, it falls to pi/2 (east) or 3*pi/2 (west). As the center approaches the pole and the radius approaches sphere-circumference/4, the bearing approach zero (north) or pi (south).
How about this?
Find vector v that connects the center of the rectangle, point Cr, to the center of the circle. Find point i where v intersects the rectangle. If ||i-Cr|| + r > ||v|| then they intersect.
In other words, the length of the segment inside the rectangle plus the length of the segment inside the circle should be greater than the total length (of v, the center-connecting line segment).
Finding point i should be the tricky part, especially if it falls on a longitude edge, but you should be able to come up with something faster than I can.
Edit: This method can't tell if the circle is completely within the rectangle. You'd need to find the distance from its center to all four of the rectangle's edges for that.
Edit: The above is incorrect. There are some cases, as Federico Ramponi has suggested, where it does not work even in Euclidean geometry. I'll post another answer. Please unaccept this and feel free to vote down. I'll delete it shortly.
This should work for any points on earth. If you want to change it to a different size sphere just change the kEarchRadiusKms to whatever radius you want for your sphere.
This method is used to calculate the distance between to lat and lon points.
I got this distance formula from here:
http://www.codeproject.com/csharp/distancebetweenlocations.asp
public static double Calc(double Lat1, double Long1, double Lat2, double Long2)
{
double dDistance = Double.MinValue;
double dLat1InRad = Lat1 * (Math.PI / 180.0);
double dLong1InRad = Long1 * (Math.PI / 180.0);
double dLat2InRad = Lat2 * (Math.PI / 180.0);
double dLong2InRad = Long2 * (Math.PI / 180.0);
double dLongitude = dLong2InRad - dLong1InRad;
double dLatitude = dLat2InRad - dLat1InRad;
// Intermediate result a.
double a = Math.Pow(Math.Sin(dLatitude / 2.0), 2.0) +
Math.Cos(dLat1InRad) * Math.Cos(dLat2InRad) *
Math.Pow(Math.Sin(dLongitude / 2.0), 2.0);
// Intermediate result c (great circle distance in Radians).
double c = 2.0 * Math.Atan2(Math.Sqrt(a), Math.Sqrt(1.0 - a));
// Distance.
// const Double kEarthRadiusMiles = 3956.0;
const Double kEarthRadiusKms = 6376.5;
dDistance = kEarthRadiusKms * c;
return dDistance;
}
If the distance between any vertex of the rectangle is less than the distance of the radius of the circle then the circle and rectangle overlap. If the distance between the center of the circle and all of the vertices is greater than the radius of the circle and all of those distances are shorter than the width and height of the rectangle then the circle should be inside of the rectangle.
Feel free to correct my code if you can find a problem with it as I'm sure there some condition that I have not thought of.
Also I'm not sure if this works for a rectangle that spans the ends of the hemispheres as the distance equation might break down.
public string Test(double cLat,
double cLon,
double cRadius,
double rlat1,
double rlon1,
double rlat2,
double rlon2,
double rlat3,
double rlon3,
double rlat4,
double rlon4)
{
double d1 = Calc(cLat, cLon, rlat1, rlon1);
double d2 = Calc(cLat, cLon, rlat2, rlon2);
double d3 = Calc(cLat, cLon, rlat3, rlon3);
double d4 = Calc(cLat, cLon, rlat4, rlon4);
if (d1 <= cRadius ||
d2 <= cRadius ||
d3 <= cRadius ||
d4 <= cRadius)
{
return "Circle and Rectangle intersect...";
}
double width = Calc(rlat1, rlon1, rlat2, rlon2);
double height = Calc(rlat1, rlon1, rlat4, rlon4);
if (d1 >= cRadius &&
d2 >= cRadius &&
d3 >= cRadius &&
d4 >= cRadius &&
width >= d1 &&
width >= d2 &&
width >= d3 &&
width >= d4 &&
height >= d1 &&
height >= d2 &&
height >= d3 &&
height >= d4)
{
return "Circle is Inside of Rectangle!";
}
return "NO!";
}
One more try at this...
I think the solution is to test a set of points, just as Jason S has suggested, but I disagree with his selection of points, which I think is mathematically wrong.
You need to find the points on the sides of the lat/long box where the distance to the center of the circle is a local minimum or maximum. Add those points to the set of corners and then the algorithm above should be correct.
I.e, letting longitude be the x dimension and latitude be the y dimension, let each
side of the box be a parametric curve P(t) = P0 + t (P1-P0) for o <= t <= 1.0, where
P0 and P1 are two adjacent corners.
Let f(P) = f(P.x, P.y) be the distance from the center of the circle.
Then f (P0 + t (P1-P0)) is a distance function of t: g(t). Find all the points where the derivative of the distance function is zero: g'(t) == 0. (Discarding solutions outsize the domain 0 <= t <= 1.0, of course)
Unfortunately, this needs to find the zero of a transcendental expression, so there's no closed form solution. This type of equation can only solved by Newton-Raphson iteration.
OK, I realize that you wanted code, not the math. But the math is all I've got.
For the Euclidean geometry answer, see: Circle-Rectangle collision detection (intersection)