Coordinate MiniLabels

MiniLabels are short text strings used by the transformation library as metadata description of projections and datums. Internally at GST (formely KMS) MiniLabels are used generally as metadata description for other types of data. The MiniLabels that are relevant for a user of the transformation library and transformation programs are called coordinate MiniLabels.

Coordinate MiniLabels come in two types:

Coordinate MiniLabels of type 1:

A string consisting of three components: <coordinate system><separator><datum>[_<height MiniLabel>].

The coordinate system is mostly also human readable: the string "geo" indicates geographical coordinates, "utm33" represents UTM zone 33. In some of the other cases, the translation may not be quite obvious. Below you'll find lists and examples further describing MiniLabel components.

The separator is used in two ways:

  1. Separate the coordinate system and the datum
  2. Contain information on the height system (and possibly the height MiniLabel)

Note: that an extra separator char ‘_’ is placed before the height MiniLabel.

The separator consists of just one character having one of the values:

The datum is the name of the datum (for coordinates) in small letters. For example:

wgs84, etrs89, nad83g, qornoq.

For some systems, the three components already described are not sufficient - extra parameters are needed. Such parameters (identifying for example the scale, a central meridian, translation of the coordinates etc) are placed after the "main" (3-component) part of the MiniLabel. Having identified the "Main Part", the program knows how to read the extra parameters.

Below you will find lists and examples further describing MiniLabel components.

A few type 1 coordinate MiniLabels:

Coordinate MiniLabels of type 2:

A string consisting of three components:

The second type of MiniLabels is mostly used to identify "regional" coordinate systems. For this type, the MiniLabel string consists of only a few letters, forming an (abbreviated) name of the system. Having identified a MiniLabel of this type, the program knows the values of the implicit parameters needed for the transformation. These "implicit parameters" may include coefficients for the transformation routine.

A few type 2 coordinate Minilabels:

Height MiniLabels:

A string consisting of three components:

The only legal separator is ‘_’.

A list of height systems and (height) datums is given below.

Prefixes indicating Region:

In order to avoid confusion when different stations in the same file are having the same station identification (station number), it is possible to apply a region prefix to the MiniLabel (and to the station identification as well). - this situation often occurs when stations from separate regions (countries) are mixed in the same file. This is utilized in the 'KMS' file format used internally at GST / KMS - when the MiniLabel for a coordinate block contains a region prefix, this prefix applies to all stations in the block, except stations having their own region prefix in the ID.

The region prefix does not affect the actual transformation. It is an extra piece of metadata information, which transformation programs can use to handle special cases - for example in input and output of point names, or to display a predefined list of systems in a graphical user interface.

Possible Region Prefixes:

PREFIX REGION
DK Denmark
FO Faroe Islands
FE Faroe Islands (not used any longer)
GR Greenland
SJ Southern Jylland
IS Iceland
NO Norway
SF Finland
SE Sweden
SV Sweden (not used any longer)
BE Belgium
CA Canada
DE Germany
EE Estonia
FR France
LE Latvia
LT Lithuania
LI Lithuania
NL Netherlands
PL Poland
UK England
US USA

Example of a coordinate minilabel with region prefix: DK_utm33_etrs89

List of Coordinate Systems.

The following list is a compilation of the sub strings used in MiniLabels to indicate Coordinate System.

In the column marked 'Suppl Params' you will find the extra parameters needed to define the system. Coordinate Systems marked "P.D." has predefined datum; - such systems are fully defined via the name of the coordinate system and therefore neither datum nor extra parameters are needed in the label.

Other elements contained in the "Suppl param" column indicate which extra parameters are needed for definition of the system. In the transformation program, such parameters can't be selected directly via drop down lists or buttons, but must be supplied by the user.

The character '?' found in some of the coordinate system names below are place holders for ciphers.

For example, in the UTM systems, they indicate where to put the zone number. In the Conical Systems used in Greenland, the zones are called cones (numbered from 1 to 8) and the '?' character tells where to put the 'cone number’.

NOTE - coordinate sequence:

Generally the transfomation library will expect the coordinate order to be easting, northing, height - and for geographic coordinates longitude, latitude, height. However, for the special 'KMS' file format usually the assumption is made that the coordinate sequence in the file is northing, easting, height. Some MiniLabels have an extra variant with an 'i' appended to the projection, e.g. utmi32_etrs89. This is an extra metadata information ONLY relevant when reading and writing files in the 'KMS' format, which tells the program to expect planar coordinates in reversed order, e.g. easting, northing, height.

The last column in the table below indicates what the expected coordinate order is for the 'KMS' format. No indication means, that the sequence is the usual (N,E)=(northing,easting).

MiniName Suppl Param Description Coord. sequence for 'KMS' format
Global Systems


crt
Cartesian 3-d coord (X,Y,Z)
geo
Geographical coord (Lat, Lon)
geoi
Geographical coord (Lon, Lat)
utm**
UTM zone ?? (?? = 2 digits) (N,E)
utmi??
UTM zone ?? (?? = 2 digits) (E,N)
utm??n
UTM zone ??, North. LAT (N,E)
utmi??n
UTM zone ??, North. LAT (E,N)
utm??s
UTM zone ??, South. LAT (S,E)
utmi??s
UTM zone ??, South. LAT (E,S)
itm B0 N0 Lc Ec Scale TM, general GAUSS-KR (N, E)
itmi B0 N0 Lc Ec Scale TM, general GAUSS-KR (E, N)
tm??
GAUSS-KR ?? dg 3dg.z scale 1.0 (N, E)
mrc B0 N0 Lc Ec Mercator projection (N, E)
mrc0
Mercator Std Projection (N, E)
webmrc WEB Mercator projection zero (N,E)
lmb B0 N0 Lc Ec Bc Lambert conf. con. (N, E)
dlmb B0 N0 Lc Ec B1 B2 Lambert 2 par. c. con. (N, E)
elmb B0 N0 Lc Ec B1 B2 Lambert eql. c. con. (N, E)
npstg
North polar stereographic
spstg
South polar stereographic
upsn
Universal polar stereogr N
upss
Universal polar stereogr S
stg Bc Nc Lc Ec scale Stereogr. projection
estg Bc Nc Lc Ec B1 B2 Eql. Stereogr. projection
bnstg B1 scale NP. Stereogr. scale at B1
bsstg B1 scale SP. Stereogr. scale at B1
safle
Sansom-Flamsteed eq.pr., ell.
safl
Sansom-Flamsteed equiv. proj.
lmbac
Lambert equiv. cyl. proj.
lmbap
Lambert equiv. pol. proj. (N)
lmbaps
Lambert equiv. pol. proj. (S) (S, E)
lmblap Lc Lambert equiv. pol. proj. (N) (N, E)
lmblaps Lc Lambert equiv. pol. proj. (S) (S, E)
auth
Authalic geogr. Crd.
Region Europe


etrs-tm?? P.D. etrs89 tm zone ??
ETRS-TM?? P.D. etrs89 tm zone ??
etrs-lcc?? P.D. etrs89 Lambert conf. con
ETRS-LCC?? P.D. etrs89 Lambert conf. con
etrs-laea P.D. etrs89 Lmb Azimuthal Equal Area
ETRS-LAEAP.D.
etrs89 Lmb Azimuthal Equal Area
Region Denmark


dktm1 P.D. DK TM1 etrs89 (E, N)
dktm2 P.D. DK TM2 etrs89 (E, N)
dktm3 P.D. DK TM3 etrs89 (E, N)
dktm4 P.D. DK TM4 etrs89 (E, N)
kfmr P.D. Kbh Frb Metroring, etrs89
kp2000j P.D. System 2000 Jylland, etrs89
kp2000s P.D. System 2000 Sjælland, etrs89
kp2000b P.D. System 2000 Bornholm, etrs89
dmrc P.D. Dansk Merkator etrs89
fcs P.D. Fehmarn Coordinate System
s34j P.D. System 1934 Jylland (N,W)
s34s P.D. System 1934 Sjælland (N,W)
s45b P.D. System 1945 Bornholm (N,W)
s34b P.D. System 1945 Bornholm
dm P.D. Dansk Merkator ed50
gsgeo P.D. geogr. crd, gs
gsbgeo P.D. geogr. crd, gsb
gs P.D. GS conf. con. DK
gsb P.D. GS conf. con. Bornholm
kk P.D. Kbh. komm. system
os P.D. Ostenfeldt system
asb P.D. Øresund bridge proj.
Dks P.D. Øresund bridge proj, special
Sb P.D. SB bridge proj.
Sbf P.D. SB bridge proj., inverted
Region Faroe Islands


fotm P.D. Faroe TM etrs89 (E, N)
fke P.D. Conf. con. FO, etrs89
fg50 P.D. FO geogr. crd, ed50
fu50 P.D. utm zone 29, top_ed50
fg54 P.D. FO geogr. crd, fd54
fk54 P.D. Conf. con. FO, fd 54
fk89 P.D. Conf. con. FO, fd 54a
Region Greenland


gk?w P.D. conf. con, W-GR, qornoq
gk?e P.D. conf. con, E-GR, qornoq
Region Estonia


eel2p P.D. Estonian Lambert, 2 std par.
eetm?? P.D. Estonian Gauss-Kr ??, 3dg.z
eetm? P.D. Estonian Gauss-Kr ?, 3dg.z
eebm P.D. Estonian Basic Map
eegeo P.D. geogr. crd, Pulkovo 1942
eecrt P.D. Cartesic crd, Pulkovo 1942
eelmne P.D. Estonian Lmb 2 par., epv37
eelmse P.D. Estonian Lmb 2 par., epv37
Region Sweden


rt38g P.D. RT38g, 2.5 gon vest
rt90g
RT90g, 2.5 gon vest
rt90v P.D. RT90v, spec. for dks
rt38v P.D. RT38v, spec. for dks
Region Iceland


lmbhjo P.D. Lambert Conf. Con Hjørsey
islmb P.D. Lambert Conf. Con wgs84 IS

Where in the supplementary parameters column, the following abbreviations are used:

Abbrv. Meaning
P.D. Predefined Datum
B0, Bc Latitude Constant
Nc Northing Constant
L0, Lc Longitude Constant
Ec Easting Constant
Scale Scale (close to 1 usually)
B1, B2 Latitude parallels for definition of scale.
N,E,S,W Northing, Easting, Southing, Westing

List of Separators:

The Separator in a coordinate MiniLabel determines the type of height information / height datum:

This separator is written in the MiniLabel right after the coordinate system sub string. It provides:

  1. A 'real' separation between the sub strings indicating coordinate system and datum respectively.
  2. Information on presence of height system.

(See also a list of vertical datums below).

For the systems having a predefined datum (P.D.), the datum should not be explicitly written in the label, here the separator is placed as an appendix to the coordinate system sub string.

Accordingly, a MiniLabel indicating the following list to contain dktm1 coordinates - and DVR90 heights will look like:

List of Datums

The following list contains the datums supported by the KMS transformation software.

Parent datum indicates the structure in the datum-hierarchy used internally by the transformation system.

The character '@' at the start of some descriptions marks that this datum is only used in connection with one of the projection systems having a predefined datum.

Coordinate Datum Description Parent datum Ellipsoid
wgs84 World Geodetic System 1984 ed50 WGS84
etff89 EUREF 89 wgs84 GRS80
etrs89 EUREF 89 wgs84 GRS80
euref89 EUREF 89 wgs84 GRS80
gr96 Greenland Reference Frame 1996 wgs84 GRS80
ed50 European Datum 1950 ed50 Hayford
nad83g North American D.1983 Greenland nwl9d GRS80
qornoq Qornok Datum 1927 (til WGS84) nwl9d Hayford
scosd Scoresbysund datum nwl9d Hayford
ammlk Ammassalik datum nwl9d Hayford
feh10 Fehmarn Datum 2010 wgs84 GRS80
s34j @ System 1934 Jylland ed50 Hayford
s34s @ System 1934 Sjælland ed50 Hayford
s45b @ System 1945 Bornholm ed50 Hayford
gs @ Generalst. Sys., Jyl. + Sjl ed50 GS
gsb @ Generalst. System, Bornholm ed50 GS
os @ Ostenfeldt System ed50 Bessel
kk @ Københavns Komm. System ed50 Dansk
sb @ Storebælts System ed50 Hayford
sbi @ Storebælts System inv. ed50 Hayford
dks @ DKS ed50 Hayford
asb @ ASB ed50 Hayford
fd54 Færø Datum 1954 ed50 Hayford
fg54 @ Geogr. FD 1954 etrf89 Hayford
fg50 @ Færø, Geogr. ED 1950 etrf89 Hayford
fk54 @ Konf. con. FD 1954 etrf89 Hayford
fu50 @ UTM 29, Topogr. grid, ED 50 etrf89 Hayford
fk89 @ Konf. con. FD 1989 (NOT ETRF89) etrf89 Hayford
srt90g SRT90, Sverige wgs84 Bessel
rt90g RT90, Sverige wgs84 Bessel
rt90v @ RT90v ed50 Bessel
rt38v @ RT38v ed50 Bessel
rt38g @ RT38g ed50 Bessel
ed87 European Datum 1987 ed50 Hayford
wgs72 World Geodetic system 1972 nwl9d WGS72
nad83 North American Datum 1983 wgs84 GRS80
nad27 North American D.1927, Conus wgs84 Clarke66
nad27c North American D.1927, Canada wgs84 Clarke66
pu42 Pulkowo 1942, temporary wgs84 Krassovsky
island Hjørsey datum 1955 wgs84 Hayford
nwl9d Naval Weapons Laboratory wgs84 NWL9D
ed79 European Datum 1979 wgs84 Hayford
dhdn Deutsches Hauptdreiecksnetz ed50 Bessel
dhdnd Deutsches Hauptdreiecksnetz ed50 Bessel
dhdn1 Deutsches Hauptdrnetz, DOEDOC etrf89 Bessel
dhdn2 Deutsches Hauptdrnetz, DOEDOC5p ed50 Bessel
dhdn3 Deutsches Hauptdrnetz, DOEDOC7p ed50 Bessel
eesti42 @ EESTI 1942 etrf89 Krassovsky
ain1970 @ Ain El Abd 1970 wgs84 Hayford
nahrwan @ Nahrwan 1967 wgs84 Clarke80
qng24 @ Qatar National Grid System 1924 wgs84 Hayford
qbc2001 @ Qatar Bahrain Causeway (COWI) wgs84 WGS84
qnd1995 @ Qatar National Datum 1995 wgs84 Hayford

Vertical Datums

Vertical Datum Description Ellipsoid
dvr90 @ Danish Vertical Ref Frame 1990 GRS80
evrf2000 @ Eropean Vertical Ref Frame 2000 GRS80
evrf2007 @ Eropean Vertical Ref Frame 2007 GRS80
fvr09 @ Faroe Vertical Ref Frame 2009 GRS80
msl @ Mean Sea Level Frame GRS80
fscvr10 @ Fehmarn Vertical Reference 2010 GRS80
dnn @ DNN: gm91/gi44/h_msl Hayford
gm91 @ Gradmålingen 1891 height GS
gi44 @ G.I. 1944 Height system Hayford
kn44 @ Kbh. Nul 1944 kotesys. Hayford
ee1940 @ ESTONIA 1940 Vertical Frame Krassovsky
ee1948 @ ESTONIA 1948 Vertical Frame Krassovsky
ee1977 @ ESTONIA 1977 Vertical Frame Krassovsky
qnhd @ Qatar National Height Datum Hayford

As an example of a system / projection demanding supplementary parameters we can use the ITM system. This system is (like the UTM) a transversal Mercator system. For the ITM projection, you can via the extra parameters select the scale, central meridian and offsets for the coordinates.

For ITM the suppementary parameters (and the order in which they should appear) is found in the coordinate system list:

B0 N0 Lc Ec Scale

The content of an ITM label could be:

Note that the separation between two fields /entities must be at least two spaces!

The ITM label above actually provides the UTM zone 32 system also given by the MiniLabel:

More Examples of MiniLabels:

geo_etrs89:

Geographical coordinates, Datum etrs89, No Heights.

geoEetrs89:

Geographical coordinates, Datum etrs89. Ellipsoidal Heights

utm32_etrs89:

UTM coordinates zone 32, Datum etrs89. No Heights.

dktm1E:

Dansk TM zone 1, Ellipsoidal Heights.

dktm2:

Dansk TM zone 1, No Heights. The '_' character may be omitted in the 'P.D.' systems.

crt_etrs89:

Cartesian coordinates, Datum ETRS89.

In Cartesian systems, the Height component of the MiniLabel is just the '_' character as no Heights are accepted.