Decimal Degrees to UTM Converter

About this calculator

The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) system divides the Earth into 60 north-south zones, each 6° of longitude wide, and projects each zone onto a flat transverse Mercator grid so that positions can be given as simple metric easting and northing coordinates instead of angular latitude and longitude. Converting from WGS84 decimal degrees involves picking the correct zone from the longitude, then applying the transverse Mercator projection formulas (with a false easting of 500,000 m and, in the southern hemisphere, a false northing of 10,000,000 m) referenced to the WGS84 ellipsoid.

Because UTM coordinates are in meters on a locally near-flat grid, they're far more convenient than degrees for measuring distances, plotting on paper maps, or overlaying on a projected GIS layer. Surveyors, GIS analysts, and military and emergency-response personnel use this converter to turn GPS-derived latitude/longitude readings into the zone, easting, and northing values used on topographic maps and in coordinate-based fieldwork.