Understanding the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) plane coordinate grid system is essential for technical audiences involved in mapping, navigation, and geospatial analysis. Delta, our new software upgrade which powers the SHM suite, leverages UTM to enhance the precision, usability, and interoperability of location data, delivering tangible benefits for your traffic planning, safety assessments and ADAS/AD efforts.

‍

What is the UTM Coordinate System?

The UTM system is a globally recognized map projection that divides the Earth into 60 longitudinal zones, each spanning 6 degrees of longitude. This segmentation allows for localized, highly accurate mapping by projecting each zone onto a flat plane using the transverse Mercator projection. Unlike traditional angular measurements of latitude and longitude, UTM assigns a Cartesian coordinate system to each zone, with positions expressed in meters.

Except for polar regions, most zones extend from the equator to the poles. Each zone has a central meridian with minimal distortion, and the projection maintains scale accuracy within each zone, typically within 1 part in 1,000. This zoning approach effectively minimizes distortion, making UTM ideal for regional mapping and navigation.

‍

How Does UTM Work?

The core principle involves "peeling" the Earth into 6-degree slices—think of slicing an orange into 60 wedges. Each wedge, or zone, is projected onto a flat surface using a secant cylinder that intersects the Earth’s ellipsoid. The central meridian of each zone is scaled to preserve distances, with a scale factor of 0.9996, ensuring high fidelity within the zone.

Coordinates within each zone are expressed as:

• Easting (X): Distance in meters eastward from the central meridian, with a false easting of 500,000 meters added to avoid negative numbers.
• Northing (Y): Distance in meters northward from the equator, with a false northing of 10 million meters applied in the southern hemisphere to keep values positive.

This structure results in a grid where each square is approximately one kilometer, facilitating precise measurement and navigation.

‍

Why the switch to UTM Coordinates?

There are several advantages to adapting UTM as the base grid for our SHM platform:

- Consistent Distance Measurement

Unlike latitude/longitude, where the distance covered by a degree varies with latitude, UTM provides a uniform metric system. This consistency simplifies calculations of distances, areas, and angles, especially over small to medium-sized regions, precisely the scale our traffic engineers, safety planners and operational teams are more interested in. 
‍

- Cartesian Simplicity

UTM coordinates resemble the familiar X-Y Cartesian system, making them intuitive for non-technical users. No complex spherical trigonometry is required, streamlining data processing and analysis. For product owners, such as our customers working with ADAS/AD solutions, this can accelerate validation of system safety. 
‍

- Seamless Integration

UTM coordinates are often referenced to the WGS84 datum, ensuring compatibility with GPS devices and GIS software. Since Streetscope’s Delta platform now accepts data inputs of multiple types, from telematic video feeds to full-scale perception stack data, this interoperability accelerates workflows from data collection to analysis.

‍

How Our Customers Benefit from UTM

Delta harnesses the power of UTM to deliver several key advantages:

• Backward/forward compatibility: Since the UTM grid now stays constant, it is very easy to compare data with driving sessions from the past (or the future), significantly improving the utility of some of our tools such as Hotspot Analysis. 
• Enhanced Precision: By utilizing UTM’s zone-based projection, location data becomes more accurate within regional contexts, minimizing distortion and enabling precise mapping of terrain features, infrastructure, or assets.
• Simplified Data Handling: The Cartesian nature of UTM coordinates allows for straightforward calculations of distances and directions. This simplifies complex spatial analyses, such as route planning, coverage analysis and volumetric calculations.
• Improved Compatibility: Since UTM coordinates are widely adopted in GIS and GPS systems, integrating data from various sources becomes seamless. This interoperability ensures your workflows are more flexible and scalable.
• Faster Processing: The metric, grid-based system reduces computational complexity, resulting in faster processing times for large datasets or real-time applications.
• Better Visualization: Overlaying UTM grids on maps enhances clarity and usability, making it easier to identify locations, measure distances, and plan routes or operations.

‍

Final Thoughts

The upgrade of Streetscope’s SHM platform to the UTM coordinate system signifies a leap forward in geospatial accuracy, ease of use, and interoperability. More precise mapping, efficient data analysis, and streamlined workflows ultimately empowers you for better decision-making in complex environments.

Do you want to learn more about Delta? Get in touch with our team for a demo.

‍

///

Image by NASA & Streetscope