How to Calculate Great Circle Distance and Generate Bounding Boxes from Latitude and Longitude Points in Java?

Calculating Distance and Generating Bounding Boxes from Latitude Longitude Points in Java

Measuring distances between latitude and longitude coordinates, known as great circle distance, is essential for geospatial applications. Additionally, creating bounding boxes around points using distances enables visualization and analysis.

Great Circle Distance Calculation

The Haversine formula, a widely used method for calculating great circle distances, can be implemented in Java as follows:

<code class="java">public static double distFrom(double lat1, double lng1, double lat2, double lng2) {
    double earthRadius = 3958.75; // miles (or 6371.0 kilometers)
    double dLat = Math.toRadians(lat2 - lat1);
    double dLng = Math.toRadians(lng2 - lng1);
    double sindLat = Math.sin(dLat / 2);
    double sindLng = Math.sin(dLng / 2);
    double a = Math.pow(sindLat, 2) + Math.pow(sindLng, 2)
            * Math.cos(Math.toRadians(lat1)) * Math.cos(Math.toRadians(lat2));
    double c = 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1 - a));
    double dist = earthRadius * c;

    return dist;
}</code>

Generating Bounding Boxes

Once the distance is calculated, determining the points that represent the bounding box requires:

1. Calculating North Point:

   • Add the provided distance to the latitude of the original point.
   • Maintain the same longitude.

2. Calculating East Point:

   • Maintain the same latitude as the original point.
   • Add the provided distance to the longitude of the original point.

By combining the original point with the north and east points, a bounding box can be generated.

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