I just posted my C# code for calculating the distance between two GPS coordinates.

When I wanted to calculate the distance between GPS coordinates on my Where I've Been page, I first used the standard distance formula substituting longitude, latitude for x,y. Of course, the world isn't flat and those results weren't accurate over long distances like between the U.S. and Europe. After lots of searching, I eventually found a reasonable way to calculate distance between points on the globe in an Ask Dr. Math post from Drexel University's Math Forum. It seems accurate.

On a flat map, Prague, Czech Republic and Anaheim, CA appear to be the two places I've been that are farthest from each other, but that's without taking into account the ability to travel in high latitudes near or over the north pole. The GPS distance calculation tells me Anaheim, CA and Milan, Italy are farther apart than Anaheim and Prague. This makes sense because travel closer to the equator covers more surface of the earth. It's the same reason long east-west airline flights arc into higher latitudes to shorten their distance.

Posted by JoshC at March 19, 2007 8:08 AM

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