Azimuth is used in a spherical coordinate system. It is used to plot the location of a point with respect to a reference plane. The angle is measured horizontally from a defined plane of reference. This is in contrast to theta, which is used to measure vertical direction. Bearing and azimuth synonymous in that they both plot distance on a horizontal unit circle. However, bearing is used to
. describe an object in motion, whereas azimuth is used to refer to a direction. Azimuth is with reference to a 360 degree circle, whereas bearing is the angle between two perpendicular reference planes, such as north to east or south to west. Compass quadrant bearing cannot exceed 90 degrees. So an azimuth angle of 346 degrees would be simplified to a bearing of 14 degrees northwest. This is an important concept in both land and nautical navigation. Spherical coordinates are superior to Cartesian coordinates because they are comoving and allow for expansion or contraction. One can use bearing to plot the velocity vector of a particle that is located at a specific azimuth angle in a spherical coordinate system. It is important to realize that the azimuth angle relative to magnetic north is not available beyond +/- 60 degrees latitude due to increasing inaccuracy in my earth's magnetic field model. To get true north here I suggest using a GPS receiver and walking in one direction for a while, then read the true bearing of that line of walking.The azimuth angle relative to magnetic north calculated above is approximate. So many people were finding the satellite dish pointing azimuth and elevation page when they were really searching for a terrestrial great circle azimuth and range calculator. If you would like to know more about bearings and azimuths calculators, please visit:http://www.satsig.net/ssazelm.htmhttp://www.wsidigital.com/azel_finder.htm More reference links: http://www.satsig.net/ssazelm.htm http://www.wsidigital.com/azel_finder.htm
