State Plane Coordinate System
A coordinate system used in the United States to define locations based on state-specific projections for increased accuracy.
What is State Plane Coordinate System?
A collection of planar, or flat, coordinate systems called the State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) was created specifically for mapping and surveying in the US. It separates the United States into over 120 zones, each of which has a coordinate system that is tailored to reduce distortion.
SPCS is a Cartesian coordinate system that projects small areas of a state onto a flat plane using one of the following methods to provide high-accuracy mapping:
For states that are longer east-west, the Lambert Conformal Conic projection, or
Mercator projection in the transverse direction (for states longer north-south).
Related Keywords
A collection of map projections designed specifically for the United States, the State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) offers incredibly precise, expansive mapping. It separates the nation into more than 120 zones, each of which is intended to reduce regional distortion. Depending on the shape of the state, SPCS uses either the Lambert Conformal Conic or Transverse Mercator projection to provide accurate location referencing for engineering, mapping, and surveying applications.
The United States is divided into zones by the State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS), which uses a map projection (Transverse Mercator or Lambert Conformal Conic) to produce minimal distortion and extremely precise local mapping and surveying.
While the UTM system splits the world into 60 zones for global mapping, the State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) is primarily utilized in the United States for extremely accurate local mapping. Whereas UTM delivers global uniformity, SPCS offers local precision.
For high-accuracy local mapping, the State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) uses Lambert Conformal Conic or Transverse Mercator projections to split the United States into zones. For accurate coordinate reference in GIS, each zone has its own EPSG code, such as Texas Central: EPSG 2277 and California Zone 3: EPSG 2227.