org.opengis.referencing.crs
Interface CoordinateReferenceSystem
- All Superinterfaces:
- IdentifiedObject, ReferenceSystem
- All Known Subinterfaces:
- CompoundCRS, DerivedCRS, EngineeringCRS, GeneralDerivedCRS, GeocentricCRS, GeodeticCRS, GeographicCRS, ImageCRS, ProjectedCRS, SingleCRS, TemporalCRS, VerticalCRS
@UML(identifier="SC_CRS",
specification=ISO_19111)
public interface CoordinateReferenceSystem
- extends ReferenceSystem
Abstract coordinate reference system, usually defined by a
coordinate system and a
datum. The concept of a coordinate
reference system (CRS) captures the choice of values for the parameters that constitute
the degrees of freedom of the coordinate space. The fact that such a choice has to be made,
either arbitrarily or by adopting values from survey measurements, leads to the large number
of coordinate reference systems in use around the world. It is also the cause of the little
understood fact that the latitude and longitude of a point are not unique. Without the full
specification of the coordinate reference system, coordinates are ambiguous at best and
meaningless at worst. However for some interchange purposes it is sufficient to confirm the
identity of the system without necessarily having the full system
definition.
The concept of coordinates may be expanded from a strictly spatial context to include time.
Time is then added as another coordinate to the coordinate tuple. It is even possible to add
two time-coordinates, provided the two coordinates describe different independent quantities.
An example of the latter is the time/space position of a subsurface point of which the vertical
coordinate is expressed as the two-way travel time of a sound signal in milliseconds, as is
common in seismic imaging. A second time-coordinate indicates the time of observation, usually
expressed in whole years.
- Since:
- GeoAPI 1.0
- Version:
- Abstract specification 2.0
getCoordinateSystem
@Extension
CoordinateSystem getCoordinateSystem()
- Returns a relevant coordinate system instance. Special cases:
If the CRS instance on which this method is invoked is an instance of the
single CRS interface, then the CS instance which is
returned shall be one of the defined sub-interfaces of coordinate system.
If the CRS instance on which this method is invoked is an instance of the
compound CRS interface, then the CS instance which is
returned shall have dimension and axis components obtained from different
components of the instance
CRS.
Strictly speaking, this method is defined by ISO 19111 for single CRS
only. GeoAPI declares this method in this parent interface for user convenience, since CS
dimension and
axis are commonly requested information and shall be
available, directly or indirectly, in all cases (including compound CRS).
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