About Geolocation Positioning

Geolocation positioning involves understanding key parameters such as latitude, longitude, coordinate reference system, azimuth, and origin shifting.

Geolocating a terrain consists of positioning a 3D terrain representation. This 3D representation is naturally located at only one place, the appropriate method to set a terrain's position is not by X, Y, Z coordinates as for a mechanical part but by using geolocation parameters such as altitude, longitude and elevation. These parameters describe the terrain's position in a given coordinate reference system.

This page discusses:

Shift Origin

By default, geolocating a product means giving the position on earth of the product local origin. In many cases, it is more appropriate to give the geolocation of a characteristic point inside the product.

The following figure illustrates the shifting operation.

You can change the origin shift and the azimuth in the Geolocation dialog box. The origin shift is visualized in the 3D area by a landmark. This landmark materializes the geolocated position and the azimuth. Click Update to account for the positioning changes.

Note: The landmark is relative to the current selection. It is displayed only if the selection is geolocated.

Azimuth

True north-based azimuth is an angle in the horizontal plane between the Y direction of an object and the geographic north.

In 3DEXPERIENCE, azimuth is measured clockwise. North is 0°, East 90°, South 180°, West 270°. The figures below illustrate the azimuth in a geodetic reference system North pointing upright (left figure) and in a projected coordinate reference system (North as seen in CAD relative to +Y) in the right figure.

You can specify the azimuth in the Geolocation panel. Values range from 0° to 360° (excluded).

Geolocation Compass



A geolocation compass is displayed at the bottom-right when the Geolocation dialog box is open.

Clicking any direction aligns the viewpoint with the desired direction.



In the following example, clicking the True-North arrow (red arrow) aligns the north with the up direction. Clicking the Azimuth arrow (represented by the white arrow) aligns the azimuth with the up direction.

Elevation

The active default CRS in 3DEXPERIENCE changes from EPSG::3395 to EPSG::6893, named WGS 84/World Mercator + EGM2008 geoid height. Elevation, the height above mean sea level is taken into account in this compound CRS made up of a projected CRS and a vertical CRS. You can specify or edit a vertical positioning in the Geolocation dialog box. Values can be positive or negative. Geolocated points can define a vertical coordinate when they belong to a geolocated 3D Part that references a Compound CRS.