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Calculate Geographic distances in Python with the Haversine method
When calculating distance between points on earth you will have to use the Haversine method for this.
Haversine method explained
The Haversine method is a mathematical formula used in navigation and geography to calculate the distance between two points on the surface of a sphere, such as the Earth. It’s particularly useful for determining distances over short to medium distances on the Earth’s surface.
The formula is based on the law of haversines, which relates the sides and angles of spherical triangles. In the context of the Haversine formula, it’s used to find the great-circle distance between two points, which is the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface.
- d is the distance between the two points (along the surface of the sphere).
- R is the radius of the sphere (in this case, the radius of the Earth).
- lat1 and lat2 are the latitudes of the two points.
- Δlat is the difference between the latitudes.
- Δlon is the difference between the longitudes.
- atan2 is a special function that computes the arctangent of the quotient of its arguments.
