Survey and Inspection

Technical Note No 6
Martin Day

7th November 2003

Convergence – Beware of the Sign

1. What is Convergence ?

Convergence has long been a source of ambiguity and confusion due to the plethora of
descriptions and conventions that are documented in the survey literature. There is often
confusion over the definition of convergence, but which convergence ? It is often referred
to as Grid Convergence, Meridian convergence, Convergence of the Meridians or just
simply ‘convergence’. However, in all cases it is always described as the angle at any
point, between Grid North and True North.

There are two primary issues with convergence

• Sign convention. Is it true north minus Grid North or Grid North minus True North ?
• How is convergence combined with a Grid Bearing or an True Bearing (Azimuth) to
calculate the other ?

The formula for convergence depends on the map projection being used. For Universal
Transverse Mercator the full formula for convergence calculation is a series, the most
significant of which is the first term in that series, and is defined by Redfearn as follows :

Convergence = + (Point Longitude -Central Meridian Longitude)*Sin(Latitude)

The relationship between true bearing (ie azimuth), grid bearing and convergence is
described below :

Grid Bearing = Azimuth - Convergence

The relationship between the three parameters in this formula, and how they change with
hemisphere and central meridian are represented in the diagram below.
The relationship is fairly straightforward, but what about the sign ? If we use the Grid
Bearing = Azimuth – Convergence formula with respect to the diagram above, it is
possible to confirm the sign of convergence that we should expect for the various
quadrants. For example, north of the equator and east of the central meridian,
convergence should always be positive, and grid bearing is less than true bearing., The
following diagram illustrates the expectation of sign of convergence for all 4 quadrants.
This is important as some software applications or survey references may produce or
quote a convergence of absolute (positive) value. Others may always quote positive
convergence but with an indication of the direction. For example convergence of +1.5˚
West would equate to negative1.5˚, convergence of +1.5˚ East equates to positive 1.5˚.

2. Convergence with Lambert Conformal Conic Projection and the U.S. State Plane
Coordinate system SPCS

The formula for convergence when using Lambert Conformal Conic projection is quite
different however the sign conventions described previously with the Transverse
Mercator with respect to hemisphere and central meridian are exactly the same. Similarly,
the relationship between grid bearing, true azimuth and convergence are again as
described above.

The basic formula for convergence on the Lambert projection is given below.

γ = (λCM - λ)sinφ0
γ = convergence
λCM = longitude of the central meridian
λ = longitude of the point
φ0 – latitude of the point of origin.
Where two standard parallels are used, the formula is a little more complex and is fully
described in the following references

Surveying Theory and Practice Davis,Foote,Anderson and Mikhail 6th Edition pp570-577
Map Projections – A Working Manual by J.P.Snyder, USGS Professional Paper 1395

3. Sources of Convergence Calculation

There are a number of sources of convergence calculation within Subsea7 survey

application software, and they all adopt the same conventions and as described above.

Winfrog allows a check on convergence in a couple of ways. The value is always

computed and may be added to a vehicle text display, by following the path Configure ->
Vehicle Text -> Add Graphics Convergence.

The following examples are shown for east and west of the central meridian on UTM
zone 31.
Winfrog computed convergence, UTM zone 31 CM 3˚E, position 2˚ East (west of CM)

Winfrog computed convergence, UTM zone 31 CM 3˚E, position 4˚ East (east of CM)

Winfrog confirms that in the northern hemisphere, convergence is positive when west of
the central meridian and negative convergence.

Winfrog also has a ‘quick map convergence’ tool. Selecting the tool from the toolbar
allows the user to click any location in the graphics window and get a display of
convergence and scale factor for that point. The values are shown in the status bar at the
bottom of the main WinFrog window -
Convergence is also computed in Subsea7’s new geodetic calculator software. Again the
2˚ East position example is used, and negative convergence computed. The following
images are screen dumps from this new software.

4. Adding convergence to a bearing

Confirmation that convergence is correctly applied to a grid bearing or true bearing

(azimuth) to calculate the other is achieved by knowing which of the two azimuths should
be greater than the other for the location in question. If we can independently calculate
both a grid bearing and a true bearing, the difference automatically describes the
convergence.

Winfrog can be used to confirm this through the Forward/Inverse calculations under
Utilities. If the user enters grid projection co-ordinates and click the appropriate arrow, a
grid range and bearing is calculated between the two points. If then toggles the co-
ordinates to geographicals and repeats the calculation, a true bearing (azimuth) is
calculated. The difference between the two is clearly the convergence, and one can check
whether true bearing should be larger or smaller than grid bearing. The following
example illustrates this. In this case a grid bearing of 180˚ is calculated based upon
entering co-ordinates pairs with the same easting. Following co-ordinate format toggle,
the equivalent true bearing is 179.1488 and so grid bearing is greater than true bearing.
Convergence is also shown on both calculations as approximately -00˚ 51’,
approximately 0.85˚.

The position is west of the central meridian and north of the equator and consequently
from the quadrant plot we expect negative convergence and from the formula

Grid Bearing = Azimuth – Convergence,

180 = 179.15 – (-0.85)

So as confirmed by the forward/inverse calculation, Grid bearing is indeed greater than

true bearing.
5. Convergence in Qinsy

Within the Qinsy database setup program, there is a utility called Test Geodetical
Parameters. Here the user is invited to enter test co-ordinates using the current geodetic
parameters that have been entered and then transforming them into either datum that has
been selected. Within this utility there is a computed field that allows the user to perform
an on the spot check of the convergence value for a particular point as shown in the
screen snap below.

A comparison for the computed convergence in Qinsy was carried out in Winfrog to
verify the results that it derives. Using identical geodetic settings and original source
position in WGS84 the computed convergences in both programs were found to be
identical. Unlike Winfrog, Qinsy does not support a function that allows convergence to
be viewed whilst the system is online. Winfrog allows a vehicle text window to be
configured in such a way so that it shows the current convergence value. Qinsy has no
such capability within its Alpha Numeric display. The user would have to come offline
and view their working database in order to check convergence.