Demystifying Web Mapping Coordinate Systems: Epsg 3857 Vs 4326

Understanding Coordinate Reference Systems

A coordinate reference system (CRS) allows locating geographical features on the Earth’s surface by defining a specific map projection, coordinate system, ellipsoid and datum. The coordinate values themselves only have meaning when linked to a well-defined CRS.

The two most commonly used CRSs for web mapping are:

EPSG 3857 – Based on the spherical Mercator projection coordinate system, optimized for web mapping and global coverage.
EPSG 4326 – Based on a geographic latitude/longitude coordinate system, representing positions on an ellipsoidal model of the Earth.

Defining EPSG 3857 and EPSG 4326 Systems

EPSG 3857, also known as Web Mercator or Pseudo-Mercator:

Table of Contents

Planar projected coordinate system designed for web mapping.
Conforms to the specifications of the spherical Mercator projection.
Uses the WGS84 ellipsoid and datum.
X coordinates represent eastings, Y coordinates represent northings.
Units are in meters.
Has limited overall shape distortion but cannot accurately represent polewards areas.

EPSG 4326:

Geographic latitude/longitude coordinate system using angular units of degrees.
Based on the WGS84 geodetic datum and ellipsoid.
Latitude values range from -90° to 90°, longitude values range from -180° to 180°.
De facto standard for representing location data on the web.
Accurately represents the shapes and areas of geographical features across the globe.

Explaining Differences Between Projected and Geographic Coordinate Systems

The key difference between EPSG 3857 and EPSG 4326 is that one represents a projected coordinate system and the other is a geographic coordinate system.

A projected coordinate system like Web Mercator depicts the curved surface of the Earth on a 2D plane, using mathematical formulas to transform latitude and longitude locations from an ellipsoid into cartesian coordinates on a grid. This projection inevitably introduces some distortions but allows consistent measurements and straight lines.

A geographic coordinate system like latitude/longitude directly refers to angular positions on the Earth’s surface, measured against reference lines of longitude and latitude on a 3D ellipsoidal model. Locations are defined in degrees rather than grid units, preserving the shapes and areas of features but resulting in complexity for measurement and calculations.

Visualizing Distortions

Showing Map Projections in EPSG 3857 and EPSG 4326

The differences between coordinate reference systems can be visualized through map projections.

EPSG 3857 depicts the world map as a square grid, dynamically rescaled to fit display dimensions. This allows simple panning and zooming transformations within web maps. However, areas become increasingly distorted towards the poles in order to represent polar regions on a square map.

In contrast, EPSG 4326 shows the true angular geographic coordinates on a spherical model of the Earth, without distortion but requiring complex projections to transform into a flat map. As such area and shape representations are accurate but challenging to translate into web map constructs.

Providing Interactive Maps to Showcase Distortions

Comparing interactive maps projected in both coordinate systems makes the distortions visually clear.

Tools like Projection Wizard allow toggling between EPSG 3857 and EPSG 4326 views, showing how Web Mercator enlarges polar areas to maintain its square conformity. The true forms of landmasses like Greenland and Antarctica are only revealed in a geographic projection.

By overlaying gridlines in both CRSs, the angular great circle lines of latitude/longitude can be compared to the parallel straight lines of Web Mercator. The shortening of distances between longitudes towards the poles in EPSG 3857 is evident.

Interactive dual projections demonstrate the fundamental representation variations between conformal Web Mercator optimized for web mapping, and accurate geographic coordinates preferred for measurement and analysis with geographic information systems (GIS).

Choosing the Right System

Comparing Use Cases for EPSG 3857 vs EPSG 4326

Determining the appropriate projection depends significantly on the specific use case and goals of a mapping application.

Web Mercator (EPSG 3857) is the best coordinate reference system for web maps visualizing global scale features and enabling user interactivity. Properties like continuous zooming and scrolling are enabled by its simple projected geometry. Client side tiling, overlaying information layers, placing pinpointed map markers, and route calculation tasks all benefit from its Euclidean coordinate grid.

The geographic latitude/longitude coordinate system (EPSG 4326) excels in accurately representing local scale maps with correct area proportions and distance measurements. It preserves shapes and minimizes distortion by staying faithful to an ellipsoidal Earth model. EPSG 4326 is utilized widely in GIS analyses and location data storage where geographical accuracy takes priority over web map visualization. Conversions to suitable projections are necessary for display purposes.

Offering Guidelines on Coordinate System Selection

Some key guidelines can streamline selecting EPSG 3857 versus EPSG 4326 for web mapping applications:

Use Web Mercator for interactive web maps, web services, tiled slippy maps, and visualization focused applications.
Use geographic coordinate system for accuracy sensitive measurement and analysis use cases.
Choose EPSG 3857 for global or mid-latitude mapping contexts.
Prefer EPSG 4326 for high latitude polar mapped regions.
Select EPSG 3857 when coordinate system continuity and symmetry is needed across tile boundaries.

Additionally, the popularity of web mapping APIs and basemap services that predominantly utilize EPSG 3857 makes this projection a pragmatic choice in many use cases. Conversion capabilities to other CRSs can resolve accuracy issues if they arise.

Transforming Between Systems

Explaining Necessity of Transformations

Interconversions between coordinate reference systems are frequently required during web mapping workflows to:

Project geometries between planar and spherical models.
Align different projections to common datums and coordinate origins.
Enable spatial analysis across multiple domains.
Eliminate representation discrepancies for accurate compute operations.

For example, calculating an accurate driving route across locales requires transforming the start and end latitude/longitude locations to corresponding Web Mercator easting/northing values to determine intersecting coordinate grid points for routing algorithms.

Providing Sample Code for Transformations in JavaScript

JavaScript libraries like Proj4js allow coordinate reference system transformations via code functions in web apps.

Sample EPSG 4326 to 3857 conversion in JavaScript:

var proj4 = require('proj4');
 
var gcs = proj4('EPSG:4326'); 
var sm = proj4('EPSG:3857');
 
var lat = 51.50853;
var lon = -0.12574;
 
var xy = proj4(gcs, sm, [lon, lat]); 

//xy now contains easting/northing coordinates

Similarly, the inverse projection from Web Mercator meters to geographic degrees can also be executed.

Built-in transformation methods in mapping libraries like OpenLayers and Leaflet also automatically handle projections between coordinate reference systems.

Summary

Recapping Key Points on Coordinate Reference Systems

To recap, the two predominant mechanisms for locating information on web maps are:

EPSG 3857 – Web Mercator projection optimizing global web map functionality via distortions.
EPSG 4326 – Ellipsoidal latitude/longitude model preserving geographical accuracy.

Factors like application goals, usage context, analysis needs and geometric behavior determine ideal coordinate system selection between the simplisticEPSGeut projections.

Conversion methods enable transforming locations between distorted and accurate representations for multi-stage geospatial compute workflows.

Linking to Additional Resources for Learning

For more specialized information on selecting and utilizing coordinate reference systems, refer to:

EPSG.io – Quick reference for CRS parameters and conversion identifiers.
PROJ Projections – Cartographic projection software and transformations library.
Esri CRS Guide – ArcGIS reference on projected versus unprojected coordinate systems.