A discrete square global grid system based on the parallels plane projection

Abstract

We developed a direct partitioning method to construct a seamless discrete global grid system (DGGS) with any resolution based on a two‐dimensional projected plane and the earth ellipsoid. This DGGS is composed of congruent square grids over the projected plane and irregular ellipsoidal quadrilaterals on the ellipsoidal surface. A new equal area projection named the parallels plane (PP) projection derived from the expansion of the central meridian and parallels has been employed to perform the transformation between the planar squares and the corresponding ellipsoidal grids. The horizontal sides of the grids are parts of the parallel circles and the vertical sides are complex ellipsoidal curves, which can be obtained by the inverse expression of the PP projection. The partition strategies, transformation equations, geometric characteristics and distortions for this DGGS have been discussed. Our analysis proves that the DGGS is area‐preserving while length distortions only occur on the vertical sides off the central meridian. Angular and length distortions positively correlate to the increase in latitudes and the spanning of longitudes away from a chosen central meridian. This direct partition only generates a small number of broken grids that can be treated individually.

Keywords:

• Discrete global grid system
• Earth ellipsoid
• Parallels plane projection
• Projection distortion

Acknowledgement

This research is partially supported by the Knowledge Innovation Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX3‐SW‐347) and the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 40225004).