1. Latitude, Longitude, Altitude

2. Candidate Standard
ISO 6709:1983. Standard representation of latitude, longitude and altitude for geographic point locations

3. ISO 6709 First edition published 1983
Second edition will be published in 2008
ISO/FDIS 6709 ( )
Second edition provides representation of horizontal coordinates other than latitude, longitude and includes heights and depths

4. Latitude
Latitude on or north of the equator shall be designated by use of the plus sign (+), or (N).
Latitude south of the equator shall be designated by use of the minus sign (-), or (S).
The first two digits of the latitude string shall represent degrees. Subsequent digits shall represent minutes, seconds or decimal fractions:
Degrees and decimal degrees:
DD.DD
Degrees, minutes and decimal minutes:
DDMM.MMM
Degrees, minutes, seconds and decimal seconds:
DDMMSS.SS

5. Longitude
Longitude on or east of the prime meridian shall be designated by use of the plus sign (+), or (E),
Longitude west of the prime meridian shall be designated by use of the minus sign (-), or (W).
The first three digits of the longitude string shall represent degrees. Subsequent digits shall represent minutes, seconds or decimal fractions:
Degrees and decimal degrees:
DDD.DD
Degrees, minutes and decimal minutes:
DDDMM.MMM
Degrees, minutes, seconds and decimal seconds:
DDDMMSS.SS

6. Height or Depth The representation of height or of depth is optional.
If height or depth is expressed, a Coordinate Reference System (CRS) identifier shall be supplied.
The referenced CRS shall describe whether the value is a height or a depth.
Height and depth units shall be defined through the referenced CRS.

7. CRS identifier
CRS identification shall be designated by the use of the characters “CRS” preceding crsName.
The crsName shall be designated by the CRS unique identifier from a register (online, offline)
Full CRS definition is in ISO 19111

8. Examples
Representation of latitude and longitude without height or depth:
Degrees
CRSWGS_84/ /
Degrees and decimal degrees
CRSWGS_84/
Degrees and minutes
CRSWGS_84/
Degrees, minutes and decimal minutes
CRSWGS_84/
Degrees, minutes and seconds
CRSWGS_84/
Degrees, minutes, seconds and decimal seconds
CRSWGS_84/

9. Examples
Representation of latitude and longitude with height or depth:
Degrees
CRSWGS_84/
Degrees and decimal degrees
CRSWGS_84/
Degrees and minutes
CRSWGS_84/
Degrees, minutes and decimal minutes
Degrees, minutes and seconds
CRSWGS_84/
Degrees, minutes, seconds and decimal seconds
CRSWGS_84/

10. Conclusions
ISO 6709 is widely used in the geospatial and marine communities
It is well documented with sound governance