Morgans wrote:
"Ron Natalie" wrote

There are other coordinate systems than lat/long. A state plane picks
an arbitrary place in the state and measures in feet (or meters) from
that North and East. Similarly, Universal Transverse Mercator chops up
the earth into 3 degree zones and then makes meters north and east from
a reference point in that zone.



Sounds like something used mainly by surveyors?

Not just surveyers. Most government and utility based stuff uses
state plane coordinates. It makes the math easier and more accurate
since the state plane (in some larger states there may be several)
is defined for a local area.