Coordinate Conversions

This tutorial covers reference frame transforms, Earth orientation, and coordinate representations. You will learn to convert between inertial, ecliptic, and body-fixed frames, extract equatorial coordinates, and work with planetodetic positions.

Frame Transform Convention

All frame transforms go through the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF) as the pivot. When you call ToFrame, the library converts from the source frame to ICRF and then from ICRF to the target frame.

Transforming Between Inertial Frames

Convert a state vector from ICRF to the ecliptic J2000 frame:

using IO.Astrodynamics;
using IO.Astrodynamics.Body;
using IO.Astrodynamics.Frames;
using IO.Astrodynamics.Math;
using IO.Astrodynamics.TimeSystem;

var epoch = new Time(2024, 6, 21, 12, 0, 0);
var earth = PlanetsAndMoons.EARTH_BODY;

var svICRF = new StateVector(
    new Vector3(6800000.0, 0.0, 0.0),
    new Vector3(0.0, 7700.0, 0.0),
    earth, epoch, Frame.ICRF);

var svEcliptic = svICRF.ToFrame(Frame.ECLIPTIC_J2000);

Console.WriteLine($"ICRF position:     {svICRF.Position}");
Console.WriteLine($"Ecliptic position: {svEcliptic.Position}");

The obliquity of the ecliptic (~23.4 deg) rotates the Z-axis component between these frames.

Body-Fixed Frames

Transform to a body-fixed frame to get coordinates that rotate with the body:

var earthFrame = new Frame("IAU_EARTH");
var svBodyFixed = svICRF.ToFrame(earthFrame);

Console.WriteLine($"Body-fixed position: {svBodyFixed.Position}");

Body-fixed frames are essential for ground track computation and surface-relative geometry.

Earth Orientation Frames

Note

These high-accuracy Earth orientation frames account for precession, nutation and the Earth rotation angle.

These three frames follow the CIO-based IAU chain, IAU 2006 precession with IAU 2000B nutation:

Frame	Description
GCRF	Geocentric Celestial Reference Frame (same axes as ICRF)
CIRS	Celestial Intermediate Reference System (accounts for precession and nutation)
TIRS	Terrestrial Intermediate Reference System (accounts for Earth rotation angle)

// Get the CIRS-to-ICRF orientation at a given epoch
var cirsToIcrf = Frame.CIRS.GetStateOrientationToICRF(epoch);

// Rotate a position from CIRS to ICRF
var positionIcrf = positionCirs.Rotate(cirsToIcrf.Rotation);

// Rotate a position from ICRF to CIRS (use conjugate)
var positionCirs = positionIcrf.Rotate(cirsToIcrf.Rotation.Conjugate());

These frames are critical for precise orbit determination and high-accuracy ground station modeling.

Equatorial Coordinates

Extract right ascension and declination from a state vector:

var eq = svICRF.ToEquatorial();

Console.WriteLine($"RA:  {eq.RightAscension * Constants.Rad2Deg:F4} deg");
Console.WriteLine($"Dec: {eq.Declination * Constants.Rad2Deg:F4} deg");
Console.WriteLine($"Range: {eq.Range:F0} m");

Equatorial coordinates are useful for observation planning and sensor pointing.

Planetodetic Coordinates

Define a surface location using geodetic longitude, latitude, and altitude:

var coords = new Planetodetic(
    longitude: -122.0 * Constants.Deg2Rad,
    latitude: 37.0 * Constants.Deg2Rad,
    altitude: 100.0);

Console.WriteLine($"Longitude: {coords.Longitude * Constants.Rad2Deg:F2} deg");
Console.WriteLine($"Latitude:  {coords.Latitude * Constants.Rad2Deg:F2} deg");
Console.WriteLine($"Altitude:  {coords.Altitude:F0} m");

Longitude and latitude are in radians; altitude is in meters above the reference ellipsoid.

Summary

• All frame transforms pivot through ICRF. Use ToFrame to convert between any supported frames.
• Body-fixed frames (IAU_EARTH, IAU_MOON, etc.) rotate with the body.
• GCRF, CIRS, and TIRS frames provide the IAU CIO-based Earth orientation chain.
• ToEquatorial extracts RA/Dec; Planetodetic represents geodetic surface coordinates.