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azimuth and elevation

Azimuth and elevation are angles used to define the apparent position of an object in the sky, relative to a specific observation point. The observer is usually (but not necessarily) located on the earth's surface. The azimuth (az) angle is the compass bearing, relative to true (geographic) north, of a point on the horizon directly beneath an observed object. The horizon is defined as a huge, imaginary circle centered on the observer, equidistant from the zenith (point straight overhead) and the nadir (point exactly opposite the zenith). As seen from above the observer, compass bearings are measured clockwise in degrees from north. Azimuth angles can thus range from 0 degrees (north) through 90 (east), 180 (south), 270 (west), and up to 360 (north again).

The elevation (el) angle, also called the altitude, of an observed object is determined by first finding the compass bearing on the horizon relative to true north, and then measuring the angle between that point and the object, from the reference frame of the observer. Elevation angles for objects above the horizon range from 0 (on the horizon) up to 90 degrees (at the zenith). Sometimes the range of the elevation coordinate is extended downward from the horizon to -90 degrees (the nadir). This is useful when the observer is located at some distance above the surface, such as in an aircraft.

http://www.satsig.net/azelhelp.htm

Explanation of Azimuth and Elevation

Azimuth and elevation refer to the satellite dish pointing angles.

Elevation
Elevation refers to the angle between the dish pointing direction, directly towards the satellite, and the local horizontal plane. It is the up-down angle. When you dish is pointed low down near the horizon the elevation angle is only a few degrees. At low elevation angles, below 5 deg at C band and 10 deg at Ku band, the path through the atmosphere is longer and the signals are degraded by rain attenuation and rain thermal noise. Scintillation also occurs, particularly in hot humid weather. This causes increases and decreases in the signal level every several seconds for many hours, like the twinkling of a star. When your dish is pointed almost straight up the elevation angle is nearly 90 degrees. Sites near the equator may require you to point to almost 90 deg elevation angle when the longitude of the satellite is similar to the longitude of the site location. In high elevation cases watch out for the possibility of rain water collecting in the dish. It is easy to set up the elevation angle accurately, using: (a) a scale marked on the mount bracket. This is almost essential for 'offset antennas' with the feed at the bottom on an arm. Make sure the pole mount is vertical using a bubble level or weighted string in two positions at right angles around the pole. The offset angle may be documented in the installation instructions. (b) using an inclinometer. These typically have a bubble level and a rotary scale marked in degrees. Think about low angles (near zero), the 45 deg half way angle and high angles (towards 90 deg) and make sure that your scale readings make sense. You may need to add or subtract 90 or 180 deg and even to read the scale backwards. If you are using an axi-symmetric dish the back of the dish is normally at right angles to the beam and there may be some suitable flat part where you can apply the inclinometer. (c) If you don't have an inclinometer then make one using a piece of card, a length of cotton and a small weight (small metal nut, for example). Make a hole near one edge and insert the thread so that the weight dangles across the card. Draw on the card the exact elevation angle required using a school compass or two lines at right angles and trigonometry (tan function suggested) at Start, Programmes, Accessories, Calculator, Scientific mode. This kind of home made device can be far more accurate that a small

inclinometer sold in a DIY store. For large dishes a long plumb line can be used and sideways measurements used with tan tables to determine angles accurately.

Azimuth
Azimuth refers to the rotation of the whole antenna around a vertical axis. It is the side to side angle. Typically you loosen the main mount bracket and swing the whole dish all the way around in a 360 deg circle. By definition North is 0 deg, East is 90 deg, South is 180 deg and west is 270 deg. North can also be called 360 deg. Note that you find a satellite by pre-setting the elevation accurately and then swinging the whole antenna boldly in azimuth till the signal locks up - so an approximate azimuth angle is normally sufficient. The dish pointing calculator gives the required azimuth angle both relative to true north and relative to magnetic compass north. When using a magnetic compass keep away from metal structures. This is obviously a problem in many cases both with the antenna steelwork and building structures. If, for example, you have a close angle clearance problem with say an adjacent wall then you may need to walk some distance away and sight towards the satellite from say 50 yards back. Large scale precision maps / plans can be useful in accurately defining angles. Also consider long range views of say church towers that might provide an accurate azimuth reference. If you are in the northern hemisphere then remember that the sun rises in the east, reaches its highest angle at due south and sets in the west. If you are in the southern hemisphere then remember that the sun rises in the east, reaches its highest angle at due north and sets in the west. If you are away from the equator and it is a sunny day you can approximately determine south simply by considering where the sun is and the general time of day. You can determine north/south with a stick and several small pebbles if you have a few hours to spare before and after midday. If you are near the equator note where the sun rose this morning - that is approximately east. The north pole star gives a good fix if you are in the northern hemisphere and not too close to the equator.

Some GPS receivers show a view of the sky with the sun and moon marked. Line up with one of these and you have a good bearings. Also with GPS you can walk a while in a straight line and determine the azimuth bearing angle of that line. Last amended 26 Nov 2003. Any problems, please email me, Eric Johnston

http://interface.cipic.ucdavis.edu/CIL_tutorial/3D_psych/coord.htm

Coordinate Systems

To specify the location of a sound source relative to the listener, we need a coordinate system. One natural choice is the head-centered rectangular-coordinate system shown above. Here the xaxis goes (approximately) through the right ear, the y axis points straight ahead, and the z axis is vertical. This defines three standard planes, the xy or horizontal plane, the xz or frontal plane, and the yz or median plane (also called the mid-sagittal plane). Clearly, the horizontal plane defines up/down separation, the frontal plane defines front/back separation, and the median plane defines right/left separation. However, because the head is roughly spherical, a spherical coordinate system is usually used. Here the standard coordinates are azimuth, elevation and range. Unfortunately, there is more than one way to define these coordinates, and different people define them in different ways. The vertical-polar coordinate system (shown below on the left) is the most popular. Here one first measures the azimuth as the angle from the median plane to a vertical plane containing the source and the z azis, and then measures the elevation as the angle up from the horizontal plane. With this choice, surfaces of constant azimuth are planes through the z axis, and surfaces of constant elevation are cones concentric about the z axis.

An important alternative is the interaural-polar coordinate system, shown above on the right. Here one first measures the elevation as the angle from the horizontal plane to a plane through the source and the x axis, which is the interaural axis; the azimuth is then measured as the angle over from the median plane. With this choice, surfaces of constant elevation are planes through the interaural axis, and surfaces of constant azimuth are cones concentric with the interaural axis. The vertical-polar system is definitely more convenient for describing sources that are confined to the horizontal plane, since one merely has to specify the azimuth as an angle between -180 and +180. With the interaural-polar system, the azimuth is always between -90 and +90; surprisingly, the front/back distinction must be specified by the elevation, which is 0 for sources in the front horizontal plane, and 180 (or -180) for sources in the back. While that is certainly clumsy, we shall see that the interaural-polar system makes it significantly simpler to express interaural differences at all elevations.