For Engineers · Great-Circle Distance
Great-Circle Distance for a heat map
Built for engineers using it for real design work. Go from concept to a running model in the browser, then scale to the cloud when needed. Simulate a heat map live below — adjust the inputs and watch it respond, right in your browser.
Great-Circle Distance (Haversine)Live
shortest path on a sphere
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The shortest route between two points on Earth is a great-circle arc, not a straight line on a flat map. The haversine formula computes that distance from latitude and longitude, staying accurate even for nearly antipodal points. It powers flight planning, GPS, and every "distance between" feature — and explains why polar routes look curved on a Mercator map.
Data Inspector
Distance5579 km
In miles3465 mi
Initial bearing51°
Governing equation
Reading this result: A great circle changes heading as you travel, so the 51-degree initial bearing is not the heading you keep — that constant-heading path (a rhumb line) would be longer.
Runs locally in your browser — free forever. Scale to the cloud when reality gets heavy.
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Frequently asked questions
- Is this good for engineers?
- Yes — this version of "Great-Circle Distance for a heat map" is framed for engineers using it for real design work. Go from concept to a running model in the browser, then scale to the cloud when needed.
- Do I need to install anything?
- No. It runs in any modern browser, free, with no account required.