ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Local geodetic coordinates

Imagine you are playing a game of hide-and-seek and the person who is seeking says, "I am going to count to 10 and then come find you." You try to hide in the best spot possible so that you won't be found. But, how does the person who is seeking know where to look for you?

Well, they can use something called coordinates. Coordinates are like a secret code that tell them where to find you. Just like how your address tells people exactly where you live, coordinates tell people exactly where something is located.

Now, local geodetic coordinates are a special kind of coordinates that are used to describe locations on Earth. They are used by scientists and geographers to study different parts of our planet.

To understand how they work, let's think about the Earth as a big ball. If we want to find a specific spot on this ball, we need to know two things: how far we are from the center of the Earth, and where we are located on the Earth's surface.

To figure out how far we are from the center of the Earth, we use something called elevation. This is like how high up or how low down we are on the ball. To figure out where we are located on the Earth's surface, we use longitude and latitude. These are like the imaginary lines that go around the Earth and help us find specific locations.

When we combine elevation with longitude and latitude, we get our local geodetic coordinates. These coordinates tell us exactly where we are on Earth, like a secret code that only scientists and geographers can understand.

So, just like how the seeker used coordinates to find you in the game of hide-and-seek, scientists and geographers use local geodetic coordinates to find specific locations on Earth for their research and studies.