distance calculator
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Frequently Asked Questions


General

Why are your distances often different? - We have 3 types of distance. One is for as the crow would fly (in a straight line) another is the estimation of distance were you to drive (used to create fuel cost esitmates) and a third is the quickest route and distance were you to drive using directions provided by Google maps. We find that people have differing needs and requirements and that these serve all.

How do you calculate distances - Distances are calculated using latitude and longitude data. A great circle calculation is made and an answer provided in miles and kilometres.

Why are your distances sometimes wrong and why do your driving times suck - There are rare occasions where we get it wrong. This is usually due to an incorrect data point for the locations being calculated. Driving directions and distances are sourced by a 3rd party so we are unable to change these. We can however, advise on local routes and alternatives and give advice based on time of the year or local traffic considerations.

How many distances have you calculated? As of June 2011 we had processed over 35 million distinct user calculations.

Do humans or robots answer the questions? Questions are answered primarily by staff. We do however, often get awesome help from site visitors and appreciate what they bring to the table.

How many locations do you cover? At last count we had data for over 240 countries and 18000 unique cities or towns.

What are the two most remote points on the earth in terms of distance that you've recorded? The furthest distance we have on record is for the distance between Auckland New Zealand to Seville Spain at 12381miles or 19921.03 Kilometers.

Why can't I ask a question where I like? By and large you can, all we ask is that you ask your question from a related page and don't ask a question in answer to a question. We don't want people spammed with unrelated answers to THEIR questions which are in fact unrelated questions and not answers.

Where are you based, how often do you update the website? We are based in the town of Hitchin, England. We work on the website daily, improving features, answering questions and maintaining the servers required to keep the site running.

What is the Great Circle Distance?

You can learn more about the Great Circle Haversine Formula for straight line distance calculus  here


Haversine
formula:
a = sin²(Δφ/2) + cos(φ1).cos(φ2).sin²(Δλ/2)
c = 2.atan2(√a, √(1−a))
d = R.c
where φ is latitude, λ is longitude, R is earth’s radius (mean radius = 6,371km)
  Note that angles need to be in radians to pass to trig functions.
JavaScript:
var R = 6371; // km  var dLat = (lat2-lat1).toRad();  
var dLon = (lon2-lon1).toRad();
var lat1 = lat1.toRad();
var lat2 = lat2.toRad();
var a = Math.sin(dLat/2) * Math.sin(dLat/2) +
Math.sin(dLon/2) * Math.sin(dLon/2) * Math.cos(lat1) * Math.cos(lat2);
var c = 2 * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1-a)); var d = R * c;

Advertising

Can I advertise on this website? Yes you can, it costs from as little as €3.49 per month to sponsor an individual page (ideal for local businesses). Alternatively, you can play via a CPM model, currently priced at £5 per 1000 page impressions served. CPM ads need to be related to the travel niche. Local ads need to serve the interests of people visiting that location.

What ad formats do you carry ? Ads are accepted in 250x250 gif or JPG format and will link to a url related to your business domain. Clicks will be tracked as will impressions, helping you evaluate the performance of your campaign cycle.

What is the minimum term? For per page type ads, the minimum term is 12 months. CPM blocks can be purchased in blocks of 10,000.

Can I target regions with CPM? Yes you can, you can choose for your ad to display on all pages that are related to say, France or the USA.

How does it work? You pay an initial set up fee of £100-00 this covers 20,000 page impressions for your ad. Once these are exhausted, you'll receive a notification email inviting you to top up your account.

Can I pay for larger blocks in advance ? Yes you can, just specify how many times you'd like to have your ad delivered, pay the fee and we'll do the rest.

How can I get in touch ? You can contact us at [email protected]. For advertising enquiries, please send details of your advert to the above address.

Do you earn money from links you provide? We earn small commissions from some of the links we recommend to people. These are mainly to sites that provide tickets or hotels, in all cases they fit well with a solution to a question being asked. We choose our partners on the basis of their usefulness to our users, not on our profitability, everything we do is ultimately aimed at you the user. We want to offer you related links and ads to things that will help and not hinder.

Can I purchase a link on this website ? No, everything we link to is based upon merit and use to our users. If you have a resource that you think is a good fit, do please write and tell us why.

 

2012 � distances-calculator.com * distances and info provided are a guide measure only - please consult your travel agent for verification