ATPL General Navigation
Lambert Conformal Conic Projection
Watch the Earth become a chart. Drag the timeline slowly in either direction — every meridian, parallel, great circle and rhumb line is recomputed geometrically at each frame, so nothing is a pre-rendered animation.
The Earth
Standard parallels 40°N / 52°NLambert chart
Unrolled 0%Step 1 of 8 — The Earth and the cone
0% · 0s / 64sA cone is placed around the Earth. It is cut by the sphere at two latitudes only — the standard parallels, glowing here. Only these two parallels touch the cone, so only there is the chart scale exact.
Compare with the Earth
Move the pointer over the globe — or over the finished chart once it is fully unrolled — and the same position is marked on the other side.
— no position under the pointer —
Learning objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
- 01Describe how a Lambert conformal conic chart is generated from a cone placed around the Earth.
- 02Explain the role of the two standard parallels and where chart scale is exact.
- 03Show why meridians converge and parallels become arcs of concentric circles.
- 04Explain why a great circle plots almost as a straight line on a Lambert chart.
- 05Explain why a rhumb line plots as a curve concave to the parallel of origin.
- 06Relate any point on the chart back to its true position on the Earth.
Demonstration leg: London Heathrow (EGLL) to Athens (LGAV). Central meridian 12°E.