How close will an 8 digit grid coordinate get you to your point?

How close will an 8 digit grid coordinate get you to your point?

• A. 100 meters
• B. 1 meter
• C. 1 kilometer
• D. 10 meters

Answer: (D)

Each extra pair of digits in a grid coordinate tightens your location by a factor of ten. An eight-digit coordinate first uses four digits to identify the 1-kilometer grid square (two for easting, two for northing). The remaining four digits subdivide that 1-kilometer square into smaller areas, yielding about 10 meters of precision. So you’re located within a 10-meter-wide square on the ground, meaning you’re roughly within 10 meters of the actual point. With fewer digits, the precision is coarser (four digits gives about 1 km, six digits about 100 m). You’d need many more digits to reach about 1 meter.

Each extra pair of digits in a grid coordinate tightens your location by a factor of ten. An eight-digit coordinate first uses four digits to identify the 1-kilometer grid square (two for easting, two for northing). The remaining four digits subdivide that 1-kilometer square into smaller areas, yielding about 10 meters of precision. So you’re located within a 10-meter-wide square on the ground, meaning you’re roughly within 10 meters of the actual point. With fewer digits, the precision is coarser (four digits gives about 1 km, six digits about 100 m). You’d need many more digits to reach about 1 meter.