course

From Glossary of Meteorology
Revision as of 12:30, 26 March 2024 by WikiTeq (talk | contribs) (Rewrite with Template:Term and clean up)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
The direction of a line over the earth with reference to north (true or magnetic).

Because the meridian lines converge at the poles, the true course of a line changes continuously except when it is actually meridional or when it is curved so as always to cross meridians at the same angle. Magnetic course also changes but in a nonuniform manner because of the lack of complete symmetry in the isogonic lines of the earth's magnetic field.
Compare heading.

Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact permissions@ametsoc.org. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.