polar coordinates

From Glossary of Meteorology
(Redirected from Polar axis)
  1. In the plane, a system of curvilinear coordinates in which a point is located by its distance r from the origin (or pole) and by the angle θ which a line joining the given point and the origin makes with a fixed reference line, called the polar axis.
The relations between rectangular Cartesian coordinates and polar coordinates are
ams2001glos-Pe25
where the origins of the two systems coincide and the polar axis coincides with the x axis.
  1. In space,
    same as spherical coordinates.

    See also cylindrical coordinates.
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