Grid north is a
navigationNavigation is the process of reading, and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks. The word navigate is derived from the Latin "navigare", meaning "to sail"...
al term referring to the direction northwards along the grid lines of a
map projectionA map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other shape on a plane. Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface in some fashion...
. It is contrasted with
true northTrue north is the direction along the earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole.True north usually differs from magnetic north and grid north .The direction of true north is marked in the skies by the north celestial pole...
(the direction of the
North PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets the Earth's surface...
) and magnetic north (the direction of the Magnetic North Pole). Many
topographic mapA topographic map is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief, usually using contour lines in modern mapping, but historically using a variety of methods...
s, including those of the
United States Geological SurveyThe United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning...
and the
Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey is an executive agency of the United Kingdom government. It is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, and one of the world's largest producers of maps...
, indicate the difference between grid north, true north, and magnetic north.
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Grid north is a
navigationNavigation is the process of reading, and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks. The word navigate is derived from the Latin "navigare", meaning "to sail"...
al term referring to the direction northwards along the grid lines of a
map projectionA map projection is any method of representing the surface of a sphere or other shape on a plane. Map projections are necessary for creating maps. All map projections distort the surface in some fashion...
. It is contrasted with
true northTrue north is the direction along the earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole.True north usually differs from magnetic north and grid north .The direction of true north is marked in the skies by the north celestial pole...
(the direction of the
North PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets the Earth's surface...
) and magnetic north (the direction of the Magnetic North Pole). Many
topographic mapA topographic map is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief, usually using contour lines in modern mapping, but historically using a variety of methods...
s, including those of the
United States Geological SurveyThe United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning...
and the
Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey is an executive agency of the United Kingdom government. It is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, and one of the world's largest producers of maps...
, indicate the difference between grid north, true north, and magnetic north.
At the
South PoleThe South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects the surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
, grid north conventionally points northwards along the
prime meridianThe Prime Meridian is the meridian at which longitude is defined to be 0°.The Prime Meridian and its opposite the 180th meridian , which the International Date Line generally follows, form a great circle that divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.Unlike the parallels of...
.