Calculate the center point of multiple latitude/longitude coordinate pairs

Question

Given a set of latitude and longitude points, how can I calculate the latitude and longitude of the center point of that set (aka a point that would center a view on all poi

Answer 1

As an appreciation for this thread, here is my little contribution with the implementation in Ruby, hoping that I will save someone a few minutes from their precious time:

def self.find_center(locations)

 number_of_locations = locations.length

 return locations.first if number_of_locations == 1

 x = y = z = 0.0
 locations.each do |station|
   latitude = station.latitude * Math::PI / 180
   longitude = station.longitude * Math::PI / 180

   x += Math.cos(latitude) * Math.cos(longitude)
   y += Math.cos(latitude) * Math.sin(longitude)
   z += Math.sin(latitude)
 end

 x = x/number_of_locations
 y = y/number_of_locations
 z = z/number_of_locations

 central_longitude =  Math.atan2(y, x)
 central_square_root = Math.sqrt(x * x + y * y)
 central_latitude = Math.atan2(z, central_square_root)

 [latitude: central_latitude * 180 / Math::PI, 
 longitude: central_longitude * 180 / Math::PI]
end