Minute and second of arc Minute and second of arc A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc is a unit of angular measurement equal to of one degree. Since one degree is of a turn (or complete rotation), one minute of arc is of a turn – it is for this reason that the Earth's circumference is almost exactly 21,600 nautical miles. A minute of arc is of a radian. A second of arc, arcsecond (arcsec), or arc second is of an arcminute, of a degree, of a turn, and (about ) of a radian. These units originated in Babylonian astronomy
Lambert cylindrical equal-area projection as, "Notes and Comments on the Composition of Terrestrial and Celestial Maps". Lambert's projection is the basis for the cylindrical equal-area projection family. Lambert chose the equator as the parallel of no distortion. By multiplying the projection's height by some factor and dividing the width by the same factor, the regions of no distortion can be moved to any desired pair of parallels north and south of the equator. These variations, particularly the Gall–Peters projection, are more commonly encountered in maps than Lambert’s original projection due to their lower distortion overall. where "φ" is the latitude, "λ" is the longitude