Measurement and localization system using bases three and nine and corresponding applications

A system for localizing an area in space in relation to a predetermined point on an essentially spherical surface, an area to be localized being localized in relation to a predetermined meridian of the spherical surface, the spherical surface being divided into two hemispherical zones by a radial plane passing through a meridian selected as reference, each hemispherical zone being divided into three identical spherical sectors by two radial planes each including a respective meridian, and each of the three spherical sectors by two planes perpendicular to the radial planes each including a respective parallel, so as to obtain nine zones of a first rank, each zone of a rank n being successively divided in a same manner into nine zones of higher rank n+1, n being an integer number greater than 1, a predetermined respective number from 1 to 9 being attributed to each of the nine zones of first rank and to each of the zones of rank n+1 in the zone of rank n, and a zone of rank n being localized by a zone reference sequence having n digits containing the number of said zone, and the respective numbers of all of zones of lower rank n−1 to 1, in which said zone is located, said system comprising:

• means for determining the zone reference sequence of a zone of rank n in which is located an area to be localized in the surface, n being the maximum value such that the surface of the area to be localized is included in said zone of rank n, and
• means for manipulating said zone reference sequence.

A method of geographically localizing an area of a terrestrial globe in relation to a predetermined meridian of the terrestrial globe, comprising:

• dividing the terrestrial globe into two hemispherical zones with a radial plane passing through the meridian,
• dividing successively the surface of each hemispherical zone into zones of rank n, n being an integer value greater than or equal to 1, obtained by dividing successively each zone of lower rank n−1 into three substantially identical spherical sectors by two radial planes each including a respective meridian, and each of three spherical sectors by two planes perpendicular to the radial planes each including a respective parallel, so as to obtain nine zones for each rank n,
• attributing a predetermined respective number from 1 to 9 to each of the zones of rank n in each zone of lower rank n−1,
• determining the position of the area to be localized by associating the respective numbers of zones of rank 1 to n, and a respective sign indicating the hemispherical zone, in which is located the area to be localized, to obtain a zone reference sequence localizing said area, and manipulating said zone reference sequence.

A computer program stored on a medium for operation on a computer system comprising code which:

• divides the terrestrial globe into two hemispherical zones with a radial plane passing through the meridian,
• divides the surface of each hemispherical zone into zones of rank n obtained by dividing successively each zone of lower rank n−1 into three substantially identical spherical sectors by two radial planes each including a respective meridian, and each of three spherical sectors by two planes perpendicular to the radial planes each including a respective parallel, n being an integer number equal to or greater than 1,
• attributes a predetermined respective number from 1 to 9 to each of the zones of rank n in each zone of lower rank n−1,
• determines a position of an area to be localized by associating the respective numbers of zones of ranks 1 to n, and a respective sign indicating the hemispherical zone, in which is located the area to be localized, to obtain a zone position sequence of said area, and manipulates said zone position sequence.

A system for localizing an area in space in relation to a predetermined point on an essentially spherical surface, wherein the surface is divided into nine zones of first rank obtained by dividing the surface into three parts in two different directions, a predetermined respective number from 1 to 9 is attributed to each of the zones of first rank, each zone of rank n, n being an integer successively equal to from 1 to m, being divided in the same manner into nine zones of higher rank n+1, a predetermined respective number from 1 to 9 being attributed to each of the zones of rank n+1, and a zone of rank n is localized by a zone reference sequence having n digits containing the number of said zone and the respective numbers of all of the zones of lower rank n−1to 1, in which said zone is located, comprising:

• means for determining the position reference sequence of a zone of rank n in which is located a zone to be localized in the surface, n being the maximum value such that the surface of the zone to be localized is included in said zone of rank n, and
• the zone to be localized being zone referenced in relation to a predetermined meridian of the spherical surface, the spherical surface having been previously divided into two hemispherical zones by a radial plane passing through a meridian selected as reference, the nine zones of first rank being obtained by dividing each hemispherical zone into three spherical sectors of identical preference by two radial planes each including a respective meridian, and each of the three spherical sectors by two planes perpendicular to the radial planes and each including a respective parallel.