arc.js

Calculate great circle routes as lines in GeoJSON or WKT format.

🌍 Try the interactive demo - Click to plot great circle arcs on a map!

Features:

• Full TypeScript support with type definitions
• Works in Node.js (CommonJS & ES modules) and browsers
• Generates GeoJSON and WKT output formats
• Handles dateline crossing automatically
• Based on Ed Williams' Aviation Formulary algorithms and the GDAL source code

Installation

npm install arc

Quick Start

CommonJS (Node.js)

const arc = require('arc');
const gc = new arc.GreatCircle({x: -122, y: 48}, {x: -77, y: 39});
const line = gc.Arc(100);
console.log(line.json()); // GeoJSON output

ES Modules (Node.js, bundlers)

import { GreatCircle } from 'arc';
const gc = new GreatCircle({x: -122, y: 48}, {x: -77, y: 39});
const line = gc.Arc(100);
console.log(line.json()); // GeoJSON output

TypeScript

import { GreatCircle, CoordinatePoint } from 'arc';

const start: CoordinatePoint = { x: -122, y: 48 };
const end: CoordinatePoint = { x: -77, y: 39 };
const gc = new GreatCircle(start, end);
const line = gc.Arc(100);

Browser (Global)

<script src="./arc.js"></script>
<script>
  const gc = new arc.GreatCircle({x: -122, y: 48}, {x: -77, y: 39});
  const line = gc.Arc(100);
</script>

API Reference

Basic Usage

1. Define coordinates

Coordinates use x for longitude and y for latitude (both in degrees):

const start = { x: -122, y: 48 };  // Seattle
const end = { x: -77, y: 39 };     // Washington DC

2. Create a GreatCircle

const gc = new GreatCircle(start, end, { name: 'Seattle to DC' });

3. Generate the arc

const line = gc.Arc(100, { offset: 10 });

Parameters:

• npoints (number): Number of intermediate points (higher = more accurate)
• options.offset (number): Dateline crossing threshold in degrees (default: 10)

TypeScript Support

import { GreatCircle, CoordinatePoint, ArcOptions } from 'arc';

// Define custom properties interface
interface RouteProperties {
  name: string;
  color?: string;
}

const start: CoordinatePoint = { x: -122, y: 48 };
const end: CoordinatePoint = { x: -77, y: 39 };
const properties: RouteProperties = { name: 'Seattle to DC', color: 'blue' };

const gc = new GreatCircle(start, end, properties);
const options: ArcOptions = { offset: 10 };
const line = gc.Arc(100, options);

// Fully typed return values
const geojson = line.json(); // GeoJSONFeature
const wkt = line.wkt();      // string

Available Types: CoordinatePoint, ArcOptions, Coord, GreatCircle, Arc, GeoJSONFeature

Output Formats

Raw Arc Object

The generated arc contains intermediate coordinate pairs:

{
  properties: { name: 'Seattle to DC' },
  geometries: [
    {
      coords: [
        [-122, 48],
        [-112.06162, 47.724167],
        [-102.384043, 46.608132],
        [-93.227189, 44.716217],
        [-84.74824, 42.144155],
        [-77, 39]
      ],
      length: 6
    }
  ]
}

GeoJSON Format

const geojson = line.json();
// Returns:
{
  type: 'Feature',
  geometry: {
    type: 'LineString',
    coordinates: [[-122, 48], [-112.06162, 47.724167], ...]
  },
  properties: { name: 'Seattle to DC' }
}

WKT Format

const wkt = line.wkt();
// Returns:
'LINESTRING(-122 48,-112.061619 47.724167,-102.384043 46.608131,...)'

Dateline Crossing

The library automatically handles routes that cross the international dateline. The offset option (default: 10) controls how close to the dateline a route must be before it gets split into multiple segments. For routes near the poles, you may need a higher offset value.

Examples

See the interactive demo for sample code showing how to create GeoJSON feature collections from multiple routes.

Used in Turf.js

arc.js powers the greatCircle function in Turf.js, a popular geospatial JavaScript library. You can use great circle calculations directly through Turf:

License

This project is licensed under the BSD license. See LICENSE.md for details.

Third-Party Licenses

This project includes code ported from GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library), which is licensed under the MIT/X11 license. See GDAL-LICENSE.md for the full GDAL license text and attribution details.