Latitude and longitude are specified to the nearest minute in station information. Which of the following best describes this precision?

• A. Nearest degree
• B. Nearest minute
• C. Nearest second
• D. Nearest tenth of a minute

Answer: (B)

Coordinates given to the nearest minute are reported with degrees and whole minutes only, not degrees with no minutes, nor minutes with seconds or decimal fractions. Latitude and longitude are measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds, so stating them to the nearest minute means you round to the closest arcminute (1/60 of a degree). One arcminute corresponds to about one nautical mile of distance along a meridian, so reporting to the nearest minute gives a practical level of precision for station information. If you were to use only degrees, you’d omit the minutes entirely; if you used seconds, you’d show more detail than specified; if you used a decimal fraction of a minute, that would be a finer precision than stated. So the description that matches the given precision is the nearest minute.