To calculate the distance in miles between two points in Excel, you can use the the Haversine formula.
=ACOS(COS(RADIANS(90-Lat1)) *COS(RADIANS(90-Lat2)) +SIN(RADIANS(90-Lat1)) *SIN(RADIANS(90-Lat2)) *COS(RADIANS(Long1-Long2))) * 3958.756
This was inspired by BlueMM: Excel formula to calculate distance between 2 latitude, longitude (lat/lon) points (GPS positions) .
I got an email asking how to calculate the distance between two points on a map. With modern computers and a simple formula that uses a bit of trigonometry it can be easily done.
If you enjoy looking at Aerial Photographs and so-called satellite maps on Google Maps, take a look at my new blog category called Orthophotography, featuring various areas that I found interesting while looking at this mapping data.
"Anyone who has programmed geospatial software has eventually come to a conclusion about data formats: there is only one truly de facto standard for geospatial data, the shape file, and the shape file sucks."
"With all the time and energy cartographers spend preparing maps, it makes sense that they would want to protect their investment. One of the ways they do so β although they donβt always admit it β is by including βtrap streets,β deliberate mistakes added to maps to catch unsuspecting copyright violators. These may include fake streets, as the name suggests, but the term is also applied to other erroneous cartographic data included to embarrass those who might steal it. Usually, these βmistakesβ are minor: tiny (and entirely false) bends in rivers and roads, or slightly altered mountain elevations."