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Create a 2D array that is populated by the distance between two locations

I have a unique identifier (column A) with its respective set of coordinates (DD units, ex. 59, -110) for 500+ locations and would like to write a macro that creates a 2D array (500+ X 500+) and automatically populates each cell within the array with the distance between all of the other coordinates in the data set.

For example:
Lat Long
A 59 -110
B 34 -90
C 78 -80

Hopefully I can create an array that looks like this:

A B C
A 0 X Y
B X 0 Z
C Y Z 0

The formula to calculate the distance between the two coordinates is:

=ACOS( SIN(lat1*PI()/180)*SIN(lat2*PI()/180) + COS(lat1*PI()/180)*COS(lat2*PI()/180)*COS(long2*PI()/180-long1*PI()/180) ) * 6371000

In addition to this, if possible I would like to add a row onto the end of the array that gives the lowest distance calculated that is not zero.

It does not have to be a macro either, I just thought this may be the fastest most efficient way to accomplish this

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

aikimark

is this an Excel question?

Conor Wassmuth

ASKER

yes

Bill Prew

Okay, attached is a workbook that includes a macro named BuildArray that you can execute to add a new sheet and populate with the distances. Make sure you run this from the data sheet so it knows where the coordinate list is.

I think you may need to tweak the function that calculates the distances. I implemented the formula you provided, but it seems a little different than some of the examples I found on the web. For example:

EE29098228.xlsm

»bp

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Bill Prew

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