What is an Azimuth?

What is an Azimuth?

• A. The horizontal angle or direction of a compass bearing measured in degrees
• B. The vertical angle between two lines
• C. The distance between two points
• D. The difference between true north and magnetic north

Answer: (A)

An azimuth is the horizontal angle used to express direction, given in degrees from a reference north line and measured clockwise. This is the way a compass bearing is described in degrees, pointing you to a target or line on a map or the ground. It isn’t a vertical angle (that’s elevation), nor the distance between points (that’s range). It isn’t the difference between true north and magnetic north (that difference is magnetic declination), though you can specify an azimuth relative to either true or magnetic north depending on the reference used.

An azimuth is the horizontal angle used to express direction, given in degrees from a reference north line and measured clockwise. This is the way a compass bearing is described in degrees, pointing you to a target or line on a map or the ground. It isn’t a vertical angle (that’s elevation), nor the distance between points (that’s range). It isn’t the difference between true north and magnetic north (that difference is magnetic declination), though you can specify an azimuth relative to either true or magnetic north depending on the reference used.