How MGRS works
MGRS, used by NATO forces and search-and-rescue teams, writes a UTM position compactly: grid zone (18T), 100 km square (WL) and the easting and northing digits inside it. Five digits each give 1 m, four give 10 m and three give 100 m.
MGRS digits are truncated, not rounded: 18T WL 8073 0470 is the 10 m square that contains the point. The US National Grid (USNG, FGDC-STD-011-2001) is the same system, and the converter was tested against NGS datasheets and the FGDC standard's own examples.
Frequently asked questions
Are MGRS and UTM the same?
They use the same projection, but MGRS replaces the leading digits of easting and northing with the two letters of the 100 km square, which makes the reference shorter and less error-prone to read out.
More tools
Coordinate converterAny format to all the others, with a map. UTM zone finderZone, band and central meridian of any point. Batch coordinate converterA whole spreadsheet at once, with KML and GPX. Distance between two coordinatesDistance, bearing and midpoint on the ellipsoid. Area from coordinatesArea in acres and hectares from the corners. Sunrise, sunset and twilightSunrise, sunset, twilight and a monthly daylight table. Hiking time calculatorWalking time from distance, elevation gain and a GPX track.