This is complete code for accepted answer as ideone fiddle (found here):
import java.util.*;
import java.lang.*;
import java.io.*;
/* Name of the class has to be "Main" only if the class is public. */
class Ideone
{
private static final double _eQuatorialEarthRadius = 6378.1370D;
private static final double _d2r = (Math.PI / 180D);
private static double PRECISION = 0.1;
// Haversine Algorithm
// source: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/365826/calculate-distance-between-2-gps-coordinates
private static double HaversineInM(double lat1, double long1, double lat2, double long2) {
return (1000D * HaversineInKM(lat1, long1, lat2, long2));
}
private static double HaversineInKM(double lat1, double long1, double lat2, double long2) {
double dlong = (long2 - long1) * _d2r;
double dlat = (lat2 - lat1) * _d2r;
double a = Math.pow(Math.sin(dlat / 2D), 2D) + Math.cos(lat1 * _d2r) * Math.cos(lat2 * _d2r)
* Math.pow(Math.sin(dlong / 2D), 2D);
double c = 2D * Math.atan2(Math.sqrt(a), Math.sqrt(1D - a));
double d = _eQuatorialEarthRadius * c;
return d;
}
// Distance between a point and a line
public static void pointLineDistanceTest() {
//line
//double [] a = {50.174315,19.054743};
//double [] b = {50.176019,19.065042};
double [] a = {52.00118, 17.53933};
double [] b = {52.00278, 17.54008};
//point
//double [] c = {50.184373,19.054657};
double [] c = {52.008308, 17.542927};
double[] nearestNode = nearestPointGreatCircle(a, b, c);
System.out.println("nearest node: " + Double.toString(nearestNode[0]) + "," + Double.toString(nearestNode[1]));
double result = HaversineInM(c[0], c[1], nearestNode[0], nearestNode[1]);
System.out.println("result: " + Double.toString(result));
}
// source: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1299567/how-to-calculate-distance-from-a-point-to-a-line-segment-on-a-sphere
private static double[] nearestPointGreatCircle(double[] a, double[] b, double c[])
{
double[] a_ = toCartsian(a);
double[] b_ = toCartsian(b);
double[] c_ = toCartsian(c);
double[] G = vectorProduct(a_, b_);
double[] F = vectorProduct(c_, G);
double[] t = vectorProduct(G, F);
return fromCartsian(multiplyByScalar(normalize(t), _eQuatorialEarthRadius));
}
@SuppressWarnings("unused")
private static double[] nearestPointSegment (double[] a, double[] b, double[] c)
{
double[] t= nearestPointGreatCircle(a,b,c);
if (onSegment(a,b,t))
return t;
return (HaversineInKM(a[0], a[1], c[0], c[1]) < HaversineInKM(b[0], b[1], c[0], c[1])) ? a : b;
}
private static boolean onSegment (double[] a, double[] b, double[] t)
{
// should be return distance(a,t)+distance(b,t)==distance(a,b),
// but due to rounding errors, we use:
return Math.abs(HaversineInKM(a[0], a[1], b[0], b[1])-HaversineInKM(a[0], a[1], t[0], t[1])-HaversineInKM(b[0], b[1], t[0], t[1])) < PRECISION;
}
// source: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1185408/converting-from-longitude-latitude-to-cartesian-coordinates
private static double[] toCartsian(double[] coord) {
double[] result = new double[3];
result[0] = _eQuatorialEarthRadius * Math.cos(Math.toRadians(coord[0])) * Math.cos(Math.toRadians(coord[1]));
result[1] = _eQuatorialEarthRadius * Math.cos(Math.toRadians(coord[0])) * Math.sin(Math.toRadians(coord[1]));
result[2] = _eQuatorialEarthRadius * Math.sin(Math.toRadians(coord[0]));
return result;
}
private static double[] fromCartsian(double[] coord){
double[] result = new double[2];
result[0] = Math.toDegrees(Math.asin(coord[2] / _eQuatorialEarthRadius));
result[1] = Math.toDegrees(Math.atan2(coord[1], coord[0]));
return result;
}
// Basic functions
private static double[] vectorProduct (double[] a, double[] b){
double[] result = new double[3];
result[0] = a[1] * b[2] - a[2] * b[1];
result[1] = a[2] * b[0] - a[0] * b[2];
result[2] = a[0] * b[1] - a[1] * b[0];
return result;
}
private static double[] normalize(double[] t) {
double length = Math.sqrt((t[0] * t[0]) + (t[1] * t[1]) + (t[2] * t[2]));
double[] result = new double[3];
result[0] = t[0]/length;
result[1] = t[1]/length;
result[2] = t[2]/length;
return result;
}
private static double[] multiplyByScalar(double[] normalize, double k) {
double[] result = new double[3];
result[0] = normalize[0]*k;
result[1] = normalize[1]*k;
result[2] = normalize[2]*k;
return result;
}
public static void main(String []args){
System.out.println("Hello World");
Ideone.pointLineDistanceTest();
}
}
It works fine for commented data:
//line
double [] a = {50.174315,19.054743};
double [] b = {50.176019,19.065042};
//point
double [] c = {50.184373,19.054657};
Nearest node is: 50.17493121381319,19.05846668493702
But I have problem with this data:
double [] a = {52.00118, 17.53933};
double [] b = {52.00278, 17.54008};
//point
double [] c = {52.008308, 17.542927};
Nearest node is: 52.00834987257176,17.542691313436357 which is wrong.
I think that line specified by two points is not a closed segment.