universal level—See level, circular

universal polar stereographic projection—See map projection, universal polar stereographic.

Universal time—See time, Universal (U.T.).

Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)—A specific coordinate system based on the transverse Mercator projection; used as the basis of the tam grid. The grid consists of 60 north-south zones, each 6° wide in longitude, with the longitudes of the boundary edges being integral multiples of 6°. The longitudes of the central meridians are therefore odd multiples of 3°. An overlap of about 25 miles is usually permitted beyond the edge of each zone. The zones are numbered consecutively, starting with zone 1 between 180° and 174° west longitude and increasing eastward to zone 60 between 174° and 180° east longitude. To reduce scale distortions near the edges of the zones, the scale at the central meridian is 0.9996 of the nominal scale of the projection. See also coordinate system.

Universal Transverse Mercator grid—See coordinates, Universal Transverse Mercator.

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Source: NSPS “Definitions of Surveying and Related Terms“, used with permission.

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