The Universal Transverse Mercator (Utm) is a map projection system for assigning coordinates to locations on the surface of the Earth. Like the traditional method of latitude and longitude, it is a horizontal position representation, which means it ignores altitude, and treats the Earth surface as a perfect ellipsoid. However, it differs from global latitude/longitude in that it divides Earth into 60 zones, and projects each to the plane as a basis for its coordinates. Specifying a location means specifying the zone and the x, y coordinate in that plane. The projection from spheroid to a Utm zone is some parameterization of the transverse Mercator projection. The parameters vary by nation or region or mapping system. 

The Military Grid Reference System (Mgrs) is the geocoordinate standard used by Nato militaries for locating points on Earth. The Mgrs is derived from the Universal Transverse Mercator (Utm) grid system and the Universal Polar Stereographic (Ups) grid system, but uses a different labeling convention. The Mgrs is used as geocode for the entire Earth.

The Universal Polar Stereographic (Ups) coordinate system is used in conjunction with the Universal Transverse Mercator (Utm) coordinate system to locate positions on the surface of the Earth. Like the Utm coordinate system, the Ups coordinate system uses a metric-based cartesian grid laid out on a conformally projected surface. Ups covers the Earth’s polar regions, specifically the areas north of 84°N and south of 80°S, which are not covered by the Utm grids, plus an additional 30 minutes of latitude extending into Utm grid to provide some overlap between the two systems.

The United States National Grid (Usng) is a multi-purpose location system of grid references used in the United States. It provides a nationally consistent “language of location,” optimized for local applications, in a compact, user friendly format. It is similar in design to the national grid reference systems used in other countries. The Usng was adopted as a national standard by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (Fgdc) of the Us Government in 2001.