MATLAB: Is there an inverse for the ELEVATION function in Mapping Toolbox 2.3 (R2006b)

azimuthalelevationinverseMapping Toolbox

I would like to perform the inverse operation of the ELEVATION function in Mapping Toolbox.
ELEVATION takes an observer's location in geodetic coordinates (latitude, longitude, height about ellipsoid) and the position of some object, also in geodetic coordinates, and gives the line-of-sight elevation angle, range, and azimuth angle from the observer to the object. (The azimuth angle is defined as clockwise from North, as usual, but for geodetic coordinates on an ellipsoid, the line-of-sight azimuth is still slightly different from the azimuth provided by the AZIMUTH function.)
The inverse of ELEVATION would be: "Given the location of an observer in geodetic coordinates and the line-of-sight azimuth, elevation, and range to some object, what are the geodetic coordinates of that object?"

Best Answer

A Mapping Toolbox function that computes the inverse of ELEVATION in a single step is not currently available. But this operation can be performed by using a combination of the functions SPH2CART, LV2ECEF, and ECEF2GEODETIC.
To do this, however, you would still need to have the coordinates of an observer relative to whom the azimuth/elevation of the object is defined. Also, there is not a unique answer unless you also know the range (straight-line distance) from the observer to the object. Without the range, you can narrow down the position of the object to a line in space, but not to a point location.
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