Find Distance between different coordinates - excel

Question

I have Location data (latitude and longitude) of 1000's of locations and need to compute the distance between each of them taken two combinations at a time.
Example:
Let's just say I have four location data (latitude and longitude data) and want to compute the distance between them
Location Latitude Longitude
1. New York(L1) 40.7128° N 74.0060° W
2. Paris(L2) 48.8566° N 2.3522° E
3. London(L3) 51.5074° N 0.1278° W
4. Moscow(L4) 55.7558° N 37.6173° E
Need to calculate the distance between possible combinations i.e distance between L1&L2, L1&L3, L1&L4, L2&L3, L2&L4 and L3&L4
Excel Formula I'm using to compute distance is
=ACOS(COS(RADIANS(90-Lat1)) *COS(RADIANS(90-Lat2)) +SIN(RADIANS(90-Lat1)) *SIN(RADIANS(90-Lat2)) *COS(RADIANS(Long1-Long2))) *6371
How can I calculate it for large data set say 100's or 1000's of locations?

Answer 1

Alternatively, you can create a VBA function and then loop through your table.
Add this code to a Module in the VBA editor:
Public Function DistBetweenCoord(Lat1 As Double, Long1 As Double, Lat2 As Double, Long2 As Double)
'Cell Formula
'ACOS(COS(RADIANS(90-Lat1)) *COS(RADIANS(90-Lat2)) +SIN(RADIANS(90-Lat1)) *SIN(RADIANS(90-Lat2)) *COS(RADIANS(Long1-Long2))) *6371
With WorksheetFunction
A = Cos(.Radians(90 - Lat1))
B = Cos(.Radians(90 - Lat2))
C = Sin(.Radians(90 - Lat1))
D = Sin(.Radians(90 - Lat2))
E = Cos(.Radians(Long1 - Long2))
DistBetweenCoord = .Acos(A * B + C * D * E) * 6371
End With
End Function
Now you can access this through code or in cell. Here is an example of in-cell:
=DistBetweenCoord(C1,D1,C2,D2)
Here is how to loop through all possible combinations in another Sub. Output is in immediate window.
Sub CalcAllDistances()
With Worksheets("Sheet1")
For i = 1 To 4
For j = i To 4
If i <> j Then
Debug.Print .Cells(i, 2) & " to " & .Cells(j, 2) & ": " & DistBetweenCoord(.Cells(i, 3), .Cells(i, 4), .Cells(j, 3), .Cells(j, 4))
End If
Next j
Next i
End With
End Sub
EDIT - To change output to Sheet2 try the following:
Sub CalcAllDistances()
Dim wks_Output As Worksheet
Set wks_Output = Worksheets("Sheet2")
Dim OutputRow As Long: OutputRow = 1
With Worksheets("Sheet1")
For i = 1 To 4
For j = i To 4
If i <> j Then
wks_Output.Cells(OutputRow, 1).Value = .Cells(i, 2) & " to " & .Cells(j, 2)
wks_Output.Cells(OutputRow, 2).Value = DistBetweenCoord(.Cells(i, 3), .Cells(i, 4), .Cells(j, 3), .Cells(j, 4))
OutputRow = OutputRow + 1
End If
Next j
Next i
End With
End Sub

Answer 2

I would use a matrix.
Create a sheet (like 'GeocodeList' or something) for the geocodes, like your city|lat|lon in the question. Then create a sheet (like 'Distances') for a matrix, where the column and row labels are the city names. Then you can parameter your excel formula using V.LOOKUPs that look up exact codes from GeocodeList.
The formula would look like this (X is row number, Y is column letter.):
=ACOS(COS(RADIANS(90-VLOOKUP($A(X); GEOCODETABLE, LATCOLINDEX, 0)))
*COS(RADIANS(90-VLOOKUP((Y)$1; GEOCODETABLE; LATCOLINDEX, 0)))
+SIN(RADIANS(90-VLOOKUP($A(X); GEOCODETABLE, LATCOLINDEX, 0)))
*SIN(RADIANS(90-VLOOKUP((Y)$1; GEOCODETABLE; LATCOLINDEX, 0)))
*COS(RADIANS(VLOOKUP($A(X); GEOCODETABLE, LATCOLINDEX, 0)-VLOOKUP((Y)$1; GEOCODETABLE; LONCOLINDEX, 0))))
*6371
So basically the VLOOKUP automatically fetches your parameters, and you can extend the formula for the whole matrix.