Fast transform from geocentric to geodetic coordinates

Abstract.

 A new iterative procedure to transform geocentric rectangular coordinates to geodetic coordinates is derived. The procedure solves a modification of Borkowski's quartic equation by the Newton method from a set of stable starters. The new method runs a little faster than the single application of Bowring's formula, which has been known as the most efficient procedure. The new method is sufficiently precise because the resulting relative error is less than 10⁻¹⁵, and this method is stable in the sense that the iteration converges for all coordinates including the near-geocenter region where Bowring's iterative method diverges and the near-polar axis region where Borkowski's non-iterative method suffers a loss of precision.