View source for Earth:Null Island

{{Short description|Cartographical (only) marker at 0°N, 0°E}}
{{Infobox island
| name          = Null Island
| image_name    = Null Island 2017.jpg
| image_caption = The weather [[Earth:Buoy|buoy]] moored at the coordinates of Null Island, in the Gulf of Guinea at 0°N 0°E
| map           = Africa
| map_caption   = The point of intersection of the prime meridian and the equator, in the Gulf of Guinea
| coordinates   = {{Coord|0|N|0|E|type:isle|display=inline,title}}
<!-- "| additional info = This fictional island is a cartographical convenience only" removed because the text makes that clearer now than it had before -->
}}
'''Null Island''' is the location at zero degrees [[Earth:Latitude|latitude]] and zero degrees [[Earth:Longitude|longitude]] ({{coord|0|N|0|E|type:isle}}), i.e., where the prime meridian and the [[Astronomy:Equator|equator]] intersect. The name is often used in mapping software as a placeholder to help find and correct database entries that have erroneously been assigned the coordinates 0,0. Although "Null Island" started as a joke within the geospatial community, it has become a useful means of addressing a recurring issue in [[Geographic information science|geographic information science]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Juhasz |first1=Levente |last2=Mooney |first2=Peter |date=2022 |title="I Think i Discovered a Military Base in the Middle of the Ocean"—Null Island, the Most Real of Fictional Places |journal=IEEE Access |volume=10 |pages=84147–84165 |doi=10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3197222 |issn=2169-3536|doi-access=free |arxiv=2204.08383 }}</ref>

== Physical location ==
The point on the Earth's surface defined as Null Island is located in international waters in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly {{convert|600|km|mi}} off the coast of [[Place:West Africa|West Africa]], in the Gulf of Guinea.<ref name="onge">{{cite web|last1=St. Onge|first1=Tim|title=The Geographical Oddity of Null Island|url=http://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2016/04/the-geographical-oddity-of-null-island/|publisher=Library of Congress|date=22 April 2016|access-date=13 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512183906/http://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2016/04/the-geographical-oddity-of-null-island/|archive-date=12 May 2016}}</ref> A [[Earth:Weather buoy|weather buoy]], named the Soul buoy after the soul music genre, is permanently moored at the location.<ref name="Liberation">{{Cite web|last=Huet|first=Sylvestre|date=1 December 1998|title=Après le Pacifique, l'Atlantique équipé de bouées de surveillance|url=https://www.liberation.fr/sciences/1998/12/01/apres-le-pacifique-l-atlantique-equipe-de-bouees-de-surveillance-l-ocean-maitre-du-temps-debut-novem_254860/|website=Libération|language=fr}}</ref>

The nearest land to Null Island is a small islet {{convert|307.8|nmi|km mi nmi|0|abbr=on|order=out}} to the north ({{Coord|4|45|30|N|1|58|33|W}}) that is part of Ghana. The nearest point on the mainland is Achowa Point<ref>{{Cite map|url=https://britishlibrary.georeferencer.com/maps/04591550-c132-54a4-8872-0408b8e9efe0/|title=Map of the Gold Coast Colony and neighbouring territories|publisher=War Office, Intelligence Division|location=London|id=IDWO 1097|via=Georeferencer}}</ref> between Akwidaa and Dixcove, both in Ghana. 

The depth of the seabed beneath the Soul buoy is around {{convert|4940|m|ft}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacobs |first=Frank |date=March 25, 2022 |title=Welcome to Null Island, where lost data goes to die |url=https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/null-island/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209153114/https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/null-island/ |archive-date=2022-12-09 |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=Big Think |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=noaa>{{cite map|url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/bathymetry/|title=Bathymetric Data Viewer|type=Survey map|publisher=[[Organization:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]|work=National Geophysical Data Center|access-date=4 August 2022}}</ref>

== In software ==

In terms of computing and placename databases, the coordinates for Null Island were added to the [[Natural Earth]] public domain map dataset<ref name=Kurgan>{{cite book | page=157 | title=Close Up at a Distance: Mapping, Technology and Politics | last=Kurgan | first=Laura | publisher=Zone Books | location=New York | year=2013 | isbn=9781935408284}}</ref><ref name="NED">{{cite web|last1=Vaughn Kelso|first1=Nathaniel|last2=Patterson|first2=Tom|url=http://www.naturalearthdata.com/blog/natural-earth-version-1-3-release-notes/|title=Natural Earth version 1.3 release notes|website=Natural Earth|date=31 January 2011|access-date=1 October 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215241/http://www.naturalearthdata.com/blog/natural-earth-version-1-3-release-notes/|archive-date=4 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hotz |first=Robert Lee |date=14 July 2016 |title=If You Can't Follow Directions, You'll End Up on Null Island |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-cant-follow-directions-youll-end-up-on-null-island-1468422251 |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |access-date=14 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713161209/http://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-cant-follow-directions-youll-end-up-on-null-island-1468422251 |archive-date=13 July 2016 }}</ref> {{circa|2010}}–2011, after which the term came into wide use (although there is evidence of it being used previously).<ref>{{cite tweet|last=Currie|first=Chris|user=chriscurrie|number=1546199025|title=@braz we call that spot "Null Island." http://tr.im/j5nI It's at Lat 0, Lon 0.|date=18 April 2009|access-date=4 August 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910184441/https://twitter.com/chriscurrie/status/1546199025|archive-date=10 September 2018}}</ref> Since then, the "island" has, through fiction, been given a geography, history, and flag.<ref name="onge" /> Natural Earth describes the entity as a "1 meter square island" with "scale rank 100, indicating it should never be shown in mapping".<ref name=Kurgan/> The name "Null" refers to the two zero coordinates, as [[Null (mathematics)|null]] values (indicating an absence of data) are often coerced to a value of 0 when converted to an integer context or "no-nulls allowed" [[Check constraint#NOT NULL constraint|context]].

The location is used by mapping systems to [[Exception handling|trap errors]].<ref name="NED" /> Such errors arise, for example, where an image artifact is erroneously associated to the location by software which cannot attribute a geoposition, and instead associates a latitude and longitude of "Null,Null" or "0,0".<ref>{{cite web|last=St. Onge|first=Tim|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/null-island-is-one-of-the-most-visited-places-on-earth-too-bad-it-doesnt-exist|access-date=4 August 2022|title=Null Island is One of the Most Visited Places on Earth. Too Bad It Doesn't Exist|work=Atlas Obscura|date=9 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825062049/http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/null-island-is-one-of-the-most-visited-places-on-earth-too-bad-it-doesnt-exist|archive-date=25 August 2017}}</ref> As reported in January 2018 by Bellingcat, other data mapped to the location include activity events from the [[Software:Strava|Strava]] fitness-tracking app, apparently mapped to the location due to users entering "0,0" coordinates to disguise their real locations.<ref name="Toler">{{cite web|last1=Aric|first1=Toler|title=How to Use and Interpret Data from Strava's Activity Map|url=https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/how-tos/2018/01/29/strava-interpretation-guide/|website=Bellingcat|access-date=2 February 2018|date=29 January 2018}}</ref>

==Soul buoy==
The buoy ("Station 13010 – Soul") is part of the PIRATA system, a set of 17 buoys installed in the tropical Atlantic Ocean since 1997 by the United States, France, and Brazil.<ref name=ndbc>{{cite web |url=http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=13010 |website=National Data Buoy Center |title=Station 13010 - Soul |access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref> Like the other buoys in the system, it is named after a musical genre.<ref name="Liberation"></ref> It is an Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition System (ATLAS) buoy that is conical in shape and {{convert|3.8|m}} high. It is anchored by a cable to the seabed.<ref name=noaa/> It measures the following:

* Wind speed and direction
* Air temperature
* Precipitation
* Humidity
* Solar radiation
* Pressure, temperature and conductivity up to 500 m below the ocean surface.

The buoy disappeared less than a year after its installation, and was replaced in 1998.<ref name="Liberation" />

==See also==
* ''Colonel Bleep'' – a 1957 [[Engineering:Animated cartoon|animated cartoon]] that took place on the fictitious "Zero Zero Island" (i.e., Null Island), where Earth's equator meets the Greenwich Meridian
* [[Company:MaxMind|MaxMind]], an Internet geolocation company that by default set 600 million IP addresses to a farmhouse in Kansas
* Royal Observatory, Greenwich – located due north of Null Island
* Point Nemo, the oceanic [[Earth:Pole of inaccessibility|Pole of inaccessibility]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Extreme points of Earth]]

{{Sourceattribution|Null Island}}