Python code for Great circle navigation

Python code for Great circle navigation 

import math

def great_circle_navigation(lat1, lon1, lat2, lon2):

    R = 6371  # Earth's radius in km

    # Convert degrees to radians

    lat1, lon1, lat2, lon2 = map(math.radians, [lat1, lon1, lat2, lon2])

    # Calculate the difference between the longitudes

    delta_lon = lon2 - lon1

    # Calculate the great circle distance

    d = math.acos(math.sin(lat1) * math.sin(lat2) + math.cos(lat1) * math.cos(lat2) * math.cos(delta_lon)) * R

    # Calculate the initial bearing

    y = math.sin(delta_lon) * math.cos(lat2)

    x = math.cos(lat1) * math.sin(lat2) - math.sin(lat1) * math.cos(lat2) * math.cos(delta_lon)

    bearing = math.atan2(y, x)

    # Convert bearing from radians to degrees

    bearing = math.degrees(bearing)

    return d, bearing

Here, lat1, lon1 are the latitude and longitude of the starting point, and lat2, lon2 are the latitude and longitude of the destination point. The function returns the great circle distance in kilometers (d) and the initial bearing from the starting point to the destination point in degrees (bearing).