What is meaning of Traverse Table ?

Traverse tables can be used in the solution of any of the sailings except great circle and composite.

They consist of the tabulation of the solutions of plane right triangles. Because the solutions are for integral values of the course angle and the distance, interpolation for intermediate values may be required.

Through appropriate interchanges of the headings of the columns, solutions for other than plane sailing can be made. For the solution of the plane right triangle, any value N in the distance (Dist.) column is the hypotenuse; the value opposite in the difference of latitude (D. Lat.) column is the product of N and the cosine of the acute angle; and the other number opposite in the departure (Dep.) column is the product of N and the sine of the acute angle. Or, the number in the D. Lat. column is the value of the side adjacent, and the number in the departure column is the value of the side opposite the acute angle. Hence, if the acute angle is the course angle, the side adjacent in the D.Lat.