ecefframe

R2026b

Create Earth-centered, Earth-fixed (ECEF) reference frame

Since R2026b

Syntax

refframe = ecefframe

refframe = ecefframe(Name=name)

Description

Add-On Required: This feature requires the 3D Scenarios add-on.

refframe = ecefframe creates a reference frame object for an Earth-centered, Earth-fixed (ECEF) coordinate system. The object uses the xyz axes convention.

refframe = ecefframe(Name=name) creates an ECEF reference frame with the specified descriptive name.

Input Arguments

name — Descriptive name

"International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2020 (ITRF2020)" (default) | string scalar | character vector

Descriptive name, specified as a string scalar or character vector. This argument sets the Name property of the ReferenceFrame object.

Data Types: char | string

Output Arguments

refframe — ECEF reference frame

ReferenceFrame object

ECEF reference frame, returned as a ReferenceFrame object.

For ECEF reference frames:

• The position, orientation, and motion vectors are referenced to Cartesian axes, where the origin is at the center of the reference ellipsoid.

• The axes have this alignment:

  • The positive x-axis intersects the surface at 0° latitude and 0° longitude.

  • The positive y-axis intersects the surface at 0° latitude and 90° longitude.

  • The positive z-axis intersects the surface at 90° latitude.

This table describes the property values of the reference frame created by this function.

Property	Value
Name	"International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2020 (ITRF2020)"
ReferenceBody	"Earth"
Datum	A structure array with these fields and values: Origin — Origin, returned as "centroid" Spheroid — WGS84 ellipsoid, returned as a referenceEllipsoid object.
CoordinateSystem	"cartesian"
AxesConvention	"xyz"

Version History

Introduced in R2026b