我猜你想让它沿着地球的曲率运动。你的两点和地心在一个平面上。地球的中心是这个平面上的圆心，这两个点(大致)在这个圆的周长上。由此你可以通过求一点到另一点的角度来计算距离。

如果点的高度不一样，或者如果你需要考虑地球不是一个完美的球体，这就有点困难了。

寻找带谷歌的哈弗辛;以下是我的解决方案:

#include <math.h>
#include "haversine.h"

#define d2r (M_PI / 180.0)

//calculate haversine distance for linear distance
double haversine_km(double lat1, double long1, double lat2, double long2)
{
    double dlong = (long2 - long1) * d2r;
    double dlat = (lat2 - lat1) * d2r;
    double a = pow(sin(dlat/2.0), 2) + cos(lat1*d2r) * cos(lat2*d2r) * pow(sin(dlong/2.0), 2);
    double c = 2 * atan2(sqrt(a), sqrt(1-a));
    double d = 6367 * c;

    return d;
}

double haversine_mi(double lat1, double long1, double lat2, double long2)
{
    double dlong = (long2 - long1) * d2r;
    double dlat = (lat2 - lat1) * d2r;
    double a = pow(sin(dlat/2.0), 2) + cos(lat1*d2r) * cos(lat2*d2r) * pow(sin(dlong/2.0), 2);
    double c = 2 * atan2(sqrt(a), sqrt(1-a));
    double d = 3956 * c; 

    return d;
}

一个T-SQL函数，我用来根据中心的距离选择记录

Create Function  [dbo].[DistanceInMiles] 
 (  @fromLatitude float ,
    @fromLongitude float ,
    @toLatitude float, 
    @toLongitude float
  )
   returns float
AS 
BEGIN
declare @distance float

select @distance = cast((3963 * ACOS(round(COS(RADIANS(90-@fromLatitude))*COS(RADIANS(90-@toLatitude))+ 
SIN(RADIANS(90-@fromLatitude))*SIN(RADIANS(90-@toLatitude))*COS(RADIANS(@fromLongitude-@toLongitude)),15)) 
)as float) 
  return  round(@distance,1)
END

在SQL Server 2008中使用地理类型非常容易做到这一点。

SELECT geography::Point(lat1, lon1, 4326).STDistance(geography::Point(lat2, lon2, 4326))
-- computes distance in meters using eliptical model, accurate to the mm

4326是WGS84椭球地球模型的SRID

这是我在Elixir中的实现

defmodule Geo do
  @earth_radius_km 6371
  @earth_radius_sm 3958.748
  @earth_radius_nm 3440.065
  @feet_per_sm 5280

  @d2r :math.pi / 180

  def deg_to_rad(deg), do: deg * @d2r

  def great_circle_distance(p1, p2, :km), do: haversine(p1, p2) * @earth_radius_km
  def great_circle_distance(p1, p2, :sm), do: haversine(p1, p2) * @earth_radius_sm
  def great_circle_distance(p1, p2, :nm), do: haversine(p1, p2) * @earth_radius_nm
  def great_circle_distance(p1, p2, :m), do: great_circle_distance(p1, p2, :km) * 1000
  def great_circle_distance(p1, p2, :ft), do: great_circle_distance(p1, p2, :sm) * @feet_per_sm

  @doc """
  Calculate the [Haversine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haversine_formula)
  distance between two coordinates. Result is in radians. This result can be
  multiplied by the sphere's radius in any unit to get the distance in that unit.
  For example, multiple the result of this function by the Earth's radius in
  kilometres and you get the distance between the two given points in kilometres.
  """
  def haversine({lat1, lon1}, {lat2, lon2}) do
    dlat = deg_to_rad(lat2 - lat1)
    dlon = deg_to_rad(lon2 - lon1)

    radlat1 = deg_to_rad(lat1)
    radlat2 = deg_to_rad(lat2)

    a = :math.pow(:math.sin(dlat / 2), 2) +
        :math.pow(:math.sin(dlon / 2), 2) *
        :math.cos(radlat1) * :math.cos(radlat2)

    2 * :math.atan2(:math.sqrt(a), :math.sqrt(1 - a))
  end
end

对于任何寻找Delphi/Pascal版本的人:

function GreatCircleDistance(const Lat1, Long1, Lat2, Long2: Double): Double;
var
  Lat1Rad, Long1Rad, Lat2Rad, Long2Rad: Double;
const
  EARTH_RADIUS_KM = 6378;
begin
  Lat1Rad  := DegToRad(Lat1);
  Long1Rad := DegToRad(Long1);
  Lat2Rad  := DegToRad(Lat2);
  Long2Rad := DegToRad(Long2);
  Result   := EARTH_RADIUS_KM * ArcCos(Cos(Lat1Rad) * Cos(Lat2Rad) * Cos(Long1Rad - Long2Rad) + Sin(Lat1Rad) * Sin(Lat2Rad));
end;

我对这个代码没有任何功劳，我最初是在一个公共论坛上发现Gary William发布的。