Spherical Coordinate System

• $r$: radial line
• $\theta$: polar angle/elevation angle
• $\phi$: azimuthal angle

The depression angle is the negative of the elevation angle.

• radial distance: r ≥ 0,
• polar angle: 0° ≤ θ ≤ 180°, or 0 rad ≤ θ ≤ π rad,
• azimuth : 0° ≤ φ < 360°, or 0 rad ≤ φ < 2π rad.

• The radius or radial distance is the Euclidean distance from the origin O to P.
• The inclination (or polar angle) is the signed angle from the zenith reference direction to the line segment OP. (Elevation may be used as the polar angle instead of inclination; see below.)
• The azimuth (or azimuthal angle) is the signed angle measured from the azimuth reference direction to the orthogonal projection of the radial line segment OP on the reference plane.

The elevation is the signed angle from the x-y reference plane to the radial line segment OP, where positive angles are designated as upward, towards the zenith reference. Elevation is 90 degrees (= π/2 radians) minus inclination. Thus, if the inclination is 60 degrees (= π/3 radians), then the elevation is 30 degrees (= π/6 radians).

In linear algebra, the vector from the origin O to the point P is often called the position vector of P.