What is an application for polar coordinates?

Polar coordinates are applied in the description of characteristics of microphones, as well as in navigation systems to locate positions on the polar graph, such as in maritime radar systems. The pickup patterns of a microphone are usually plotted using polar coordinates to indicate its sound reception.

Aircraft navigation systems apply a unique version of polar coordinates where the primary ray is known as heading 360 and the angles are measured in a clockwise direction instead of the counter clockwise direction. Modeling systems that use radial symmetry apply polar coordinates, such as in the groundwater flow equation that is used on radially symmetric wells.